Where the rich and poor live in metro areas (and other maps) (map, suburban)

[nei]

Thought this might interest people here, though maybe some people have already seen it. Might be a good way to see which cities have gentrified.

radicalcartography

Shows where the rich and poor live in each metro area. For many (especially Eastern) cities there's a concentration of wealthy near the center and suburbs with the poor in between. These maps are a bit misleading; for example in the NYC map, it looks like there are many more rich people off in Connecticut than in the rich part of Manhattan, which looks like a tiny sliver. In reality, the tiny sliver of Manhattan has as many or more people than the red (wealthy) area of Connecticut. And in other maps as well, some of the wealthiest suburban areas are the lowest density areas so the map exaggerates their size.

But still an interesting map. There are more to explore on the site if you click on the projects button on the left.

[wburg]

I note that there tends to be a "favored quarter"--the wealthier people all tend to live in one direction.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by wburg

I note that there tends to be a "favored quarter"--the wealthier people all tend to live in one direction.

Yeah, especially in smaller metros. Interestingly enough. Denver seems to have a less wealth quadrant.

[nei]

Originally Posted by jade408

Yeah, especially in smaller metros. Interestingly enough. Denver seems to have a less wealth quadrant.

That seems to hold a bit more in western metros, as the link described. Many eastern metros have a donut (rich in the center, then poorer in the outer city neighborhoods, rich in the inner suburbs and then declining as you go further out) distribution with some wedgeness added in.

British cities have a donut distribution, too. I used to assume a "donut" distribution was the norm for most cities and I made a comment to my cousin from England that cities tend to be like that and he said he was taught in geography class that a donut distribution is typical for cities.

[kidphilly]

Very interesting stuff

[tpk-nyc]

Donuts exist mainly in pre-automobile cities because they have affluent housing stock in the inner city, like the Back Bay in Boston or the Upper East Side in New York. In newer cities, like Phoenix, this housing simply doesn’t exist. There are very few places for the wealthy to live in those inner cities even if they wanted to. The most interesting map is the Twin Cities. You can see the very clear gentrification from Uptown, down Hennepin Avenue to the Warehouse District and the riverfront. Most of that development is very recent, in the last 10 to 15 years.

Interesting maps in that website link that shows where the rich and poor live in USA metro areas!

I have personal day to day experiences with going between New York City’s rich and poor areas almost every day such as the rich high income areas of Manhattan/Brooklyn and the poor low income areas of the Bronx.

Most days it feels like a day and night difference and almost like going into completely different worlds... The differences of general income between neighborhoods can completely affect the vibe that neighborhood has, the quality and types of commercial establishments that neighborhood has, the quality of residential establishments, and how desirable that neighborhood is. It can also affect someone’s day to day lifestyle and many aspects about that individual’s life if they live in a higher income neighborhood compared to a lower income neighborhood.

[memph]

Here's a map of the City of Toronto:

Geography 2UI3 Section 4 Main/Contemporary Neighbourhoods And Income Distribution (http://libwiki.mcmaster.ca/geo2ui3-section4/index.php/Main/ContemporaryNeighbourhoodsAndIncomeDistribution - broken link)

And maps of the Greater Toronto Area can be found here:
The Star

The overall trend is that neighbourhoods to the West and North are wealthy, while the neighbourhoods to the Northwest and Northeast are poor, combined with the 30-90 year old neighbourhoods being poor while the newer and older ones are wealthy. Exceptions are Parkdale, which is an old neighbourhood West of downtown that's rather poor, and some communities to the West along Lake Ontario that are middle class or wealthy.

[nei]

So would you consider Toronto as having more of a "wedge distribution" or a "donut distribution"?

[memph]

Does have to be one or the other? The outer area of the city proper (former suburbs) are definitely poorer than the outer suburbs, and on average are poorer than the core neighbourhoods too, so you have a doughnut distribution. However there are also two wedges where there is more poverty relative to other neighbourhoods at a similar distance from the core, although this pattern is definitely stronger in the former suburbs and kind of breaks down in the outer suburbs and downtown.