[Dan27160]

Greatly simplified, the typical pattern usually goes like this: 1) Middle-class blacks move into a formerly predominantly white neighborhood. For a short time (5-10 years), there is a period of integration. Whites leave because they are relocating or moving to larger houses, not because of the racial transition of the neighborhood. 2) Realtors usually don’t practice blockbusting (the practice of scaring white homeowners into selling), but increasingly they don’t show white homebuyers properties in the area. Black homebuyers are often steered toward the changing neighborhood because it’s perceived as a place where they’ll feel comfortable. 3) After so many blacks move in, there is a ‘tipping point,’ a percentage at which whites begin to move out because the neighborhood becomes ‘too black’ – the whites fear living in what may appear to be a future ghetto. Usually the tipping point is 30 percent to 35 percent black. 4) As many houses go on the market at once, prices drop (decreased demand, increased supply = low prices.) The middle-class exodus accelerates, with both whites and blacks leaving, trying to cut their losses and preserve as much equity as possible. 5) With lower home prices, low-income blacks can now afford to buy houses in the area. Many houses are also purchased by absentee landlords, who tend not to be very selective in screening their tenants. I’ve found that newer cities that are less ethnically insular tend to integrate much better than old Eastern and Midwestern cities. Denver has many once-black neighborhoods (Five Points, North Park Hill, Montbello) where whites are flocking to, because they have affordable housing prices or historic character. There are some exceptions where ‘managed integration’ was successful – the Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago; Oak Park, Ill.; and Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

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Name : Dan27160, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 34, City : Denver, State : CO, Country : United States, Occupation : Urban planner, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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