Abstract

The legacy of government supported urban renewal programs carried out throughout the mid 1900s into the 2000s has been overwhelmingly negative towards the black communities the programs often targeted. These efforts have been associated with the uprooting of communities, mass relocations, and great loss of black wealth. However, little research has been done regarding the potential impacts of urban renewal on intergenerational economic outcomes. Asheville’s black communities serve as a prominent example of the plethora of negative consequences derived from urban renewal, and it is plausible to assume intergenerational mobility could be another. Looking at the Montford, East Riverside, and East End urban renewal programs carried out in Asheville, this paper attempts to answer the following research question: In the Asheville area, what is the impact of urban renewal on intergenerational economic opportunity and income outcomes for blacks, and how do areas directly affected by urban renewal compare with other census tracts within Buncombe county as a whole? This analysis utilizes both descriptive statistics and econometric analysis, drawing from the Opportunity Atlas dataset. This dataset provides a detailed, census tract by tract report of children’s household income outcomes, at the age of 35 based on the area they grew up. For this analysis, a binary variable was created denoting whether or not a tract in Buncombe county was affected by urban renewal or not, with the intent of examining if growing up in an affected tract has a significant impact on black intergenerational economic outcomes. The analysis suggests that growing up in an area affected by urban renewal in Buncombe County does have a significant impact on intergenerational income outcomes for blacks born into families with higher percentiles of parental income, while being insignificant for those who were born into the 25th percentile of parental income.

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