Hurricane Katrina, Neighborhood Change, and Declining Residential Segregation in New Orleans

• In Event: 057 - Regular Session. Disaster

Abstract

The current study examines residential segregation in New Orleans before and after the 2005 landfall of Hurricane Katrina, in conjunction with other population changes occurring over the 1990 – 2010 time period. Previous literature has suggested that disasters can serve to further entrench existing racial disparities, thereby leaving us to expect a general increase in residential segregation. A more complicated picture arises, however, when we consider the interaction between property destruction, reconstruction policies, as well as population displacement and replacement. Drawing from tract-level census data and previous studies, we consider the contribution of flood damage, policies such as the Road Home program, the differential return migration of blacks and the sudden increase in the population of Hispanics in New Orleans to population restructuring and residential segregation. Segregation measures are calculated for the seven parishes in the New Orleans metropolitan area in 1990, 2000, and 2010 to show the impact of the storm across geographic units with different population and damage profiles. Preliminary results indicate that residential segregation between blacks and whites has declined between 2000 and 2010, while segregation among Hispanics has increased. The decline in segregation occurred in the most damaged parishes, while the less-damaged suburban parishes actually experienced slight increases in residential segregation by race. Future research will include a more comprehensive analysis of changes occurring at the block-group level in conjunction with segregation, such as income, housing unit type, age, and race.

Author

• Rachel Jeannine Bacon, Pennsylvania State University