New MassINC research in the current issue of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Communities & Banking magazine looks at rising income segregation in Massachusetts, and in particular the Gateway Cities. MassINC Research Director Ben Forman and Research Associate Caroline Koch find that while Greater Boston fared relatively well in income diversity over the last two decades, Massachusetts’ Gateway City regions became more economically disparate.

In 1990, MassINC’s research indicates that Gateway City regions were made up of predominately middle class families. But by 2007, centrally located neighborhoods in  the Gateway Cities saw a dramatic increase in isolation among low income families. Affluent families, meanwhile, increasingly fled to the outer suburbs of these urban areas.

The consequences of this trend have the potential to be far-reaching. Wide variations in the tax base among communities can result in similarly unequal public services, making it more difficult for poorer cities to compete with their neighbors to attract middle income families.

Click to read the full article on the Federal Reserve’s website.