Racial Neighborhood Inequality in the United States, 1980-2010

这个研究项目将研究白人，黑人，西班牙裔和亚洲人居住在美国的社区的经济差异，尽管人们普遍认为黑人和西班牙裔通常居住在贫困率高于白人和亚洲人居住的社区，但很少有研究跟踪社区条件中种族差异的变化。 在之前的研究中，该项目的调查人员发现，在美国，社区经济条件的种族差异已经缩小，自1980年以来，种族社区不平等的下降速度远远快于种族居住隔离的下降速度。 由于先前对社区的研究主要集中在不同种族和民族的居住隔离的变化，种族社区不平等的趋势在很大程度上被忽视了，其原因也是未知的。 这个项目的目标是通过调查为什么它在一些大都市地区比其他地区下降得更快来解释种族邻里不平等的下降。研究人员认为，这种在很大程度上未被注意到的种族邻里不平等的下降是由于收入的重要性上升和种族的重要性下降，作为影响人们居住的因素。 这一理论将使用1980年、1990年、2000年和2010年美国所有大都市地区（占美国总人口的80%）的人口普查数据进行检验。一般来说，高收入社区拥有良好的学校、可靠的社会服务、低犯罪率和绿色空间。 低收入社区的特点恰恰相反。 因此，社区层面的种族不平等可能成为美国社会许多其他类型种族不平等的源泉。 与大量研究社区种族隔离的研究相反，没有研究采用统计学上最合适的方法来调查社区收入环境中的种族不平等。 这个项目将提供新的见解和信息，关于哪些群体正在与邻里经济环境融合，以及他们为什么这样做。因此，该项目将加强对当今美国种族不平等最关键的轴心之一的基本理解。 项目的研究结果将有助于政策制定者、知情公众和研究这一问题及相关主题的其他学者。 该项目还将为研究生提供宝贵的教育和培训机会。

This research project will examine economic differences in the neighborhoods where whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians live in the U.S. Although it is commonly believed that blacks and Hispanics generally live in neighborhoods where poverty rates are higher than they are in the neighborhoods where whites and Asians live, very little research has tracked the change in racial disparities in neighborhood conditions over time. In prior research, this project's investigators found that racial differences in neighborhood economic conditions have diminished in the U.S. Since 1980 the decline in racial neighborhood inequality has been much faster than the decline in racial residential segregation. Because prior research on neighborhoods has focused on change in the residential segregation of different racial and ethnic groups, the trend in racial neighborhood inequality has been largely overlooked, and its causes are unknown. The objective of this project is to account for the decline in racial neighborhood inequality by investigating why it has declined faster in some metropolitan areas than in others. The investigators theorize that this largely-unnoticed decline in racial neighborhood inequality is attributable to the rising importance of income and the declining importance of race as factors influencing where people reside. This theory will be tested using census data for all U.S. metropolitan areas (comprising 80 percent of the total U.S. population) in 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010.As a general rule, high-income neighborhoods have good schools, reliable social services, low crime rates, and green space. Low-income neighborhoods are characterized by the opposite. As a result, racial inequality at the neighborhood level likely serves as the wellspring for many other types of racial disparities in American society. In contrast to the large number of studies examining the racial segregation of neighborhoods, no studies have employed the most statistically appropriate methods for investigating racial inequality in neighborhood income environments. This project will provide new insights and information regarding which groups are converging with respect to neighborhood economic environments and why they are doing so. The project therefore will enhance basic understanding of one of the most crucial axes of racial inequality in America today. Project findings will be useful for policymakers, the informed public, and other scholars examining this and related topics. The project also will provide valuable education and training opportunities for graduate students.