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What is a "Great Neighborhood"? An Analysis of APA's Top-Rated Places

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  • Emily Talen
  • Sunny Menozzi
  • Chloe Schaefer

Abstract

Problem, research strategy, and findings: The American Planning Association's (APA) annual "Great Neighborhoods" program was established to define the "gold standard" of neighborhoods in America. Using census and other data covering the 80 APA-designated Great Neighborhoods to date (2007 to 2014), we quantitatively assess whether good neighborhood form may be in conflict with the social goals of affordability and social diversity. We find that APA's Great Neighborhoods represent a somewhat classic conception of the historic, gentrifying urban neighborhood: walkable, gridded, and losing social diversity. APA Great Neighborhoods are apparently not able to buck the trend that desirable physical qualities lead correspondingly to lack of affordability and social diversity. Takeaway for practice: We argue that the APA should be sensitive to the connection between a strong sense of neighborhood identity and the potential for social exclusion in their Great Neighborhoods designation. The APA could give a special designation for neighborhoods that score well on the APA's criteria, but that also manage to retain affordability and social diversity. The APA could therefore use its Great Neighborhoods designation to recognize planning, policy, and design efforts in service of not only design excellence, but also social inclusion.

Suggested Citation

  • Emily Talen & Sunny Menozzi & Chloe Schaefer, 2015. "What is a "Great Neighborhood"? An Analysis of APA's Top-Rated Places," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 81(2), pages 121-141, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:rjpaxx:v:81:y:2015:i:2:p:121-141
    DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2015.1067573
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Manville, 2015. "Comment on Talen et al. (2015)," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 81(4), pages 313-314, October.
    2. Tetsuharu Oba & Douglas Simpson Noonan, 2020. "The Price of Preserving Neighborhoods: The Unequal Impacts of Historic District Designation," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 34(4), pages 343-355, November.
    3. Biehl, Alec & Ermagun, Alireza & Stathopoulos, Amanda, 2018. "Community mobility MAUP-ing: A socio-spatial investigation of bikeshare demand in Chicago," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 80-90.
    4. Crystal Filep & Michelle Thompson-Fawcett, 2020. "New Urbanism and Contextual Relativity: Insights from Sweden," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 404-416.
    5. Dong, Hongwei, 2017. "Rail-transit-induced gentrification and the affordability paradox of TOD," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1-10.
    6. Manish Chalana, 2016. "Balancing History and Development in Seattle's Pike/Pine Neighborhood Conservation District," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 82(2), pages 182-184, April.
    7. Boeing, Geoff, 2017. "Methods and Measures for Analyzing Complex Street Networks and Urban Form," SocArXiv 93h82, Center for Open Science.

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