2024 Theses Master's

Area Median Income: Perception, Power, and Political Will

Donato, Donatella

Area Median Income (AMI), as a tool for defining affordability of NYC affordable housing development, has attracted increasing attention from housing policymakers, academics, researchers, and industry professionals. The ongoing debate around the efficacy of AMI has focused on its geographical inaccuracy and its statistical complexity. This discourse has often characterized the metric as a source of affordability rather than as a tool for resource allocation.

Additionally, the existing literature and industry debate has failed to reckon with AMI and its potential to contribute to broader neighborhood materialities like gentrification. Rent-gap theory, created by the gentrification scholar Neil Smith, has proven to be a reliable predictor of gentrification. However, AMI and its effect on the affordable housing industry complicate our understanding of affordable development and its relationship to gentrification.

This research aims to untangle AMI through a mixed-methods research approach while positing a new iteration of rent-gap theory. Through expert interviews and a quantitative analysis this research uncovers the story of AMI, its power over affordable housing in NYC, its often mischaracterized perception, and its relationship to political will.