Affordable housing is often built in less desirable neighborhoods which may face environmental challenges. This map demonstrates that the majority of affordable housing units in Miami are in flood-prone areas.

Miami’s Opportunity Zone tax incentive policy has been argued to accelerate gentrification by bringing in business that displaces the local population.

We see these zones are primarily in areas with lower income and lower flood risk.

Using an Freeman’s algorithm, which utilizes demographic and housing information, we can identify areas at risk for gentrification. These tracts are further back from the coast, in high flood zones along the river and less desirable high-elevation areas.

Notably, Opportunity Zones (policies which have been argued to drive gentrification) are only in higher-elevation zones.

Here is a pattern in investment: Opportunity Zones tend to be located in areas with significantly lower flood risk than gentrifying zones, with the overlap between the two showing the lowest inundation levels.

This indicates that tax incentives intended to spur development may be disproportionately directed toward higher-elevation, lower-risk neighborhoods—reinforcing patterns of climate gentrification and potentially sidelining communities facing the most acute environmental threats.