Patch, March 22nd, 2019: Gentrification hits Prospect Park South, new data show
PROSPECT PARK SOUTH, BROOKLYN — Gentrification has hit Prospect Park South, where housing prices have spiked, incomes stagnated and a community of black people have been displaced, new data show.
A new interactive map shows areas near Prospect Park’s southern end have seen significant gentrification while a swath of East Flatbush is primed for the economic shift to occur, according to National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit.
The study, using U.S. Census Bureau tract data to identify more than 1,000 gentrified neighborhoods across the country, found one region with significant displacement, five regions where housing prices have nearly doubled and two where incomes stagnated or even dropped.
Census Tract 508.04, directly east of the Parade Ground, saw the number of black residents plummet from 4,809 in 2000 to 3,433 in 2010, data show. During the same time span, median home values spiked from $208, 896 to $374,600.
Census Tract 794 — bordered by Flatbush, Church, Rogers and Tilden avenues — was marked as “eligible for gentrification” as incomes dropped from $43,539 to $36,760, even though the number of people with bachelor’s degrees jumped by about 10 percent.
