BLACK MALE UNEMPLOyMENT IN U.S. METROPOLITAN AREAS: THE ROLE OF BLACK CENTRAL CITy SEGREGATION AND JOB DECENTRALIZATION*

Housing segregation has been suggested as an important cause of high unemployment among black Americans, because segregation restricts the black population to living in those central city areas which are losing jobs. Previous studies have not offered a conclusive test of this hypothesis, as they present conflicting findings and have a number of methodological difficulties. Using regression analyses on data from U.S. SMSAs, it is shown that the differential in unemployment rates between blacks and whites in U. S. SMSAs (and particularly SMSAs outside the South) is substantially influenced both by segregation patterns restricting blacks to the central city and by job decentralization. This black/while unemployment differential and the overall unemployment rate in an area determine the level of black unemployment in the area. Thus, central city segregation and job decentralization have important indirect effects on the black unemployment rates of U. S. metropolitan areas.     

Falling household size and its effect on metropolitan population growth and density

In determining metropolitan population size and changes therein, urban theorists traditionally have focused on the number of occupied dwelling units or households and have assumed that these households are equal in size. This paper argues that average household size is an indicator of how intensively the housing stock is utilized and that there is substantial variation in household size across SMSAs in the U.S. The experience of 150 SMSAs is examined for the time period 1960 to 1970. The study model attributes varying household size to differentials in birth and divorce rates, racial composition and age of housing. Ramifications of recent household size declines involve the internal spatial organization of metropolitan areas and the Census controversy with cities over alleged undercounts of urban populations.     

CHANGING SETTLEMENT PATTERNS OF BLACK AMERICANS, 1970–1980

Drawn by the attraction of economic betterment and less oppressive social conditions, over six million black Americans left the South between 1870 and 1970 for the major urban centers of the North and West. Over its course, the great migration transformed the black population from a predominantly southern and rural people into a highly urbanized, more nationally distributed, group. In the receiving cities, blacks were confronted with new forms of segregation and virtually excluded from suburbia. A number of important changes in black settlement patterns occurred during the 1970's. First, the century-long exodus out of the South came to an end as opportunities there improved and conditions in the North deteriorated. Second, the Northeast, which had been a major destination of southern blacks for over 100 years, itself became subjected to strong black outmigration tendencies. The Midwest experienced similar trends, but on a smaller scale, and the proportion of blacks residing in the region remained virtually unchanged over the decade. The West continued to draw blacks, and was the only region to register a proportional gain in their numbers. Third, there was a marked shift of blacks to suburban residency, the extent of which varied between metropolitan areas. The exodus was broad enough to produce a net outmigration of blacks from the nation's central cities, a number of which experienced an absolute loss of black residents. Nevertheless, because of the continuing white exodus, the number of large cities gaining black majorities more than doubled during the decade. While enhancing the exercise of black political power in both central cities and suburbs, the changes did little to alter existing patterns of segregated living.     

Climatic conditions and migration: An econometric inquiry

"This paper has examined the impact of climate on migration. It has compared the results that are obtained when various indicators of climatic conditions, both those which have been used in the literature and those which have not, are included in a regression used to explain migration behavior. The results suggest that individuals do indeed consider climatic conditions in different areas when deciding where to live; people generally prefer areas which have moderate climates to areas which have either extremely hot or extremely cold climates. The results also indicate that the climate variables which yield the best results are generally those which have not been used in the literature." The study is based on U.S. data concerning in-migration to 36 SMSAs between 1960 and 1970.     

MEASURING THE DISPERSAL OF SUBSIDIZED HOUSING IN THREE CITIES

This paper uses the Index of Dissimilarity to measure the degree of dispersal of subsidized housing between 1970 and 1980 in three cities—Chicago, Baltimore, and St. Louis. The data show that subsidized housing has been dispersed in each of the cities, in accordance with federal housing policies of the late 1960s and 1970s. There are differences among the cities, however, in the degree of dispersal and the size of the subsidized housing inventories. The data also show that subsidized housing has been extended to predominantly white census tracts and tracts with incomes higher than the city-wide median incomes. These white, higher-income tracts have lower densities of subsidized housing than poorer tracts with large black populations.     

The changing population distribution of England and Wales, 1969-81: clean break or consistent progression?

Changes in population distribution in England and Wales in the period since World War II are reviewed. The focus is on whether the trend away from urban centers toward suburban and nonmetropolitan areas observed in the 1960s continued into the 1970s. It is concluded that this process of population decentralization has continued, with movement to more remote areas now also being involved, and that this process is part of the general trend away from urban centers that has characterized urbanization for many years.     

FROSTBELT SUCCESS STORY: Oshkosh,Wisconsin

ABSTRACT: Stimulated by the 1970 and especially the 1980 census, numerous writers have delineated the movement to suburbs and to the sunbelt of people and businesses. They have noted the deleterious consequences of that shift for the depleted central cities, especially in the frostbelt, and rarefy argue that the trend will change. This article examines the various types of efforts made by cities to improve their futures. It discusses the wide range of recent successes of one frostbelt city, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, suggests causes of those achievements, and weighs the degree to which it might serve as a model The article argues that 1980 may come to be recognized not as the beginning of the end for older cities but as the high-water mark against which a countermovement might be measured.     

