WHat is displacement?

What are we talking about when we talk about displacement?

Residential displacement happens when people are forced to move from their homes or neighborhoods for reasons they cannot control. This can happen when people have to move because their rent goes up (soft displacement), their building is torn down, they are evicted (hard displacement), or other changes happen that make their homes too expensive or unsafe to live in.

Icon of moving box overflowing with possessions.

Anti-displacement initiatives use policy and other approaches to help people stay in their homes and communities, keeping the community stable.

What is Displacement?

Learn more about displacement from this video, courtesy of the Urban Displacement Project.

Displacement is a misunderstood crisis, and there are a few key things often missing when we talk about it.

Watch This video on youtube

Types of Displacement

Displacement is complex and happens in different ways.

Hard Displacement

Hard displacement, also known as direct displacement, happens when households are forced to move because they are evicted or because their building was torn down.

Eviction notice peeking out of an envelope.

Icon of a sign advertising a house for sale

Soft Displacement

Soft displacement, also known as indirect displacement, happens when rising rents make it too expensive for households to stay in their homes and neighborhoods. When rents are too high, especially for low-income households, they may be forced to move to a more affordable area, often far away from their social networks, jobs, schools, places of worship, and other important amenities.

Moving boxes stacked in front of a window.

What Causes Displacement?

Incomes are not keeping up with the rising cost of housing.

As a result, many people are paying a larger and larger share of their income on rent, and some are unable to find any rental they can afford.

Segregation and redlining.

These historic practices established lasting patterns of racial and economic inequality that make low-income households of color particularly vulnerable to displacement today. See the Urban Displacement Project’s video “The Legacy of Redlining” for more information about this.

Regional population and job growth.

When new residents move into a neighborhood or city, this puts pressure on the housing market, driving up costs. To accommodate the incoming population, developers build new, often more expensive, housing that may not be affordable to existing residents.

Loss of existing affordable housing.

Increasing housing demand can lead to spikes in rent or even the demolition of older and more affordable homes to make way for more expensive homes. In some cases, speculative investors may buy up existing affordable property as an investment and make it unavailable to tenants.

Lack of tenant protections.

If a city or state does not have laws aimed at protecting renters against unfair evictions or sudden spikes in rent, then displacement is more likely to occur.

When displacement affects our communities...

Losing people who have been a part of our community impacts us all. Without enough safe, healthy, and secure housing for people of all incomes, we lose our diversity, and economic vitality.

When families and members of our workforce are forced to leave their homes and neighborhoods, it can have significant and lasting effects on livelihoods, businesses, social networks, and health.

People with limited resources often end up living on the street, in their car, or doubled up with friends and family. Others are able to find alternative housing, but often in other neighborhoods or other cities--far from their jobs, friends, places of worship, and other community networks.