THE EFFECT OF PUBLIC HOUSING ON BLACK SEGREGATION IN U.S. METROPOLITAN AREAS

Data were taken from the US Census the American Housing Survey and from a special report obtained from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to examine how the concentration of blacks in federally-funded public housing affects their standing on 3 dimensions of residential segregation -- unevenness isolation and clustering. A set of 60 metropolitan areas were selected for analysis including the 50 largest Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs) plus 10 others with large populations of Hispanics. It was hypothesized that the segregation of blacks in urban society is increased by their disproportionate concentration in public housing. The estimated percentage of public housing units inhabited by blacks varied considerably across metropolitan areas ranging from a low of 10.6% in Los Angeles to a high of 98.7% in Chicago with an overall value of about 50%. Black representation in public housing was lowest in areas where there are other large disadvantaged minority groups as in San Francisco Miami Bakersfield Corpus Christi Dallas San Diego and San Antonio. The black proportion was greatest in areas with especially large poor black populations such as Chicago New York Cleveland Detroit and Newark. The hypothesis was confirmed to the extent that the size racial composition and relative number of blacks within public housing projects strongly affected the level of black segregation across metropolitan areas once appropriate controls were introduced. The hypothesis was rejected to the extent that the relationship between black public housing concentration and segregation was much more complex than initially hypothesized. Once public housing variables were controlled black income played no significant role in the determination of segregation. Income affected segregation primarily by altering the allocation of blacks between public or private housing. Public housing had definite and pronounced impacts on levels of residential segregation within American cities and these effects may be growing over time. The net aggregate impact of a higher concentration of blacks in public housing was to lower their segregation in society. Yet within any particular metropolitan area black segregation may be increased depending on which pathway predominates direct or indirect. The open possibility that either the direct or indirect effects prevail suggests that the provision of federally-funded public housing does not inevitably promote the segregation of blacks in urban society but depends on how public housing projects are controlled and managed by officials in charge of them.