This is a report on the process of private urban renewal of three areas in Washington, D.C. The areas are Georgetown, Capitol Hill and Adams-Morgan. The paper presents an analysis of general population trends and of the change in composition of the population in these three areas. Two general questions are raised: To what extent does the process of private urban renewal involve a change in the population composition of certain areas of the city when compared with the population trend citywide? and, Why has sociological analysis of this phenomenon been lacking to date? Generally the areas of a city experiencing private urban renewal are rehabilitated and upgraded economically, and higher income groups belonging principally to the white middle class replace the poor nonwhite population residing in these sections. Thus, dramatically different socioeconomic groupings and sociocultural milieu are created. The findings of this study indicate that the trend in private urban renewal areas is different from that described in most urban literature and that these changes are being accomplished without benefit of public funds. Probably the major reason why sociologists have failed to examine the process of private urban renewal has to do with the nature of the process itself. As far as can be determined, the dominant pattern in population migration in the U.S. is still one wherein a white population is moving to the suburbs. Part of the reason for sociological neglect of the private urban renewal process is that thus far it has not had a serious impact on inner cities. (Author/AM)