Jane Jacobs identified a number of ways that income diversity keeps cities healthy and vibrant, but the economic literature tends to focus on mobility — neighbourhood diversity means that lower income households aren’t being shut out from economic opportunity and quality public institutions. And because lower income households have access to good jobs and schools, they’re more upwardly mobile. The cycle of poverty observed in cases where the poor are concentrated in low-income ghettos is avoided.
The trouble is that it’s awfully difficult to maintain a diverse neighbourhood. As economist Ed Glaeser has documented, homeowners work hard to limit growth in housing supply, by fighting for low densities and opposing new developments. This contributes to upward pressure on housing costs and slowly filters out lower income households.
— Free Exchange: “First, Define the Problem”
