Steep population decline followed Urban Renewal. East Liberty became a segregated neighborhood with high poverty rates, low rates of homeownership, and a legacy of disinvestment that continued well after the Community Reinvestment Act eliminated redlining. In the past 20 years, the population fell from 7,973 in 1990, to 6,871 in 2000, and 5,698 in 2016. The reason for this is both the lingering effects of Urban Renewal and redlining. A recent study of demographic changes in East Liberty suggests that abandonment due to poor property condition drove the bulk of population change in East Liberty; even in the past 10 years. Evidence of previous widespread abandonment exists both in the form of vacant lots which once held homes and in the presence of new homes and apartments built on previously vacant lots.
