Market-Led Pluralism:Re-Thinking Our Understanding ofRacial/Ethnic Spatial Patterning in

US Cities

Lawrence A. Brown and Su-Yeul ChungDepartment of Geography

Ohio State University and Western Illinois UniversityColumbus, Ohio 43210-1361; Macomb, Illinois 61455-1390

Third International Population Geographies Conference. June 2006Liverpool United Kingdom

Vast Differences Between US City of Today

Compared to Quarter and Half Century Ago

Call for Rethinking Frameworks

That Provide an Explanation of

Clustering/Segregation

Along Racial/Ethnic Lines

Portrayals of residential patterning in US metros emphasize SEGREGATION

Kaplan, Wheeler, and Holloway 2004 text:“African Americans remain extremely segregated several decades after the civil rights movement”“Hispanics are more segregated than Asians“African Americans are highly segregated [but] some improvement” “segregation for Hispanics increased notably during the 1990s”

Logan, Stults, and Farley (2004) research paper:“in every year [1980-2000], blacks were the most segregated group; Asianswere the least segregated; black-white segregation decline[d]; segregationof Hispanics and Asians remained almost the same; blacks remained moresegregated from whites than were Hispanics or Asians”.

SUNY-Albany Lewis Mumford Center institutional setting:Present three decades of D-Indices (1980-2000) for US Metro Areas underthe heading -- “Exploring the persistent and changing nature of segregationin America's metro areas, large and small”

Hence, expect segregation, high levels of clustering when considering racial/ethnic residential patterning in US city

HowThenDoWe

Explain --

But we’re not alone --

NYT on America’s Newest Suburbs -- “Instead of all-white enclaves of the 1960's + 70's, new exurbs are a mélange of colors and cultures.”

Columbus Dispatch on political strategy --“inner tier suburbs … extension of cities they surround [with] increasingconcentrations of ethnic minorities, generally liberal attitudes on social questions …greater presence of singles in high-rise and condominium developments … receptivityto arguments for environmental protection and planned growth

Terms have been coined -- ethnoburb, invisiburb, saffron suburb

Questioning relevancy “of the U.S. black-white model, which reflects legacyof slavery including its contemporary forms of discrimination and resultant socioeconomic disadvantages ... [thus] rendering a black-white portrait of America anachronistic”

Questioning “the reification of white suburbia as paramount space of Americancultural belonging ... [that] spatial assimilation theory remains fixed on thenormative objective of propinquity to whites in suburban locations.”

Leads us to question current-day significance of three primary frameworks addressing racial/ethnic residential patterning --

Assimilation, Stratification, Resurgent Ethnicity -- even as complementary constructs.

Concern especially sharpened after realizing, and probing into,

role of market makers in present-day racial/ethnic residential fabric --

Articulated as the Market-Led Pluralism framework.

Assimilation

Associated with Melting Pot ideal; Stems from Urban Ecology school of 1920s

Immigrants, having adapted to US society, then move into established neighborhoods that generally are spatially more distant from the CBD

In context of today, similar idea –

Racial/ethnic minorities relocate to higher status areas in closer proximity to

majority Caucasian population, but melting pot ideal is less central

Structural Assimilation, measured by socio-economic characteristics such as income and education, differentiated from Cultural Assimilation, measured by indicators such as English language ability and length of residence in US (for immigrants)

Also Segmented Assimilation – options of (i) Acculturating middle class values of dominant Caucasian society (traditional assimilation), (ii) Gravitating to underclass, or (iii) Advancing socio-economically [and spatially] while maintaining strong ties with origin community culture and society

Stratification

Structural forces associated with housing discrimination, racial stereotyping, prejudicial preferences lead to segmented housing markets, neighborhood stratification

Disadvantaged groups in terms of race/ethnicity relegated to particular places; (upward) spatial mobility to other locations is impeded

Resulting racial/ethnic location patterns seen to persist even though judicial, legislative, and societal changes in the latter half of twentieth century moved current practices far afield from earlier ones

View consistent with occurrence of inertia effects on socio-economic landscape (Brown, Lee, Lobao, and Chung 2005).

Resurgent Ethnicity I

Why does segregation persist, after removal / amelioration of housing discrim, racial stereotyping, prejudicial preferences?

