“Environmental gentrification” refers to a process of neighborhood change whereby higher-income people – after real estate improvements are made – move into a historically disinvested neighborhood. The shift in who lives in a gentrified neighborhood is usually from low-income minority residents to higher-income, white educated residents. Youth of color living or recreating in gentrifying communities are often the target of citizen-based policing by white residents. Citizen-based policing often takes the form of nonemergency 311 calls to police to report unwanted behaviors and to eliminate graffiti in the neighborhood.
This study examined the citizen-based policing of youth in an urban greenway connected to four neighborhoods experiencing environmental gentrification. The greenway, in this case, is The 606 constructed on an abandoned rail line crossing four distinct neighborhoods on Chicago's Northwest side. A total of 46 residents from the four neighborhoods participated in this study. Twenty-nine of the participants identified as white; 17 as youth of color. The participating youth were under the age of 26. One-on-one interviews were conducted with each of the participants about their experiences on The 606. Additional data for this study was accessed (1) through the City of Chicago's database, including information about non-emergency 311 calls received by the city after The 606 opened and (2) through the U.S. Census Bureau, which included census block group level information about race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, housing prices, and housing tenure.
Information obtained from the interviewees (both white residents and youth of color) indicated that white residents often feared youth of color and perceived them as being disorderly on The 606. Signs of youth “being disorderly” included being together in groups and the presence of graffiti. Interview results also indicated that white residents frequently used citizen-based policing to monitor and control the behavior of youth of color on The 606. Policing included calls to law enforcement about youth loitering on the greenway and about graffiti around the trail. City data showing a significant increase in the number of graffiti-related 311 calls in the years preceding and following the greenway's opening supported information obtained through the interviews. Youth of color used different strategies to cope with the policing, including self-segregation, avoidance, and abandonment of using The 606.
The findings of this study highlight ways in which citizen-based policing can limit the presence and activities of youth of color in neighborhoods undergoing environmental gentrification. In addition to supporting previous research showing that environmental gentrification raises environmental justice issues, this study also calls attention to the importance of interactional justice which relates to how people are treated in public spaces. Planners and policymakers have an important role to play in addressing this form of environmental injustice. The practices they implement and the policies they enact should ensure that parks and other public spaces in gentrifying areas are experienced as welcoming places of inclusion.
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