TIF Projects in Lexington, KY and Change in Median Household Income, 2010-2019

Description

I'm interested in gentrification and displacement in Lexington. Since 2009, Lexington has supported 10 developments through Tax Increment Financing (TIF), a lending strategy that the city turned to to encourage redevelopment of sites that were depressing surrounding property values. TIF began in Lexington in 2009, but was first used in California in 1952. It is a popular form of financing urban redevelopment across the U.S.

TIF is controversial because it is a risky form of speculative financing that subsidizes private development projects with public dollars, usually going to politically connected developers. Many TIF projects ultimate fail to generate more money for the city, which has been demonstrated by several studies, including Ward and Wood's work on TIF in Lexington (2020). TIF projects that have been successful in raising property values in surrounding areas have oftentimes faciliated displacement and gentrification.

This maps shows Lexington's 8 active TIF projects and the change in median household income (MHI) of all census tracts in Lexington from 2010-2019. A change in a census tract's MHI may indicate that the population has shifted to consist of higher- or lower-income individuals--signifying gentrification or disinvestment, respectively. Census tracts that are orange had an decrease in MHI from 2010-2019; census tracts that are purple had a increase in MHI from 2010-2019. Six active TIF projects in Lexington are located in census tracts that have seen an increase in MHI over the period while the other two are located in census tracts that have seen a decrease in MHI over the period. Overall, the range of Lexington census tract MHI change between 2010-2019 varied from $-72,745 - +$118,652.

TIF projects located in census tracts with increase in MHI, 2010-2019 TIF projects located in census tracts with decrease in MHI, 2010-2019
21C Red Mile
Centrepointe Turfland Mall
Coldstream
The Fountains at Palomar
Midland Avenue
The Summitt


Map details

TIF projects from Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. Population data from US Census Bureau. Census tract boundaries from TigerLINE. Data accessed November, 2022.

Income data from 2010 and 2019 were adjusted to 2022 dollars using the CPI Inflation Calculator from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. $1.00 in 2010 had the same buying power as $1.36 in 2022; $1.00 in 2019 had the same buying power in as $1.16 in 2022.

Map created by Conley Kinkead for University of Kentucky New Maps Plus program in Fall 2022 using R, Excel, and QGIS. Map projection is EPSG:4269 and zoom levels are 11-15 (1:288895.277144 - 1:18055.954822).