Emphasizes racial/ethnic preference in residential choice,“in-group attraction”

E.g. Asian + Hispanic immigrants who cluster in more affluent areas of New York / Los Angeles, sometimes without cultural assimilation such as language skills (Logan, Alba, Zhang 2002).

Such racial/ethnic settlements better understood as “ethnic communities” driven by preference, rather than “immigrant enclaves” driven by economic and cultural constraints

Generates (re-)segregation – even though integration (Assim)socio-economically feasible and discrimination (Strat) abated

Occurs because cultural + economic aspects of (im)migration are decoupled

Resurgent Ethnicity II

Resurgent Ethnicity patterning occurs in (at least) three ways.

1. Spillover Effects related to invasion-succession; traditional enclaves and neighbors are insufficient to hold newcomers

2. Chain Migration; ties of immigrants with “assimilated” relatives or friends leads to settlement near them

3. High socio-economic status immigrants; settle directly in more affluent locales

Resurgent Ethnicity articulated in terms of immigrants, but …

Applies also to native-borns in traditional racial/ethnic enclaves who experience SES increase, and

Choose traditional enclave or another racial/ethnic enclave that is commensurate with their SES.

Resurgent Ethnicity III

Implies two types of racial/ethnic neighborhood –

1. Traditional Enclaves that expand, absorb lower SES,less culturally assimilated immigrants, and native-borns

2. New Racial/Ethnic Neighborhoods in more affluent (??)areas, providing shelter to entrepreneurs. professionals, etc

Chain Migration is common to both types of concentration,Spillover effects apply to traditional racial/ethnic enclavesSocio-Economic Status effects apply to resurgent ethnicity Neighborhoods.

Spatial-Social Polarization is an outcome

Heterolocalism parallel: “applies to recent populations of shared [racial/]ethnic identity [in] … a dispersed pattern of residential location, … while maintaining strong social cohesion… despite the lack of propinquity” (Zelinsky + Lee 1998, p. 293)

Class Culture Structure Agency

Addressed Addressed Addressed 1 AddressedAs socio-economic English language ability Neighbors, societal Individual choice seen

status increases improves, minorities attitudes, and real as the operant forceminorities choose become accultured estate institutions

better, more towards middle-class, create barriers toCaucasian Caucasian values, minorities

neighborhoods and move accordingly

Not Addressed Addressed Addressed Not AddressedRacial/ethnic prejudice Real estate agents,

and real estate mortgage lenders, discrimination prevent housing markets, and

minorities from residing related institutionsin more Caucasian, purposively act to

better-off neighborhoods segregate minorities

Addressed Addressed Not Addressed AddressedAs socio-economic In-group atttraction Individual choice and

status increases leads minorities to reside preferences are theminorities choose in proximity to others of operant force

better neighborhoods the same racial/ethnicgroup

Addressed Not Addressed Addressed AddressedAs socio-economic Real estate agents, Individual choice and

status increases mortgage lenders preferences are theminorities choose housing markets, operant force

better neighborhoods the government, and in accordance with related institutions

personal preferences purposively act to open markets and

increase home ownershipamong minorities

Notes: 1. Structure is implicit, not explicit

Essentials of Residential Patterning FrameworksTable 1: Class-Culture and Structure-Agency

Resurgent Ethnicity

Market-Led Pluralism

Assimilation

Stratification

Stepping Away; Adjusting Our Lenses

1. Increasing racial/ethnic profile of suburbs, Ethnoburb, Safron Suburb

2. Discriminatory housing practices (Strat) greatly attenuated in impact

3. Inertia effects visible, but Stratification processes not strong in today’s residential sorting

4. Heterogeneous neighborhoods per se (Assim) not necessarily attractive + thus a marginal or irrelevant criteria in housing choice

5. Segmented Assimilation has currency but word “assimilation” carries baggage, and limits understanding current-day dynamics, especiallybecause the process can be only partially assimilation

6. Resurgent Ethnicity more applicable current day, but how pervasive isin-group attraction as driver of racial/ethnic residential patterning??

