Can the names of black cultural icons save the neighborhood - Relating street names to property values and neighborhood racial composition change in Harlem, New York City

Aug 24, 2026

Upload by Oliver

Gentrification-related concerns are widespread across the United States, where housing unaffordability is high and neighborhood change often reflects cultural removal and dispossession of communities of color. This study uses street names to quantify how racialized values and sentiments become incorporated into the housing market and influence neighborhood demographic composition. Applying a hedonic pricing model to Harlem, New York City (2000–2020), the research finds properties on streets named after Black cultural icons have 13.8% lower sale prices than comparable non-Black named streets, with relevance for housing justice advocates and policymakers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Housing crisis context

Gentrification definitions and mechanisms

Place-guarding and housing justice strategies

Rennert, Lindiwe, Rodríguez, Sonia Torres & Elder, Katherine (2025) Can the names of black cultural icons save the neighborhood: relating street names to property values and neighborhood racial composition change in Harlem, New York City. Cities, 163, [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2025.10601](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2025.10601)1 [https://researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/128015/](https://researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/128015/) Version: Published Version Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution 4 .0 LSE Research Online is the repository for research produced by the London School of Economics and Political Science. For more information, please refer to our Policies page or contact [lseresearchonline@lse.ac.uk](lseresearchonline@lse.ac.uk) Cities 163 (2025) 106011 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Cities journal [homepage:](homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cities)[ www.elsevier.com/locate/cities](homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cities) | Can the names of black cultural icons save the neighborhood: Relating street names to property values and neighborhood racial composition change in Harlem, New York City | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Lindiwe Rennert a,*, Sonia Torres Rodríguez b, Katharine Elder b
a Department of Geography and Environment, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK b Urban Institute, 500 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20024, USA | | | | | A R T I C L E I N F O | | A B S T R A C T | | | Keywords: Streetonomics
Street naming
Property value
Gentrification Racial equity Place-guarding | | Gentrification-related concerns are prevalent across much of the US. In many metropolitan areas, housing unaffordability is high, and changes in neighborhood character associated with dispossession and cultural removal of communities of color are not uncommon. These conditions contribute to the need for expanded understanding of space-claiming and place-guarding strategies relevant to race and socioeconomic factors. Answering this call, this study uses street names to quantitatively describe the ways that racialized values and sentiments get absorbed into the housing market and shape neighborhood demographic composition. Using a hedonic pricing model – looking at the gentrifying neighborhood of Harlem in NYC between 2000 and 2020 – this work finds that properties situated on streets named after Black cultural icons experience 13.8 % lower sale prices than otherwise comparable properties on non-Black named streets. This suggests that naming streets after Black cultural icons may help dampen upward pressure on housing costs, contributing to affordability. Specific to demographic change, however, findings reveal that areas surrounding streets named after Black icons do not experience higher shares of Black population retention over time than do other parts of the neighborhood. This work is relevant to advocates and activities, planners and policymakers, interested in advancing housing justice. | | 1. Introduction The US is in a state of national housing crisis. Unaffordability – relative to income and lending rates – is more severe than it was at the height of the late 2000s’ Global Financial Crisis (Sor, 2023). Homelessness is at a record high (Batko et al., 2024), residents are increasingly housing insecure and cost burdened (Berlin, 2024), housing supply shortage is in the range of 3–7 million units nationwide (Peck, 2023), and 1 in every 20 residents live in structures federally deemed physically inadequate (Wedeen, 2023). Health and wellbeing indices related to housing conditions are in a worrying downward spiral (Chart Book, 2022; Serchen et al., 2024), and inequities across many of these along the lines of race, ethnicity, disability, and income are worsening (Miao & Zayas, 2023). One particular piece of the crisis puzzle receiving growing attention from media outlets, policymakers, academics, and the public alike is the inten

FAQs

What problem does the study address about gentrification?

It addresses widespread gentrification concerns tied to housing unaffordability and neighborhood character changes associated with dispossession and cultural removal of communities of color.

How does the study connect street names to housing outcomes?

It uses street names as a quantitative lens to examine how racialized values and sentiments are absorbed into the housing market and shape neighborhood demographic composition.

What main finding emerges for Harlem properties on streets named after Black cultural icons?

Properties on streets named after Black cultural icons have 13.8% lower sale prices than otherwise comparable properties on non-Black named streets.

Do street names predict Black population retention in the study?

The findings indicate that areas surrounding streets named after Black icons do not experience higher shares of Black population retention over time than other parts of the neighborhood.

Aug 24, 2026

Upload by Oliver