Finance and Economics Discussion Series (FEDS)
March 2017
Are Central Cities Poor and Non-White?
Jenny Schuetz, Arturo Gonzalez, Jeff Larrimore, Ellen A. Merry, and Barbara J. Robles
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.
Accessible materials (.zip)
Keywords: Community development, Demographic economics, Income sorting, Neighborhood choice, Racial segregation, Urban spatial structure, Urban, rural and regional economics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2017.031
PDF: Full Paper