The Comparative Study of Residential Segregation between Blacks in Detroit and Hispanics in San Diego Metropolitan Areas

Hideki Morooka, University at Albany, State University of New York

In this study, I will compare and contrast the situation of minority groups through racial composition, segregation indices, and neighborhood transition patterns at the tract level in the Detroit and San Diego metropolitan areas in 1980 and 1990. Then, I will investigate whether there are any similarities between the largest minority groups in those two metropolitan areas, blacks in Detroit and Hispanics in San Diego. I will also attempt to identify and explain the factors which influence the vast residential separation that exists between whites and blacks in Detroit and whites and Hispanics in San Diego based on the results from the analysis; furthermore, I will examine the extent to which the existing residential segregation present in 1980 and 1990 between blacks in Detroit and Hispanics in San Diego shares similar social and demographic characteristics and how that can be explained by the racial composition of the neighborhood itself. Data for this study will be drawn from 1980 and 1990 tract level Census data to perform descriptive and multivariate analysis so as to show the relationship between the consolidated tract groups categorized based on the percentages of blacks in Detroit and Hispanics in San Diego metropolitan areas over time and the various socio-economic variables, such as median housing value, education, percentage of public assistance recipients, income, presence of other racial or ethnic groups, and etc. Based on the dissimilarity score and in terms of its white and black population, Detroit is considered one of the most racially segregated metropolitan areas in the United States. San Diego, however, while not presently as racially segregated as Detroit and different from it in almost every aspect (climate, economy, industry, history, culture, and etc.), has experienced a dramatic increase in its Hispanic population. The goal is to explore whether or not, due to this dramatic increase, San Diego might eventually experience a degree of residential segregation between whites and Hispanics such as is presently experienced by whites and blacks in Detroit.