Racial Residential Integration in a Chicago Suburb: Which Housing Searchers make Integrative Moves?

• In Event: 189 - Section on Community and Urban Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 08. Racial and Ethnic Segregation

Abstract

Racial segregation is slowly declining and many people express an interest in living in diverse neighborhoods. However, structural barriers persist in funneling white and black housing searchers into segregated neighborhoods. What are the factors that influence whether someone is able to make an affirmative, e.g. integrative, move? To answer this question, we analyze a unique dataset of housing searchers who obtained rental units through the Oak Park Regional Housing Center in Oak Park, Illinois, a nonprofit organization that encourages housing searchers to make integrative moves. This analysis uses ordinary least squares regression and hierarchical linear probability modeling to identify the individual- and neighborhood-level characteristics that are associated with a searcher’s likelihood of moving to a neighborhood where their race is underrepresented. Preliminary results show that patterns differ between white and black clients, with black clients less likely to make affirmative moves, a result that is likely due in part to the relative scarcity in this particular suburb of rental units in areas that are affirmative moves for black clients. Models test the effect of an array of background characteristics on the likelihood of affirmative moves, and show effects for income, student status, and presence of children in the home.

Authors

• Allison Suppan Helmuth, University of Illinois-Chicago

• Deanna Christianson, University of Illinois Chicago

• Rowena C Crabbe, UIC

• Maria Krysan