“On the Wrong Side of the Pike:” The Role of Universities in Shaping Neighborhood Change

• In Event: 1451 - Community and Urban Sociology Section Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 3. Debating Gentrification

Abstract

This paper presents novel research on the role of universities in shaping neighborhood outcomes. While universities have been analyzed as studentifying (Smith, D. P. & Holt, L., 2007), gentrifying (Dahl, 1961; Lafer, 2003; Rossi & Dentler, 1961) and/or growth machine (Logan & Molotch, 1987/2007) forces, there has been less attention paid to the decisions universities make about the location and timing of their investment(s), and how universities frame such investments to garner local support. This paper presents a case of one Boston neighborhood, Allston, that has experienced local influence by two major universities. In the context of the City of Boston, in which universities are tax-exempt, local universities frame the land acquisition and subsequent development as beneficial to local neighborhoods as “community development.” Additionally, local universities make intentional decisions about what neighborhoods and specifically what areas within neighborhoods they wish to invest in, thereby fiscally investing in some areas and not others. Specifically, this paper extends a novel case of the role of universities in urban change by demonstrating how both intentional investment and absence from a neighborhood can facilitate distinct urban processes over time. Additionally, this paper provides evidence that universities are not indiscriminate in investing in the neighborhood (or city) in which they are located, but rather make intentional choices about fiscal, campus, and residential investments in neighborhoods, which, in turn, perpetuates/creates inequality across neighborhood(s) and urban areas.

Author

• Sarah S. Hosman, Drexel University