SOCIAL ASPECTS OF NEIGHBORHOOD CHANGE¹

Abstract

ABSTRACT During the last decade, Fairmount, a small area in Philadelphia's inner city, has changed from a working-class neighborhood with a strong Europeanethnic flavor to a revitalized, "fashionable" area with many young professionals. One step in the transition was the exclusion of blacks from the neighborhood. The influx of newcomers to Fairmount has altered traditional social patterns, and for some residents resulted in a declining quality of neighborhood life. Notes 1 I am indebted to Lane Johnson, David Ley, Risa Palm, J. Douglas Porteous, Peter Rees, Carolyn Ryan, John Seley, Christopher Winters, and William Yancey for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. David Ley deserves special thanks for the advice and encouragement he gave during every stage of the project. I am also grateful to Ken Quan of the University of Victoria for the cartography, and to the College of Liberal Arts at Temple University for financial support during a summer of writing.