7. Racial/ethnic clusters might occur from personal networks/contacts as much as preference (or both) so assessing Resurgent Ethnicity is difficult

8. All frameworks miss “Market Makers” –

** MARKET-LED PLURALISM **

Market-Led Pluralism Components --

Developers -- unveil new urban spaces with culturally open communities

Lending Agencies -- provide highly affordable mortgages to increasingly wide range of households

Government Policies directed to affordable housing, home ownership as national priority, American dream commitment

Real Estate Brokers/Agents -- discriminatory practices of past are illegal, profit reducing, and beside the point

Consumers -- preferences, tempered by affordability, is shared, notdifferentiated, along racial/ethnic lines

Communities -- own development agenda impacts housing markets

Facilitating these are –

Information that is pervasive + fluid (web, e-mail, cell phone)

Procedures that are more systematized, automated, transparent

Class-type elements, e.g. affordability and amenities (housing, Neighborhood), dominate consumption equation; not Culture

Well working market mechanisms characterize new reality

Market-Led Pluralism Summary I

Represents commercial perspective on today’s housing market, Owning and renting

Today’s markets – open/dynamic -- compared w/ 20+ yearsago (Stratification)

Transportation improvements, regional planning, spatially dispersed employment opportunities -- loosened monocentric city grip – spatial spread/expansion

Developers respond w/ enormous array of multi-household projects, often billed as “communities”

-- single-family dwellings, traditional condominiums, condominiumarrangements of single-family dwellings, rental properties

– projects aimed at full range of market in terms of income-- in the process, also opens market of former residences

(positive filtering)

Empirical Evidence on Builder Impact --

NYT reports New River community in Tampa MSA, exurban, one county removed from central city, has

“38 percent Hispanic, 24 percent white, and 16 percent black.”

More indirectly, considering influential segment of population who continually relocate (relos) in moving up corporate ladder, NYT notes

“relos have segregated themselves, less by the old barriers of race,religion and national origin than by age, family status, education and,especially, income.”

Columbus -- Table 2 highlights population characteristics of six sub/ex-urban municipalities + one MSA county that experienced significant growth since 1990, largely through construction of new homes + communities by builders (as on Figure 1)

In all seven examples, minority population growth, ranging from 160 to 850 percent between 1990 and 2000, out-stripped growth of political unit overall.

1990 2000 1990 2000 1990 2000 1990 2000 1990 2000 1990 2000 1990 2000

Total Population 16366 31392 19661 27075 11579 24230 1621 3711 5668 9792 25748 32069 66929 109989

Percent Population

African American 0.9 1.7 0.5 1.5 0.7 1.5 0.8 1.6 1.5 3.7 4.1 10.4 2.1 2.5

Asian 4.5 7.4 0.4 0.6 0.8 3.5 0.1 2.7 0.7 1.4 1.5 1.7 0.6 1.5

Hispanic 0.7 1.0 0.5 1.2 0.9 1.8 0.4 0.8 0.8 1.3 0.9 1.8 0.5 1.0

Percent Minority (AA, A, H) 6.1 10.1 1.4 3.3 2.4 6.8 1.3 5.1 3.0 6.4 6.5 13.9 3.2 5.0

Percent Minority Grow th 217.5 211.1 496.0 850.0 271.2 169.7 159.8

Percent Population Grow th 91.8 37.7 109.3 128.9 72.8 24.5 64.3

Foreign Born(pct) 4.9 9.1 0.8 1.2 1.5 4.2 0.5 5.8 2.1 2.3 2.5 3.6 1.7 2.6

Median Household Income 71996.0 91162.0 34350.0 52064 36415.0 69015.0 39333.0 102180.0 45862.0 63664.0 37169.0 51108.0 37896.0 67258.0

Median Home Value 181600.0 243200.0 75200.0 120600 72800.0 157600.0 102400.0 452900.0 87300.0 137900.0 78700.0 123000.0 95900.0 190400.0

Source: 1990 and 2000 Census of the United States, American FactFinder

Delaw are CountyGrove City

Table 2: Selected Governing Unit/Municipality Characteristics; 1990 and 2000

Dublin Hilliard New Albany Pickerington Reynoldsburg

Role of Building sector in Market-Led Pluralism context --

Builders target broad range of markets, rent and own segments

Building in large quantities, communities, away from metro center, reflecting land availability and cost

Housing supply, from entry-level to luxury, across full range of price-points

Reflects market and anticipated demand at any given level.

Amount of construction fueled by enormous increase in people with ability to own, (recounted in Lending Section).

Building is race/ethnicity-blind, but if R/E dimension in market, may be addressed explicitly through advertising, welcoming gestures, etc.

