"The Awkward Art of Neighborhood Naming" in Atlantic Cities

image from Flickr/macnewyork via the Atlantic article in question

I'm proud to say that I've been featured in a new article on The Atlantic's Cities blog. The article, "The Awkward Art of Neighborhood Naming" by Dena Levitz, focuses on questions of neighborhood identity in many American cities and especially the role of real-estate in sometimes (re)creating it.

In addition to having been one source for much of the information discussed in the article, I'm brought in discussing how local residents might feel about these changes and research on some of the implications that identity-driven gentrification can have for neighborhoods (on which, for the record, I'm not sure I'm quite accurately quoted but c'est la vie). The article is a great focus on this phenomenon, which I also explore in a forthcoming study of mine (see prev. post on the research). These themes are also addressed in studies of New York City by Phil Kasinitz, Malve von Hassel, Christopher Mele, and Richard Ocejo and in my own 2010 study (pdf) of the connection between transit planning and neighborhood identity. Thanks to Ms. Levitz for looking to me for my thoughts!

The Awkward Art of Neighborhood Naming by Dena Levitz