The spatio-temporal pattern of housing redevelopment in suburban Chicago, 2000–2010

Abstract

This study examines the process of housing redevelopment, using data of single-family residential redevelopment that occurred in all 128 inner-ring suburbs of Chicago, USA, located in Cook County, between 2000 and 2010. Using exploratory spatial data analysis techniques, I identify the magnitude and the spatial locations of redevelopment, revealing the different types of suburban neighbourhoods in which redevelopment occurs. I then examine how the location and extent of redevelopment changed between 2000 and 2010 and how the physical manifestation of redevelopment varied across different types of suburban neighbourhoods. Findings reveal that redevelopment is spatially clustered, occurring in a variety of places ranging from modest middle-income neighbourhoods to very highly affluent neighbourhoods. Redevelopment often began in areas with high property values, and as house prices rose rapidly through the first half of the decade, it expanded into adjacent, less affluent neighbourhoods, retracting again at the end of the decade.

Neighborhood diversity and the creative class in Chicago

“…More recently, Chicago has served as one of the world's premier urban laboratories in regard to postindustrial economic and social restructuring, with issues of urban redevelopment, globalization, gentrification, inequality, and social mixing comprising substantial arenas of inquiry (e.g., Charles, 2014;Lloyd, 2002;Sternberg & Anderson, 2014). This study follows in the tradition of using Chicago and surrounding environs as a 'model city' with the crucial understanding that the region's unique history, culture, and position within the global urban hierarchy will necessarily impact observed spatial patterns and relationships.…”

Suburban revalorization: Residential infill and rehabilitation in Baltimore County’s older suburbs

“…Like Charles (2014) and Pinnegar et al (2010), we find evidence of mansionization or knockdown rebuild in modest-income suburbs, specifically in Baltimore County's disadvantaged working-class communities along the waterfront.…”

“…In some instances, homeowners will completely teardown the original housing and rebuild larger houses for themselves in a process called suburban mansionization, McMansion infill (Nasar et al, 2007), or, in the case of Australia, knockdown rebuild (Pinnegar et al, 2010). These teardowns often occur in older, wealthy suburbs (Charles, 2014(Charles, , 2013 and in suburbs close to transit (Dye and McMillen, 2007).…”

“…As Charles' (2014) work notes, teardowns also occur in modest-income suburbs. Studies in Sydney, Australia have similarly found that knockdown rebuild happens in disadvantaged middle-ring suburbs.…”

“…Even if one embraces the normative argument for suburban retrofitting, it is unlikely that all suburbs will undergo redevelopment in the way that results in more density or more walkable environments. In addition, individual suburban homeowners upgrade and reinvest in existing low-density residential development, regularly modifying their homes to accommodate new lifestyles and improve housing conditions (McManus and Ethington, 2007), and in some cases, homeowners tear down the original structures to build larger detached houses (Charles, 2014(Charles, , 2013. Alongside calls for suburban retrofitting and higher density, therefore, is the consistent valorization of existing low-density suburbanization, a fact that this is rarely acknowledged by planning academics and the broader planning community.…”