Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Brown University study: Chicago is the most segregated city in America

Posted in:

Illinois
Updated Posts

In terms of segregation between white and Black residents, Chicago is the most segregated city in America, according to data from Brown University.

Chicago’s white-Black dissimilarity index has declined from 90.61 in 1980 to 80.04 in 2020, according to the Brown University data. Dissimilarity index is a measurement of the percentage of either group, in a given pair, that would have to move in order for the two groups to be evenly distributed in any given area.

However, Chicago’s 2020 figure for white-Black segregation ranked first among all cities, of any size, for which data was available. Chicago has ranked first among big cities for decades — Cleveland had a higher mark in 1990 — but smaller cities have posted higher figures in previous years. […]

The Chicago-Naperville-Evanston metropolitan division, defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as Cook, DuPage, Grundy, McHenry and Will counties in Illinois, ranked fifth. The Gary metropolitan division, which covers Jasper, Lake, Newton and Porter counties in northwest Indiana, ranked sixth. […]

Illinois ranked first among all states in the nation in the share of Black residents living in census tracts that are at least 90% Black, according to a WBEZ analysis of 2020 census data.

There’s more.

…Adding… Tribune…

When Walmart shuttered four Chicago stores in April, the closures set off a familiar pattern of dialogue across the city.

Residents of the majority-Black and Latino neighborhoods where three of the four shuttered stores were located worried the closures would make it harder for them to access affordable, fresh food. Elected officials, including then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot, slammed the abrupt nature of the closures, and questions emerged about whether Walmart had received government subsidies for opening stores in the city.

Walmart did not directly receive any tax incentives for the Chicago stores it closed. But two of the stores it shuttered, a Neighborhood Market grocery store in Grand Boulevard and a Supercenter in Chatham that also included a low-cost health clinic and a job training academy, were part of developments the city subsidized with tax increment financing dollars.

Public funds for both projects went to the sites’ developers. In both cases, the city required those developers to maintain certain levels or types of retail occupancy on their properties. But those requirements expired in December 2022. Months later, Walmart announced it would close the stores down.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 10:21 am

Comments

Decades of failed leadership?

Comment by Red headed step child Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 10:32 am
Saying redlining without actually saying redlining

Folks in power still lack an understanding of history

Comment by halving_fun Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 10:34 am
It’s redlining. It’s also Mayor Richard J. Daley putting the kibosh on the CHA’s plans for scattered site public housing.

Comment by JoanP Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 10:41 am
Nothing drove this home more than campaigning in Cook County. Drive 6 blocks and you could tell the racial/ethnic makeup of the neighborhood changed completely. There was no mixing even between neighborhoods.

Comment by ElTacoBandito Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 10:51 am
Once we kwit teeching critical race theory to kindergartners all will be ok.

Comment by Jerry Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 10:52 am
In Chicago, diversity is a one-way street. You’re not going to solve the diversity problem by labeling “outsiders” as gentrifiers.

Comment by City Zen Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 11:06 am
That’s an interesting point CZ. When hipsters, many of whom are white and young, move into low income minority neighborhoods like Pilsen or Logan Square, they are seen as invaders. There is a whole cottage industry sprouting up around anti-gentrification and a lot of revisionist history is happening.

Gentrification can be a bad thing, but you can’t on one hand demand investment in under-resourced communities and on the other hand, vilify the investors. Or can you?

In Chicago, apparently you can.

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 11:18 am
So how do you make people live together that don’t want to live together?
When you say it’s disinvestment in neighborhoods of color, do you just throw money at it? If you build tons of new stuff you don’t think the haves are going to move in and displace the have-nots?
How do you get retailers to stay in neighborhoods when they are losing money?
The government can’t own and run everything.

Comment by Frida’s boss Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 11:30 am
===So how do you make people live together that don’t want to live together?===

Maybe take a step back and realize that this post is about Chicago being an outlier, not the norm. Also, maybe think about what a statement like that says about yourself.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 11:36 am
Was Walmart really losing money? Most stores that come into black and brown communities do suffer from insider theft, yes people steal out of those stores, but some of those locations are some of the highest-grossing locations. So they are still making a profit. The question is why do they allow self-checkout in those stores if loss is such a big issue? They calculate those losses before they ever move into certain communities.IF stores like walmart was really serious about staying in they would have requested that the government subsidy continues i am sure they would have gotten those funds.

On the segregation issue, white people chose to move off the westside they didn’t want to live with black people, insurance companies didn’t want to help stores rebuild so they moved to new locations, thus hurting the west side in terms of economics. I lived in a part of chicago thats going thru gentrification- west loop it was amazing as white folks moved in police presence picked up, saw a grocery store come in, got a starbucks, streets paved, but saw all my neighbors get priced out. So they never benefited from the changes.