THE FATE OF RESIDENTIAL INTEGRATION IN AMERICAN CITIES

ABSTRACT: Census data from 58 large central cities were used to measure 1970–1980 shifts in the racial composition of 2,259 neighborhoods (census tracts) that were nominally integrated (neither all white nor all black) at the start of the decade. The findings show the patterns and dynamics of racial change to be more complex than expected. One-fourth of all tracts in the sample exhibited relative stability in their black-nonblack proportions. However, the major population losses experienced by these compositionally stable tracts, and the volatile character of mixed neighborhoods generally, preclude too optimistic a conclusion about the future of integration.     

Capital Gains,Homeownership and Economic Inequality

The paper examines the distribution of capital gains and the net benefits of homeownership in terms of the debate between Marxists and Weberians on how homeownership modifies class inequality. Capital gains and net benefits are measured using unit record data from valuation records of the 1980s and a survey carried out by the Australian Institute of Family Studies in 1991 of over 2500 families in Sydney and Melbourne. Higher socio-economic groups generally had significantly larger dollar gains than groups below them and, by this measure, homeownership adds to inequalities generated through the labour market. However, because they had commenced purchase with smaller deposits, the low socio-economic groups did as well or better than other groups when capital gains are expressed as a percentage return on deposits. Capital gains are one of the variables included in a measure of net housing benefits; an attempt to quantify all the major benefits and costs involved in purchase rather than renting. The net housing benefits accruing to different socio-economic groups since deregulation of finance markets are compared using survey data relating to the 1980s property boom, and estimates using the much lower rates of interest and capital gains in housing markets of the 1990s. Again, there is a strong association found between dollar benefits and socio-economic status. The paper concludes that, measured in dollar terms, the distribution of net housing benefits in Sydney and Melbourne has had a substantial class bias since deregulation, tending to create a more unequal society.     

Evacuation models are running out of time

The representation of crowd movement in existing evacuation models is typically based on data collected in the 1950s to 1980s, i.e., data that are more than 40 years old. Since the 1970s, population characteristics have changed dramatically around the world. Reports show that the percentage of elderly and obesity rates have increased significantly and this trend is predicted to continue into the future. Recent research [1], [2], [3] illustrates the magnitude by which different age cohorts of a population group can reduce the general speed and flow rates. In addition, well established studies have quantified the impact of body dimensions on speed and flow [4]. However, many existing evacuation models fail to take the changing characteristics of populations into account. This paper aims to review existing knowledge of population demographics and crowd dynamics, derive an indicative flow reduction factor for future populations, and consider the implications for computer models and building design in the future.     

BLACK-WHITE INCOME INEQUALITY AND THE URBAN SYSTEM OF THE SOUTH

This article reveals the positions of 40 SMSAs in the urban system of the South in 1980, and then investigates whether SMSAs' location in this urban system has an impact on black-white income inequality. The urban sysrem analyzed here is based on Richard Wanner's two-dimensional model and ideas on how each dimension is related to racial income inequality are drawn from work by urban ecologists and radical political economists. It is hypothesized that (1) the higher an SMSA is on the “metropolitan functions” dimension, the more black-white income inequality it will have; and (2) being near the manufacturing end of the “industry structure” dimension has the effect of reducing racial income inequality. Percentage black in the SMSA and black-white educational level are also included in the analysis and the results generally support our hypotheses. The implications of these findings are discussed and the southern urban system in 1980 is compared with ealier depictions of it.     

BLACK SUBURBANIZATION AND HOUSING QUALITY IN ATLANTA

During the 1970s, several researchers presented evidence that black suburbanization was increasing in many U.S. metropolitan areas. There was also evidence that blacks were not significantly improving their housing quality through suburbanization. This paper examines 1980 census data to determine whether black population movement in Atlanta is a suburbanization phenomenon leading to better quality housing. Several dozen census tracts are defined as composing Atlanta's black housing space. For each tract's black households, three measures of housing quality are treated as dependent variables. Regression analysis is used to show that a tract's change in black population during the 1970s is associated with all three dependent variables. The addition of suburbanism (population density) as a second independent variable further elaborates the relationship between black population change and two of the housing quality indicators. Thus, black suburbanization in the Atlanta area is leading to better quality housing for black residents.     

Neighbourhood change in Genesee and Kent Counties,Michigan, 1970–2019

Michigan was an industrial powerhouse until the onset of deindustrialization in 1970. This paper compares socio-economic and demographic changes at the neighbourhood level between 1970 and 2019 in two medium-sized cities/counties in Michigan (Flint/Genesee County and Grand Rapids/Kent County) that underwent deindustrialization. Only 35% of neighbourhoods in the two counties were of the same class in 2019 as in 1970. Middle-class neighbourhoods declined while poor and upper-middle class neighbourhoods increased. The contemporary spatial structure of neighbourhoods in these two counties is a mixture of classic concentric ring/sectoral models interspersed with socio-economic downgrading inner-ring suburbs identified within other US cities since the 1990s.     

