Black residents are leaving these three NJ cities. What else to know from this new report – Bergen Record

Jersey City is the “Bedroom City,” Newark is going through a “Jobless Gentrification,” and Paterson is the “Migrant Metro.”
They are labelled as such in a new report that shows how gentrification and international migration have benefited and hurt three of New Jersey’s largest and most diverse cities.
The 40-page report, released April 24 by researchers at Rutgers Law School’s Center on Law, Inequality & Metropolitan Equity, “The Other Cities: Migration and Gentrification in Jersey City, Newark and Paterson,” points out the growth and decline each of these cities has experienced.
According to the report by Mussab Ali, Katharine Nelson, and David Troutt, the state’s second-largest city by population, Jersey City, with over 290,000 residents, is known as the “Bedroom City” because of its growth tied to accessing jobs in New York City and is a place that “provides strong evidence that gentrification is well underway.” The evidence is also in the $88,000 median income of new residents, and units boasting rents of $3,000 and higher, making it one of the most expensive places for renters in the country. Also, 40% of Jersey City residents who work are employed in New York City.
Newark, the state’s largest city with 305,000 residents, was labeled in the report as existing amid “Jobless Gentrification,” where the prices of new market-rate housing and renovated units by investors have risen while there’s little job growth. Data collected by the researchers show that home values between 2015 and 2023 went up 92% from $242,548 to $465,693, while during the same period, median asking rents jumped 32% from $1,567 to $2,066.
The city is also experiencing gentrification, like nearby Jersey City, but in a different way, as Troutt pointed out.
“Jersey City has a lot more street-level gentrification assets, like restaurants, bars, and cafes. Newark, by contrast, privatizes many of those attractions within the developments themselves. That’s why you see buildings that contain their own playrooms, theatres, gyms and other amenities,” Troutt, the center’s director, said.
Meanwhile, Paterson is referred to in the report as “Migrant Metro,” a municipality where the lack of affordability stems from the influx of working-class immigrants vying for few affordable units. The report makes note of Paterson as not only the home of a large and thriving Arab American community but also of sizable Caribbean and South American communities, as well as a “rapidly growing Bangladeshi population.”
Yet, home values in the city of 156,000 have nearly tripled from $164,259 in 2015 to $489,491 in 2023. A saving grace has been in rentals, with the median gross rent ticking slightly upward from $1,435 in 2015-2019 to $1,512 in 2020-2024.
The report goes on to point out other downsides.
The report observes that where each of the three cities had traditionally boasted robust African American populations, they have seen losses in that racial group in recent years.
Since 2013, Jersey City has lost 2,936 Black residents, and Paterson has lost 4,540 Black residents, the report said. An exact number of Black residents who have left Newark was not given. The report did say that while 1,810 Black residents settled in the city, due in part to “a large influx of Black Caribbean and West African people,” this suggests some African Americans moved out of the city. The report gives the reason for the decline as due to “displacement pressures.”
The decline comes alongside a growing group that is also not welcome news: the homeless population.
The count in Newark was 1,595 in 2013 and 2,451 in 2023, Jersey City went from 920 to 1,168, and Paterson went from 392 to 710. The increase in the homeless population reflects the inability of people to keep up with rising housing costs and find work that enables them to afford to live.
These negative numbers are counterpoints to gains in residents for each city, with Jersey City and Newark experiencing a jump in their population of more than 8% in the past five years and Paterson with 7%. When it comes to foreign-born populations, the gain is greater, with Paterson seeing an increase in its foreign-born population from 32% to 44% from 2013 to 2023, Newark from 27% to 35%, and Jersey City from 39% to 41%.
The growth of foreign-born populations in the cities affirms a point made in the report of “a confounding new fact of urban life: working class centers of immigration are no longer the affordable places they once were. People may not come for work but [to be with] other people like them.”
The report’s release comes as Jersey City and Newark’s mayors are running for New Jersey governor, where they face questions on the campaign trail about housing and affordability.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop did not respond directly to questions from NorthJersey.com on the increase in the city’s homeless population and the loss of Black residents listed in the report or on the report itself.
The city’s spokesperson, Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione, said in an extensive statement that Fulop implemented “some of the strongest tenant protections in the state, passed inclusionary zoning, and made record investments in affordable housing.” Wallace-Scalcione also said that Jersey City has been a “leader in the fight for affordability” by building 275% more housing per capita than New York City and approving nearly 9,000 new affordable and market-rate homes last year.
“Jersey City’s story isn’t just about development; our focus has always been on thoughtful growth and policies that benefit longtime residents and strengthen our diverse communities,” Wallace-Scalcione said.
The spokesperson for Newark, Susan Garofalo, issued a statement from the city, “The report is useful as an analytical tool for us to compare with our lived reality and internal departmental dashboards. It reveals areas that are easily misperceived and misunderstood by those not immersed in our issues, and our housing, workforce, and economic development initiatives.”
The city took issue with the report on its homeless population, claiming the numbers for Newark reflect “county numbers that include other urban areas such as the Oranges and Irvington,” while touting the city’s various efforts to deal with homelessness. The city pointed to ways it is trying to keep longtime residents, such as African American residents: strengthening renter protections, investing in affordable housing, supporting community-based initiatives, and implementing equitable zoning and housing regulations.
Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh is quoted in the report as telling the researchers that the city is “prioritizing reducing the number of vacant units in Paterson to incentivize development.” The amount went from 1,200 in 2018 to less than 200 currently. Sayegh also said in the report that the city’s development strategy “aims to foster a middle class by building mixed-income housing, focusing on major investments around the Great Falls, and positioning Paterson as the food capital of the state.”
Ricardo Kaulessar covers race, immigration, and culture for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com
Twitter/X: @ricardokaul