ABSTRACT
Spatial patterns of residents' income distribution in metropolitan areas in the United States have changed dramatically. Income disparities between central cities and suburbs usually have been exceeded by income gaps between suburbs. Because relative income improvements have occurred in neighborhoods at every income level, federal policies aimed at poverty neighborhoods also cannot explain most neighborhood changes. The most familiar conceptual model of neighborhood change is the filtering or trickle-down process, which predicts a neighborhood housing stock of a particular vintage will transition successively to lower-income groups as it depreciates with advancing age. The 50 years from 1950 to 2000 were dominated by the decline of large central cities, combined with suburban growth and prosperity. By the 1990s, however, conflicting trends had emerged, including some notable central city revival and considerable suburban decline, while outer suburban sprawl accelerated. The chapter also presents some of the key concepts discussed in this book.
