Residential Segregation

Since the peak in residential Black/White segregation during the 1960s and 1970s, there has been a slow decline in the index of dissimilarity; however, this did not translate into an increase in interactions with different racial groups ("Residential Segregation" 15-19). By the 2010 Census, the average White person still lives in a predominantly White neighborhood and the average Black person lives in a predominately minority neighborhood. By comparison, the residential segregation experienced by Hispanics and Asians has remained relatively stable during the latter decades of the 20th century and during the first decade of the new millennium.

The two main competing models are "human ecology" and "socioeconomic status" ("Residential Segregation" 47). The human ecology model proposes that segregation is created by trends in migration and new housing starts, institutionalized discrimination, population growth, an urban center's size and age, and the demographics specific to a region. By comparison, Wilson...
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