Creates derivative supply of older houses so segments can improve living conditions -- “filtering up”

Effect is centrifugal loosening of spatial patterns representing R/E aspects of residential mosaic

Class-, not culture- considerations are paramount in this segment of M-LP

Market-Led Pluralism Summary II

Moving products facilitated by burgeoning range of mortgage instruments + agencies, especially in past decade.

Undergirding these are government initiatives carried out by FHA, FannieMae, FreddieMac, HUD, etc

-- loosened mortgage + loan programs considerably-- pressed for racial/ethnic opportunities in housing-- promoted American Dream to/for all-- supported outreach that educates public in home buying

procedures/possibilities

Exhortations not merely sloganeering or vote-getting exercises;real and lots of $$$; potential gains for business/NGOs enormous;they respond accordingly

“Today’s home purchase parallel to mindset in automobile buying;How much per month; current costs, future not factored in“

FannieMae American Dream Commitment Program in 2000 for

“first time home buyers [so that] 18 million minority and underservedAmericans can own or rent a home by the end of the decade”

“with housing and lending partners, we launched a wide range ofmortgage innovations and initiatives that brought low-cost, consumer-friendly home financing to new people and places, and made it easierfor minority families and the working poor to get their foot in the door ofhomeownership or obtain safe, decent, affordable rental housing”

An informant who specializes in mortgages noted

“Consumers are much more educated today, at all SES levels. In 1990,when conventional mortgages were the norm, buyers often didn’t evenknow the difference between [or consequences of] a fixed or variable rate.Today ... major developers and lenders make a point of informing andeducating people ... Also, home ownership is perceived by the market asmuch more possible, whereas that wasn’t the case in 1990.”

Same informant drew parallel today’s housing market and automobiles;

“[just as] you can get into a new car for so much per month; the pitch [intoday’s housing market] is [often] in terms of present or current costs, notfuture costs”

Role of Lending Sector in Market-Led Pluralism context --

Burgeoning increase in mortgage products over last two decades, housing accessibility increases rapidly expanding segment of pop

Major impetus has been federal government commitment to home ownership + American Dream, institutions such as Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Federal National Mortgage Association (FannieMae)

Embraces partnering of government + private enterprise, provides distinct incentives; private sector responded resoundingly

Target of home ownership programs is lower income households, where race/ethnicity characteristics are over represented, but R/E + Fair Housing practices also explicit concern of programs

Mortgage lending also enters rental unit market by programs + policies designed to increase R/E representation in quality rental units dispersed throughout metro area

Spatial manifestation of govt program related mortgages in Columbus is highly uneven, visually correlates with maps showing the locations of R/E minorities + lower-priced new communities (building sector)

Culture-type considerations play significant role in this segment of M-L P

The Home Mortgage Market I

Traditionally dominated by Savings-Loans + conventional mortgages where pct of house price (typically 20%) paid up front. Changed dramatically in 1990s, opening home ownership to enormously wider spectrum of the population

1. Full service banks + specialized lending agencies now major players

2. Specialized lending agencies incl brokers who shop for mortgage countrywide via web etc (e.g., California lender finances Columbus home buyer)

3. Mortgages immediately factored to secondary market comprised of large nation-wide banks (e.g., Wells Fargo) or govt-created entities (e.g., FreddieMac) – reduces/eliminates lender risk, increases capital turnover, stimulates market

4. Mortgage products proliferated -- FHA + VA programs, available for decades; now Fed Nat’l Mortgage Assoc (FannieMae) Community Home Buyer Programs (offer “low or no down payment”), buy-down mortgages, sub-prime lending, wrapping closing costs into mortgage itself, etc

5. Loosened credit rating requirements; e.g., debt to income ratio, typically 28/36 for conventional mtg-s but 29/41 for FHA mtg-s, + treated with greaterflexibility

Impact – Enormously expands the pool of potential home buyers!!

