Gentrification and neighborhood change: Competing narratives among nonprofit actors

The findings from this project are part of a larger study that explores how narratives on neighborhood change transform over time, and how local governing powers shape dominant narratives about neighborhoods. We examine competing narratives of neighborhood change through an in-depth analysis of local news-media coverage in Grand Rapids, MI. Using inductive and deductive coding, we draw on 20 years of local news-media and nearly 190 articles to analyze the competing and evolving narratives of neighborhood change. Further, we evaluate how residents, developers, and local community-based organizations perceive the visible processes of neighborhood change, such as the construction (or lack thereof) of low-income housing. This research contributes to the existing literature on gentrification and the role of local nonprofits and community-based organizations in these processes.