CITY SIZE,RACIAL COMPOSITION,AND ELECTION OF BLACK MAYORS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE SOUTH

ABSTRACT: This article examines the linkage between racial composition and likelihood of electing a black mayor in cities of a particular size and location. Special attention is given to cities with a black majority population in 1980 or with a black mayor in 1985. Most black mayors come from cities with black majority populations, but most cities with such a majority do not have black mayors. After controlling for city size and percentage of blacks, it is shown that being located in the South has a continuing negative impact on the likelihood of electing black mayors in black majority cities. The need for the 1982 extention of the Voting Rights Act is discussed.     

THE BACK-TO-THE-CITY MOVEMENT REVISITED

ABSTRACT: Mounting evidence of residential neighborhood revitalization in the early to mid-1970s and impressions that such activity was based on a back-to-the-city movement promoted optimism about the future of cities However, studies conducted during the late 1970s to evaluate this phenomenon questioned its existence. This not only had a chilling effect on the belief in the renaissance of cities, but also undermined concerns about the major liability that had become associated with the back-to-the-city movement: residential displacement An evaluation of these studies indicates that their findings and conclusions about the back-to-the-city movement were not justified The results of this study show that many home buyers are moving into cities from non-city areas. It also shows that this migration causes considerable displacement problems. This article is organized into two sections. The first presents a background for the back-to-the-city movement including an evaluation of the previous studies. The second describes a study of two neighborhoods undergoing revitalization in the city of Hartford Connecticut, which attempts to address the questions raised about the previous studies and presents its findings.     

Migration reversals in perspective: the long-wave evidence

"Although the pattern of polarization reversal reported by Vining and Pallone in the 1970s and the re-emergence of core-ward net migration that they now report for the 1980s are problematic if viewed from the perspective of a short-term time horizon, they are easily understandable in a long-wave context. Evidence is provided for 55-year waves of urbanward migration [in the United States], each of which reached its nadir during the nation's major stagflation crises. The periodic repetitions of the phenomena described by Vining and Pallone suggest the relevance of the interpretations provided by long-wave theory."     

Population migration and economic restructuring in the United States

"This article demonstrates that sectoral employment shifts associated with the migration pattern changes of the 1970s are very different than those for the period 1955-60 to 1965-70. Changing competitiveness for jobs in manufacturing and other traditional basic sectors of the economy cannot account for the greatly accelerated levels of core-periphery net outflow that have been the dominant characteristic of interstate movement during the 1970s and 1980s. Instead, an interconnected set of activities that includes government, services, trade, and construction is associated with the broadscale shifts in the geographic pattern of the United States' population. The causal linkage from migration to employment change assumed heightened importance during the 1970s."     

Changes in the Distribution of Annual Rainfall in the British Isles

The spatial distribution of annual rainfall in the British Isles is analysed from 1881 to 1990 with reference to changes in the frequency of airflow types. The influence of more frequent westerly airflows earlier this century is evident in higher rainfall in western areas. Changes from 1941 to 1970 show no evidence of a reversal of this change despite a reduction in the dominance of westerlies. Evidence for an abrupt return to a more vigorous westerly circulation since the mid-1970s, and associated wetness in north-west Britain, is found to have parallels with scenarios of future climates produced by recent climate models caused by a strengthening of the temperature gradients which drive the mid-latitude westerly circulation.     

Regional density functions and growth patterns in major plains of China, 1982–1990

This research analyzes the spatial patterns of regional development in China through the change of population density functions from 1982 to 1990, using several online digital data sets. To minimize the influence of physical environment on population densities, the study areas are limited to four major plains of China: the Northeast (Dongbei), North China (Huabei) and Hubei-Hunan (Lianghu) Plains, and the Sichuan Basin. A gravity-based delineation approach is used to delineate the influen ce regions of 17 cities. Regional densities in China decline with distance from a city, similar to western countries. In addition, areas close to central cities grew faster than remote areas, described as a trend of centralization. However, regions with strong core growth are generally associated with stagnant hinterlands (‘core growth-hinterland stagnation’); and regions with moderate core growth are usually matched by similar growth rates in the hinterlands (‘spread through growth’ ). Received: 8 March, 2000 / Accepted: 5 September 2000     

Shifting balances in U.S. metropolitan and nonmetropolitan area growth

"This paper assesses some of the recent attempts to explain the perceived growth reversal between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas in the United States during the 1970s. The paper argues that the reversal in population trends was not a one-time, radical shift in settlement trends, but rather the result of more continuous underlying industrial trends. Indeed, since 1979, population growth has again become faster in metropolitan than nonmetropolitan areas." The paper includes three sections. Regional and area population and industrial earnings growth patterns are first summarized for the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Theories of polarization and polar reversal are then evaluated and found to be inadequate. Finally, a reconstruction of the neoclassical model is proposed.