OUR SERVICE AREA

Identifying areas in need of Urban Business Support’s services needed to surpass the retroactive and qualitative analysis typically used to study gentrification. By the time displacement starts to take place, it may be too late to help our target businesses. To specify our service areas, beyond the broadly defined “gentrifying neighborhoods in the South Puget Sound,” we used a quantitative research model developed by a graduate student, Kevin Bogue, at the University of Washington- Tacoma. The Modeling Gentrification Susceptibility (MGS) map, while not entirely predictive, provides a framework for identifying neighborhoods most susceptible to gentrification. The analysis looks at five criteria, gathered from the United States Census Bureau’s 2016 American Community Survey 5-year estimates at the block group level of enumeration:


  • Median income
  • Rent as a percentage of household income
  • Housing value
  • Percentage of non-Hispanic white population
  • Educational attainment
View larger map

The map show, in red, communities most susceptible to gentrification in Pierce and South King Counties. In addition to the MGS data analysis, we looked at plans for development projects. Transportation improvement projects, as well as business and housing development projects, are often the harbingers of gentrification. Light rail, subway, or high-speed transit construction, coupled with market-rate housing structures, is often planned in neighborhoods susceptible to gentrification. Urban Business Support looks at transportation hubs and developments with expected completion within the next five years to help identify our target communities. This analysis indicated six neighborhoods of Tacoma where Urban Business Support should conduct its first cohorts.

These neighborhoods are:

  • Hilltop
  • Lincoln
  • Stadium
  • 6th Ave
  • James Center
  • South Tacoma Way

In South King County, the cities most susceptible to gentrification are:

  • Tukwila
  • Burien
  • White Center
  • SeaTac
  • Renton

Identifying areas in need of Urban Business Support’s services needed to surpass the retroactive and qualitative analysis typically used to study gentrification. By the time displacement starts to take place, it may be too late to help our target businesses. To specify our service areas, beyond the broadly defined “gentrifying neighborhoods in the South Puget Sound,” we used a quantitative research model developed by a graduate student, Kevin Bogue, at the University of Washington- Tacoma. The Modeling Gentrification Susceptibility (MGS) map, while not entirely predictive, provides a framework for identifying neighborhoods most susceptible to gentrification. The analysis looks at five criteria, gathered from the United States Census Bureau’s 2016 American Community Survey 5-year estimates at the block group level of enumeration:

  • Median income
  • Rent as a percentage of household income
  • Housing value
  • Percentage of non-Hispanic white population
  • Educational attainment
View larger map

The maps show, in red, communities most susceptible to gentrification in Pierce and South King Counties. In addition to the MGS data analysis, we looked at plans for development projects. Transportation improvement projects, as well as business and housing development projects, are often the harbingers of gentrification. Light rail, subway, or high-speed transit construction, coupled with market-rate housing structures, is often planned in 3 neighborhoods susceptible to gentrification. Urban Business Support looks at transportation hubs and developments with expected completion within the next five years to help identify our target communities. This analysis indicated six neighborhoods of Tacoma where Urban Business Support should conduct its first cohorts.

These neighborhoods are:

  • Hilltop
  • Lincoln
  • Stadium
  • 6th Ave
  • James Center
  • South Tacoma Way

In South King County, the cities most susceptible to gentrification are:

  • Tukwila
  • Burien
  • White Center
  • SeaTac
  • Renton

Identifying areas in need of Urban Business Support’s services needed to surpass the retroactive and qualitative analysis typically used to study gentrification. By the time displacement starts to take place, it may be too late to help our target businesses. To specify our service areas, beyond the broadly defined “gentrifying neighborhoods in the South Puget Sound,” we used a quantitative research model developed by a graduate student, Kevin Bogue, at the University of Washington- Tacoma. The Modeling Gentrification Susceptibility (MGS) map, while not entirely predictive, provides a framework for identifying neighborhoods most susceptible to gentrification. The analysis looks at five criteria, gathered from the United States Census Bureau’s 2016 American Community Survey 5-year estimates at the block group level of enumeration:

  • Median income
  • Rent as a percentage of household income
  • Housing value
  • Percentage of non-Hispanic white population
  • Educational attainment
View larger map

The maps show, in red, communities most susceptible to gentrification in Pierce and South King Counties. In addition to the MGS data analysis, we looked at plans for development projects. Transportation improvement projects, as well as business and housing development projects, are often the harbingers of gentrification. Light rail, subway, or high-speed transit construction, coupled with market-rate housing structures, is often planned in 3 neighborhoods susceptible to gentrification. Urban Business Support looks at transportation hubs and developments with expected completion within the next five years to help identify our target communities. This analysis indicated six neighborhoods of Tacoma where Urban Business Support should conduct its first cohorts.

These neighborhoods are:

  • Hillto
  • Lincoln
  • Stadium
  • 6th Ave
  • James Center
  • South Tacoma Way

In South King County, the cities most susceptible to gentrification are:

  • Tukwila
  • Burien
  • White Center
  • SeaTac
  • Renton
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