Are Central Cities Poor and Non-White?

Arturo Gonzalez, Jeff Larrimore, Ellen A. Merry, Barbara J. Robles and Jenny Schuetz
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Ellen A. Merry: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/ellen-a-merry.htm

No 2017-031, Finance and Economics Discussion Series from Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)

Abstract: For much of the 20th century, America's central cities were viewed as synonymous with economic and social hardship, often used as proxy for low-income communities of color. Since the 1990s, however, many metropolitan areas have seen a resurgence of interest in central city neighborhoods. Theoretical models of income sorting lead to ambiguous predictions about where households of different income levels will live within metropolitan areas. In this paper, we explore intra-city spatial patterns of income and race for U.S. metropolitan areas, focusing particularly on the locations of low-income and minority neighborhoods. Results indicate that, on average, income and white population shares increase with distance to city centers. However, many centrally located neighborhoods are neither low-income nor majority non-white, while low-income and minority neighborhoods are spatially dispersed across most metropolitan areas.

Keywords: Community development; Demographic economics; Housing policy; Income sorting; Neighborhood choice; Racial segregation; Urban spatial structure; Urban rural and regional economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I3 J1 R1 R2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 48 pages
Date: 2017-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-lab and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2017031pap.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Are central cities poor and non-white? (2018)
Working Paper: Are Central Cities Poor and Non-White? (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2017-31

DOI: 10.17016/FEDS.2017.031

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