Gentrification: Don't Believe the Hype

WorldChanges notes a new nation-wide study by Lance Freeman showing that "gentrification drives comparatively few low-income residents from their homes." If the data and analysis are good, does this sink the primary opposition to smart growth - the (faux) criticism that new mixed-use urban development gentrifies neighborhoods and thus further marginalizes low-income residents? Of course, this is not the primary reason that self-identified anti-new urbanism folks have for opposing this type of development in their own areas, but rather a way to deflect criticism by appearing to embrace leftist ideals of equal opportunity and a sensitivity toward their lower-income neighbors.