The Home Mortgage Market II

Major impetus for proliferation is government/government-related entities

FannieMae -- American Dream Commitment Program -- for “first time home buyers, 18 million minority/underserved can own/rent a home by end of decade”“we launched wide range of mortgage innovations and initiatives that brought low-cost, consumer-friendly home financing to new people ... made it easier for minority families/working poor to get foot in door of homeownership or ... safe, decent, affordable rental housing”

US Department of Housing and Urban Development -- “HUD's mission is to increase homeownership, support community development, increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination”; claims that “Homeownership is a National Priority”

President Bush -- wants to “increase the minority homeowners by at least 5.5 million before the end of decade” and proposed “zero-down-payment initiative”

Rental housing programs – e.g., Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) authorizes “States ... to issue Federal tax credits for the acquisition, rehabilitation, new construction of affordable rental housing ... a project must have specific proportion of units set aside for lower income households and rents on these units limited to 30 percent of qualifying income”

The Home Mortgage Market II – Continued

Exhortations not merely sloganeering or vote-getting exercises.

Huge amounts of government $$$ back up what is said

Efforts are “partnered” with financial institutions, local governments, real estate professionals, housing lenders, builders, and nonprofit housing organizations

Simply put –

Potential gains for NGOs and business entities have been -- and are -- enormous

And they have responded accordingly.

The Home Mortgage Market III -- Responses

1. Developers (M/I, Dominion, Maronda) created/integrated financial arm within Firm (M/I Financial, Dominion Financial, MFC Mortgage)

2. Numerous free-standing mortgage agencies, in addition to full-service banks – e.g., Broadview Mortgage w/ offices throughout Ohio

3. Typical web site outlines home buying process (Home Buyers Guide, FAQs), describes loan products (Your Loan Options, Calculators), facilitates application (Apply On Line, Pre-Qualify Now), encourages personal contact (Talk With Us Today, Free Consultation)

4. Products include Blemished Credit Options, down payment assistance, no minimum credit score to qualify, adjustable rate mortgages with a below-market fixed rate for three years

5. Photos each “Home Loan Expert” with homey, comforting words -- “Call, e-mail, or visit Melanie ...[she] understands true meaning of customer service, Dedicated, ensures best mortgage products and rates”

6. Photo of Melanie indicates she is African American; a Spanish family name is common among staff; often home page has “Se Habla Espanol”

The Home Mortgage Market IV -- Consequences

Bank VP who specializes in mortgages noted that --

1. “Consumers much more educated today, at all SES levels. In 1990, when conventional mortgages were norm, buyers often didn’t even know difference between [or consequences of] fixed or variable rate. Today ... major developers and lenders make point of informing/educating ... Also, home ownership is perceived by market as much more possible; wasn’t case in 1990.”

2. A parallel between today’s housing market and automobiles where “youcan get into a new car for so much per month; the pitch [in today’s housing market] is [often] in terms of present or current costs, not future costs”

3. Consequence of focus on current costs and low/no down-payments isforeclosure increases, especially in a down economy when individuals lose jobs. Scenario (i) -- interest rates rise for adjustable rate mortgages, which are less expensive initially. Scenario (ii) -- new houses, when property taxes kick in year or so after purchase. Scenario (iii) -- minimal/zero down-payment, home owner does not have cushion to cover real estate commissions and other selling costs.

4. In Franklin County OH new foreclosure filings between 1994 and 2001 rosefrom 1552 to 5007, with especially dramatic jump (32%) between 2000 + 2001.

Market-Led Pluralism Summary III

On demand side,

Individuals respond to opportunity, within affordability constraint; realize amenities such as owning home, space/parks, school district choice, proximity to work, etc

Overall,

Profit + consumption are pervasive in equation, as alwaysMarket is open because discriminatory practices are illegal, less-

or un-profitable, confronted by households (Stratification)Individual decisions might be driven by desire to assimilate or

live with one’s own ((Segmented) Assimilation, ResurgentEthnicity); some discriminatory practices (Stratification)continue

In terms of variance explained, however, Market-Led Pluralismaccounts for extraordinarily high proportion of the change in racial/ethnic residential patterns, at least since 1990

“Under some circumstances ... brokers are more interested in preventingethnic tipping, and thereby preserving their white customer base, thanthey are in serving the interests of black or Hispanic customers.” (Yinger)

“If many real estate agents have ‘a smiling face’ but a bigoted spirit, theyhave been doing a mighty poor job of keeping blacks out of whiteneighborhoods” (Thernstrom + Thernstrom)

When it comes to color, all he knows is that “money is green” (Agent)

“Our team has added a Spanish-speaking agent, Spanish-speakingmortgage lender, title company that speaks the language ... also I'veinvested in tapes to bring back Spanish that I haven't used in 50 years”

Not simply benevolence or enlightenment -- “potential sanctions under current law include six- + seven-figure .. damage awards for victims” (Farley-Squires)

”Realtors today aren’t as concerned about fair housing and stuff [like that]so much as mold ... issue isn’t so much whose selling and whose buying[as it is] disclosure, disclosure, disclosure.”

