Downtown Columbia nation's most gentrified zip code from 2000 to 2010 (apartments, condos)

[Columbiadata]

I emailed the writer to ask about his or his source's methodology. If I hear from him I'll post his response.

[Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus]

Originally Posted by Columbiadata

I emailed the writer to ask about his or his source's methodology. If I hear from him I'll post his response.

the author essentially says, "it isn't perfect." .. which is a bit of an understatement.

personally i think it was fundamentally flawed; you can't expect meaningful results using ZIP code.

to compound matters, he doesn't accurately depict the results. "location: columbia, sc" might be the metro area where that zip code is located, but it is not a very accurate description of what the 29202 zip code itself represents.

[Columbiadata]

Originally Posted by Columbiadata

I emailed the writer to ask about his or his source's methodology. If I hear from him I'll post his response.

The writer from The Washington Post answered my email. The source's inclusion of Columbia's 29202 zip code was "a rookie error" and he submitted a new list without Columbia on it.

[SIZE=2]Thanks for writing. Mike Petrilli addressed this is a new post today: The 50 zip codes with the largest growth in white population share, 2000-2010

I'm not sure how the Census Bureau associates PO addresses with geograpahic areas, if at all.

- - -
Mike DeBonis / The Washington Post
202-334-9776 / 202-302-3677 cell / @mikedebonis
[/SIZE]

[waccamatt]

I really dislike the entire premise of the research. Gentrification = % of white population growth? If you really want to be honest, Gay and Lesbian population growth is a much surer indication that a neighborhood is gentrifying. Of course, it's a lot harder to quantify.

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by waccamatt

Mailing address data - probably from the census. There are no residences with a 29202 zip code. This study was atrocious.

Where exactly is 29202? Is it just a district full of commercial establishment and State Offices for it not to have any residents?

[TXGamecock]

Originally Posted by waccamatt

I really dislike the entire premise of the research. Gentrification = % of white population growth? If you really want to be honest, Gay and Lesbian population growth is a much surer indication that a neighborhood is gentrifying. Of course, it's a lot harder to quantify.

Funny you mention that. My aunt and uncle have invested in fixer-uppers in "up and coming" neighborhoods around Georgia for decades. I think they probably had 25 rental houses the last time I checked.

When I asked my uncle what his strategy was, he told me "Follow the gays!". He discovered years ago that the gay population was the first to move into "transitional" areas, and it meant the area was on the upswing. He would buy, renovate, and then hold as a rental until he thought the area had peaked. He said when the neighborhood peaked, the gays would begin to sell and migrate somewhere else and clean it up, and he would follow them.

[Columbiadata]

We gays have always been ahead of the times.

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by Columbiadata

We gays have always been ahead of the times.

Plus we don't (as frequently) have to worry about kids (safety, schools, etc), though that is changing.

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by Woodlands

Where exactly is 29202? Is it just a district full of commercial establishment and State Offices for it not to have any residents?

29202 is only the PO Boxes at the main post office, which is why I knew this survey consisted of little true research.

[C.W.Harris]

Pure population explosion.