Comment by austinman Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 11:48 am
The problem with gentrification is it results in people having to pay more for rent, sometimes more than they can afford, other times they just pay 40-50% for their rent to stay.
I’m not sure how to avoid that and attract investment to under-invested neighborhoods.

And I think it’s a mistake to ignore the 1980s(!) redlining, too. The mistakes of the past never seem to really go away, especially when they locked in patterns.

For food, I think a charity that runs grocery stores would not just be a boon to underserved urban areas but underserved rural areas as well. By having it be a charity, each store wouldn’t have to make a profit, just aim to break even. It’s a charity I would certainly consider alongside the GCFD as a worthful charity.

Comment by cermak_rd Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 12:14 pm
so many deleted comments. lol

Comment by Chicago Republican Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 12:39 pm
Just one. Yours from a different username. Sockpuppetry is prohibited here.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 12:52 pm
We really need a new approach. Having once lived and worked in Atlanta- it was apparent to me that Blacks had achieved much greater economic parity than I observe here in Chicago. Black home ownership along with business ownership in Atlanta was and remains far greater. Someone smarter than me might have an explanation but the relationship between African Americans and white people in Atlanta was very different than it is here. I truly don’t comprehend why a City like Atlanta being in the South seems to be so far more modern in its race relations despite many people nog from GA thinking otherwise?

Comment by Sue Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 12:52 pm
Ehhhh, it’s hard to say what causes segregation. One theory is that Chicago is really pretty spread out, with lots of undeveloped land for new housing, so if you don’t like your neighbors, you can get out and move to an isolated place with more of your own kind.
Look at the South Suburbs: Blacks moved into Marquette Park, the Lithuanians moved out to Lemont. Blacks moved into South Holland & Homewood Flossmoor, whites moved out to Valparaiso and Palos. Blacks moved into Hillside & Maywood, whites moved out to Hoffman Estates & Schaumburg.
Is segregation a bad thing, though? Right now, CPS gets $30K to spend on a student. How would a more integrated CPS result in better student performance? Would it result in the same level of student performance as Schaumburg High, Stagg, Stevenson or Fremd? IDK the answer, just posing the question.

Comment by Old IL Dude Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 1:33 pm
Racism causes segregation. It’s not that hard to figure out.

Comment by Papa2008 Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 2:01 pm
“so if you don’t like your neighbors, you can get out and move to an isolated place with more of your own kind.”

I think you mean to say if you don’t like the race of your neighbors, you’re free to move away. And that racism is the cause.

Comment by ElTacoBandito Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 2:18 pm
Gentrification can be a bad thing, but you can’t on one hand demand investment in under-resourced communities and on the other hand, vilify the investors. Or can you?

In Chicago, apparently you can.

And therein lies a lot of the problem. Also our insistence on racial balanced wards by number, not by the population in each ward. Essentially our leaders, black, white and Hispanic self segregate every 10 years. This happens everywhere. Time to draw squares for election boundaries across the entire country and see what happens.

Comment by DMC Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 3:30 pm
=== I think you mean to say if you don’t like the race of your neighbors, you’re free to move away. And that racism is the cause. ===

Absolutely. And this is not a new concept. White flight is not a new term.

Comment by Hannibal Lecter Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 4:27 pm
======= I think you mean to say if you don’t like the race of your neighbors, you’re free to move away. And that racism is the cause. ===

Absolutely. And this is not a new concept. White flight is not a new term.====

Completely true, but it’s not just White Flight. There were so many middle-class Black families who did not want to live in traditionally AA Chicago neighborhoods when CHA tore down the projects. Places like Pill Hill & Chatham went from solid middle-class AA neighborhoods to higher crime areas, so many moved to safer South Suburbs like Matteson, Homewood and South Holland. It’s remarkable to see the demographics of Homewood-Flossmoor HS now as compared to 20 years ago.

My point is that, unlike NYC or Boston, in Chicagoland you can relocate to another area that has the “right” socio-economic make-up for you & your family. And that includes wanting to be in the same racial or religious majority of “your” people. Look at Bridgeview, and the large numbers of Muslims who want to live in that area due to its sizable Muslim community. Is it wrong that they don’t want to live in Cicero? Or Devon Ave? Or Elgin?

Comment by Old IL Dude Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 4:37 pm
With apologies to the late great Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer of the Cranberries, “It’s the same old theme, since 1919, in your head, in your head, they’re still fightin”

“Zombie” is one terrific song. Maybe Rich can use it some Friday afternoon as weekend exit music.

Comment by Gravitas Wednesday, Jun 21, 23 @ 5:00 pm