“sure, [legal] sanctions may not get down to the level of someone likemyself ... but even if they did, self interest … is a good consumer product… whole business geared to having real estate be a good thing -- Boardof Realtors to big developers + banks on down [to local guy like me] --they’re all trying to create a quality [dependable, trustworthy] experience”

Role of Selling + Renting sector in Market-Led Pluralism --

Discriminatory practices continue in housing market, but empirical evidence (e.g., “Audit Studies”) indicates they constitute small share of real estate + rental transactions; have dropped dramatically over past three decades; continue to drop at steady pace

Home owner informants gave no hint of encountering such practices, and other informants + map patterns, buttress conclusion that selling + renting practices are, mostly, distinctly non-discriminatory

Shift reflects potential sanctions stemming from government policy and legal rulings; that discriminatory practices not linked to income as they were thirty years ago; that for many, maybe most, focus is taken up by other, more pressing concerns (e.g., mold, disclosures, inspections, termites)

Related to latter is crossing of two trends over past three decades -- enormous decrease in racial/ethnic aversion at personal + institutional level; an enormous increase in consumer advocacy laws, practices, expectations

Culture-type considerations were once paramount in this segment of M-LP, but class- considerations dominate today

AA C AA C AA C AA C AA C AA C

In Choosing Your House and

Neigborhood, How Important

Were the Follow ing:

Good Investment or Resale Value 5.91 5.92 1.42 1.19 56 871 5.85 5.94 1.36 1.21 142 1525 q56

Economic Characteristics of the Neighborhood 5.48 5.49 1.66 1.28 52 831 5.35 5.39 1.56 1.35 130 1458 q62

Racial Composition of the Neighborhood 4.32 3.54 1.88 1.81 44 743 3.90 3.46 1.81 1.83 98 1261 q63

Safety of the Neighborhood 6.07 6.04 1.24 1.06 54 849 5.98 5.98 1.26 1.15 133 1485 q64

Community Recreational Opportunities 4.38 4.04 1.93 1.85 40 742 4.25 3.83 1.99 1.89 99 1278 q70

Schools:

Reputation of Schools 5.52 5.67 1.85 1.78 44 705 5.33 5.57 1.99 1.78 106 1248 q60

Quality of Academic Programs 5.85 5.94 2.00 1.68 34 641 5.71 5.84 1.79 1.71 90 1138 q73

Quality of Athletic or Extracurricular Programs 5.14 5.14 2.19 1.95 35 621 5.15 5.05 1.97 1.95 89 1104 q74

Racial Composition of the Student Body 4.00 3.68 2.28 1.89 28 587 3.95 3.63 2.27 1.93 74 1020 q75

Economic Status of the Student Body 4.06 3.91 2.36 1.79 34 597 4.15 3.88 2.15 1.86 85 1048 q76

Special Programs in Schools (e.g., gifted, arts, sciences) 4.73 4.92 2.45 1.99 33 606 4.74 4.78 2.11 2.00 84 1070 q77

Safety in Schools 5.42 5.71 2.15 1.76 38 627 5.44 5.66 1.93 1.77 93 1113 q78

Quality of School District's Buildings and Facilities 5.16 5.42 2.16 1.77 38 624 5.26 5.32 1.92 1.77 94 1108 q79

Notes:

Respondents rated items on a Lickert Scale from 1 for Not Very Important through 7 for Very Important.

AA indicates African American respondent; C indicates Caucasian respondent

For all questions, there is no signif icant difference betw een the Mean Scores of AA and C at the 95% confidence level.

Question numbers in the original survey are indicated in the last column

RespondingDeviationMean Score

Columbus Seven County MSA

Standard Number

Table 3: House and Neighborhood Preferences of Recent Movers, Columbus Ohio 1998

Mean Score Deviation Responding

Standard Number

Franklin County

Findings on Preferences --

For all thirteen items, no significant difference between Caucasians (C) and African Americans (AA) for MSA or Franklin County (F)

Relative importance of items among the set of thirteen.

