The Geography of Opportunity Race and Housing Choice in Metropolitan America

by de Souza Briggs, Xavier; Wilson, William Julius

• ISBN13: 9780815708735
• ISBN10: 0815708734
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-07-21
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Summary

A popular version of history trumpets the United States as a diverse "nation of immigrants," welcome to all. The truth, however, is that local communities have a long history of ambivalence toward new arrivals and minorities. Persistent patterns of segregation by race and income still exist in housing and schools, along with a growing emphasis on rapid metropolitan development (sprawl) that encourages upwardly mobile families to abandon older communities and their problems. This dual pattern is becoming increasingly important as America grows more diverse than ever and economic inequality increases.Two recent trends compel new attention to these issues. First, the geography of race and class represents a crucial litmus test for the new "regionalism" --the political movement to address the linked fortunes of cities and suburbs. Second, housing has all but disappeared as a major social policy issue over the past two decades. This timely book shows how unequal housing choices and sprawling development create an unequal geography of opportunity. It emerges from a project sponsored by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University in collaboration with the Joint Center for Housing Studies and the Brookings Institution. The contributors --policy analysts, political observers, social scientists, and urban planners --document key patterns, their consequences, and how we can respond, taking a hard look at both successes and failures of the past. Place still matters, perhaps more than ever. High levels of segregation shape education and job opportunity, crime and insecurity, and long-term economic prospects. These problems cannot be addressed effectively if society assumes that segregation will take care of itself.Contributors include William Apgar (Harvard University), Judith Bell (PolicyLink), Angela Glover Blackwell (PolicyLink), Allegra Calder (Harvard), Karen Chapple (Cal-Berkeley), Camille Charles (Penn), Mary Cunningham (Urban Institute), Casey Dawkins (Virginia Tech), Stephanie DeLuca (Johns Hopkins), John Goering (CUNY), Edward Goetz (U. of Minnesota), Bruce Katz (Brookings), Barbara Lukermann (U. of Minnesota), Gerrit Knaap (U. of Maryland), Arthur Nelson (Virginia Tech), Rolf Pendall (Cornell), Susan J. Popkin (Urban Institute), James Rosenbaum (Northwestern), Stephen L. Ross (U. of Connecticut), Mara Sidney (Rutgers), Phillip Tegeler (Poverty and Race Research Action Council), Tammy Tuck (Northwestern), Margery Austin Turner (Urban Institute), William Julius Wilson (Harvard).

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON
Preface	xv
Acknowledgments	xvii
1 Introduction	1	(16)
XAVIER DE SOUZA BRIGGS
2 More Pluribus, Less Unum? The Changing Geography of Race and Opportunity	17	(28)
XAVIER DE SOUZA BRIGGS
Part One Housing Choice, Racial Attitudes, and Discrimination
3 Can We Live Together? Racial Preferences and Neighborhood Outcomes	45	(36)
CAMILLE ZUBRINSKY CHARLES
4 How Racial Discrimination Affects the Search for Housing	81	(20)
MARGERY AUSTIN TURNER AND STEPHEN L. ROSS
5 The Dual Mortgage Market: The Persistence of Discrimination in Mortgage Lending	101	(26)
WILLIAM APGAR AND ALLEGRA CALDER
Part Two Housing Opportunity for Low-Income Families
6 Expanding Housing Choice and Integrating Neighborhoods: The MTO Experiment	127	(23)
JOHN GOERING
7 New Capabilities in New Places: Low-Income Black Families in Suburbia	150	(26)
JAMES ROSENBAUM, STEFANIE DELUCA, AND TAMMY TUCK
8 Beyond the Projects: Lessons from Public Housing Transformation in Chicago	176	(21)
SUSAN J. POPKIN AND MARY K. CUNNINGHAM
9 The Persistence of Segregation in Government Housing Programs	197
PHILIP D. TEGELER
Part Three Metropolitan Development and Policy Coalitions
10 Connecting Smart Growth, Housing Affordability, and Racial Equity	219	(28)
ROLF PENDALL, ARTHUR C. NELSON, CASEY J. DAWKINS, AND GERRIT J. KNAAP
11 The Rise and Fall of Fair Share Housing: Lessons from the Twin Cities	247	(19)
EDWARD G. GOETZ, KAREN CHAPPLE, AND BARBARA LUKERMANN
12 Fair Housing and Affordable Housing Advocacy: Reconciling the Dual Agenda	266	(23)
MARA S. SIDNEY
Part Four Conclusions
13 Equitable Development for a Stronger Nation: Lessons from the Field	289	(21)
ANGELA GLOVER BLACKWELL AND JUDITH BELL
14 Politics and Policy: Changing the Geography of Opportunity	310	(33)
XAVIER DE SOUZA BRIGGS
Contributors	343	(2)
Index	345