The Process of Black Suburbanization

Abstract

In the past three decades, one of the major trends in metropolitan areas has been the substantial increase in the size of the suburban population. Until the most recent decade, blacks were not a significant part of this trend. In the decade of the 1960's more than 800,000 blacks moved from the central cities to suburban parts of metropolitan areas. While the black proportion of the total population did not change as a result of this movement, this is only because white outmigration continued at a high level.While there have been numerous studies of black mobility, and separately of blacks in the suburbs, there have been no systematic inquiries into the process by which this migration takes place. This thesis is an investigation of the process of black suburbanization. The hypothesis suggests that black suburbanization is a function of the level of black "effective demand." The thesis is organized around three elements to test this hypothesis. Who, among blacks move to the suburbs, what type of physical setting (housing and neighborhood) do they move to, and what pattern emerges in their settlement? Census data and case studies are the sources of data.With respect to the first element --who among blacks moved to the suburbs --the major finding was that those who move were younger and better off (economically) than incumbent black suburbanites or blacks who are in the central city. This finding is contrary to the conventional wisdom based on earlier censuses, and comes through quite convincingly when the gross population flows are examined.It was also found that characteristics of the housing and the neighborhood were very closely related to the level of well-being and the percentage of blacks in the neighborhood. For example, lower-income blacks were in neighborhoods with the worst physical characteristics and the greatest percentage of black population. The better-off blacks were in newer areas where there were fewer, but more recently migrant blacks. In the past three decades, one of the major trends in metropolitan areas has been the substantial increase in the size of the suburban population. Until the most recent decade, blacks were not a significant part of this trend. In the decade of the 1960's more than 800,000 blacks moved from the central cities to suburban parts of metropolitan areas. While the black proportion of the total population did not change as a result of this movement, this is only because white outmigration continued at a high level.While there have been numerous studies of black mobility, and separately of blacks in the suburbs, there have been no systematic inquiries into the process by which this migration takes place. This thesis is an investigation of the process of black suburbanization. The hypothesis suggests that black suburbanization is a function of the level of black "effective demand."The thesis is organized around three elements to test this hypothesis. Who, among blacks, move to the suburbs, what type of physical setting (housing and neighborhood) they move to, and what patte...

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