Least important is Racial Composition of the Neighborhood and Racial Composition of school’s Student Body, the dimension given most attention in earlier research

Economic Status of Student Body also is relatively unimportant

Most important items are Good Investment or Resale Value, Safety of Neighborhood, Quality of Academic Programs

Range of opinion -- consistently more divergence among African Americans than Caucasians + while not statistically different, AA’s are noticeably more concerned with Racial Composition of the Neighborhood and Student Body

From New Home Consultant for a builder --

“quality of life is the primary motivation for choosing a home, not the color of the neighbors ... Blacklick Ridge is pretty much a melting pot ... [and if there is a specific criteria] one thing people often say is ‘I want to live in a neighborhood where parents expect their children to attend college’”

Thernstrom and Thernstrom --

note that middle-class African Americans are as prone to avoid poorer, higher crime, lower amenity neighborhoods as are Caucasians; that despite the parallelism, racism is attributed to Caucasians but not African Americans, when in fact -- “The views of middle-class blacks ... are not basically different from those of whites.”

Three-plus decades of racial/ethnic mixing in schools, work place, places of consumption -- together with policy shifts, new laws, successful legal challenges -- dramatic effect in terms of change in R/E aversions

“These scouts, young people, are black, green, red, all kinds. They don't have the background of what ... occurred 20-30 years ago ... don't have a clue what the Vietnam War was about, the post war reaction of mid-70's, race riots ... moved forward [to the point that] they don’t understand characters such as Archie Bunker [of sit-com, All in the Family, fame] making fun [of prejudice] ... I find them open to ideas, willing to work with each other ... everywhere I go [with the scouts and elsewhere] I find diversity ... its change ... and we [also] find it in the approach to ... the overall market.”

Thernstrom and Thernstrom --“ ... half a century ago, most white Americans were distinctly uneasy about ... having black people ... in their neighborhoods ... [but] by 1972 ... the number [with this concern] ... had fallen so much that the question disappeared from surveys. It wasn’t an issue anymore. ... Prejudice against sharing a neighborhood with African Americans has declined so precipitously that whites today are ... far more nervous about ... having a next-door neighbor who ... is a religious fanatic than ... having one who is black.”

Role of Consumer sector in Market-Led Pluralism context --

Given available housing (Build sector), funds for buying or renting (Lend sector), that discriminatory biases are not introduced by market agents (Sell-Rent sector), racial/ethnic representation in any given place will depend on, reflect, consumer preferences

We argue -- Consumption equation of seeking neighborhood + housing amenities, tempered by affordability, is shared, not differentiated by R/E

Supported by informant data, survey of 1998 home buyers, by circumstantial reasoning regarding marked decline in R/E aversion due to mixing in schools, work, places of consumption

Sample of 1998 home buyers indicates, in choosing new home, racial composition of neighborhood + schools was least important of 13 housing preference items, for both AA’s C’s, and these groups did not significantly differ from one another in this preference, or others

Calls into question focus, and current-day relevance of earlier research that dwells on neighborhood composition in terms of race

Class-, not culture- considerations are paramount in this segment of M-LP

Role of Local Communities in Market-Led Pluralism context --

Residential expansion occurs within context set by local communities, which impose own development agenda, or lack there of, on markets

Driving agenda -- economic growth, enhancing/protecting tax base, creating/maintaining community style, pop size, avoiding strangle by (other) suburbs

Agenda may vary in breadth, from one/two community sectors (e.g., housing, education) to full range in balanced-growth manner

Tools -- include land annexation (thru utility provision, infrastructure enhancement), local government/administrative consolidation, zoning, architectural review, reconciling conflicting agendas

Important -- administrative capacity, foresight in planning process (when established, what kind of process, etc), community history

Within MSA, communities vary greatly in planning endeavors; spatially differentiated outcomes in cost, type, character of housing, related amenities. Race/ethnicity characteristics impacted accordingly

Employment associated with community affects pop composition

Class-, not culture- paramount, but culture motivation readily masked by planning agenda that is economically exclusive

“Pro-development is very common among municipalities -- most cities think that growth for growth’s sake is good -- others, but not many, say ‘growth of what kind’”

“some [leaders] are simply grasping for whatever they can get; others will say ‘no’ and hold out for what they want”.

