Understanding Middle Neighborhoods

A national movement is growing to support and affect the trajectories of “middle neighborhoods” – a distinct type of neighborhood described as “on the edge between growth and decline…. where housing is often affordable and where quality of life… is sufficiently good that new home buyers are willing to play the odds and choose these neighborhoods over others in hopes they will improve rather than decline.” On the Edge, a volume of essays on middle neighborhoods edited by Paul Brophy, includes a chapter by Bob Weissbourd, “Understanding Middle Neighborhoods as Vital Parts of Regional Economies.” The chapter describes the changes spurred by the transition to the next economy, and the effects of those changes on how middle neighborhoods relate to their regions and how they play their roles as Communities of Opportunity and Choice. This piece was also published in Community Development Investment Review  (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco; August, 2016).