“ ... development drives growth, but the city/township [unit] determines the kind of growth using zoning, architectural standards, design review, development standards [etc]”

Mission Statement of Cleveland Heights Ohio goal“To remain a leader in integration, assuring mutualrespect among a racially and culturally diverse

population”.

Employment Profile Effects -- Planned or Accidental --

S/W Columbus -- Defense Construction Supply Center (DCSC); well-paying, good-benefit jobs, more often custodial, office clerk, blue collar-type sectors; staffed by (former) armed forces, many African American or other minorities / Similarly, Rickenbacker Port Authority complex, former military base -- Both preceded Pickerington + Reynoldsburg development

North Franklin County and beyond is more high tech, new economy, white collar positions, higher education expectations / Cardinal Health Corporate Office, Compuserve-WorldCom (formerly), Limited Corporate Office, Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), Scott Lawn Care Corporate Office, Verizon Wireless, Wendy’s Corporate Office -- Ohio Wesleyan, Otterbein, other institutions of higher learning -- major US Honda plant accompanied by many Asian-based suppliers

Delaw are Fairf ield Licking Madison Pickaw ay Union

County County County County County County

Total Population 58580 61476 72422 18205 22281 20826

Percent Employed In

Management and professional occupations 45.6 32.2 29.2 25.9 26.2 27.1

Service occupations 10.7 13.4 14.5 14.9 14.2 13.8

Sales and off ice occupations 27.4 28.7 27.7 25.7 25.7 26.3

Farming, f ishing, forestry occupations 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.8

Construction, extraction, maintenance occupations 6.6 10.2 10.5 11.3 11.9 8.7

Production, transportation, material moving occupations 9.4 15.3 17.7 21.7 21.4 23.4

Percent Population

African American 2.5 2.7 2.1 6.2 6.4 2.8

Asian 1.5 0.7 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.5

Hispanic 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.8

Percent Minority (AA, A, H) 5.0 4.2 3.5 7.3 7.2 4.1

Foreign Born(pct) 2.6 1.3 1.1 1.1 0.7 1.0

Household Income 67258.0 47962.0 44124 44212 42832 51743

Median Home Value 190400.0 129500.0 110700 104300 112400 128800

Source: 2000 Census of the United States, American FactFinder

Table 4: MSA County Employment Profiles and Related Characteristics, Excluding Franklin

Table 4 --

Delaware County, coherent forward-looking planning,

Relative strength in Management + ProfessionalLess in Service, Construction-Maintenance, Production-Transportation occupations

Highest household income and home valueMinority representation 5.0% (3rd highest);

African American 2.5% (norm)

Madison + Pickaway Counties

Lowest in Management + ProfessionalHighest in Construction-Maintenance, Service,

Production-TransportationIncome and home value at very bottom endMinority representation, 7.3% + 7.2 % (highest);

African Americans 6.2% + 6.4% (highest)

Concluding Observations on Market-Led Pluralism --

M-LP directly reflects workings of today’s housing market within which race/ethnicity distinctions occur

An account of how things operate, not abstraction, unlike many social science frameworks.

Our thinking embraces the profit-motive and related self-interest mechanisms as a dominant force in R/E issues; eg --

Discriminatory practices, central to the stratification framework, proliferated and continued only so long asfinancial gain was there; in general, no longer the case

As places of work and consumption become increasingly multiE/R, fading of Caucasian ideal such that

assimilation per se becomes marginal/irrelevant inhousing choice, heterogeneous neighborhoods notattractive in themselves, personal utility functions shifttowards more contemporary concerns (schools, safety,investment value), and are shared, not R/E distinct

In different venue -- “the ski industry is ... realizing ... it has to go multicultural to grow, How white do you think your resort can be in 35 years and still be in business?”

Wynter (2002) -- “The much maligned melting pot ... is bubbling again ... this time whiteness itself is finally being dissolved into a larger identity that includes blacks, Hispanics, and Asians ... big business turned up that flame …while white privilege still obtains in America, it’s becoming a luxury that’s less and less fashionable and more and more costly to maintain … I can’t imagine corporate capital supporting the cost of whiteness past its economic retirement age. Never forget: The underlying motivation for the institution of political whiteness has always been economic first and social second. Hence no economic return, no more whiteness.”