Racial Segregation in DC

"Racial segregation is as taken for granted as any feature of urban life in the United States...The fact of severe and persistent racial segregation of housing patterns in metropolitan areas is not contested...," write DC's own sociologists Gregory D. Squires, Samantha Friedman, and Catherine E. Saidat (GWU) in their 2002 article "Experiencing Residential Segregation: A Contemporary Study of Washington, D.C."

This is definitely clear when looking at this census-based map (just put in 20003 or any DC address), which shows a racially segregated city. We can also see this with the census data:

Poorest by income: Tract 71

% black non-Hispanic, 1990	86%	(city average 65%)
% black non-Hispanic, 2000	83%	(city average 61%)
% black non-Hispanic, 2005-09	78%	(city average 55%)
% white non-Hispanic, 1990	10%	(city average 27%)
% white non-Hispanic, 2000	10%	(city average 28%)
% white non-Hispanic, 2005-09	17%	(city average 32%)

Richest by Income: Tract 67

% black non-Hispanic, 1990	30%	(city average 65%)
% black non-Hispanic, 2000	22%	(city average 61%)
% black non-Hispanic, 2005-09	15%	(city average 55%)
% white non-Hispanic, 1990	67%	(city average 27%)
% white non-Hispanic, 2000	70%	(city average 28%)
% white non-Hispanic, 2005-09	76%	(city average 32%)

Just a tidbit from the sociologists' conclusions: "Two findings stand out from this survey: (1) the disparity in the percentage of blacks and whites who were able to secure their first choice when they moved into their current home and (2) the share of respondents who did not take any legal action after they believed they had been victims of racial discrimination because they thought nothing would come of it." In the New Year, we'll try to understand the reasons behind this segregation and what it has done to Ward 6.

Work in Ward 6

NeighborhoodInfo has great information on census tracts and wards, so I don't have to even calculate percentages. You can click on these table headers and see all the data for the tract:

Poorest by income: Tract 71
Unemployment rate (%) in 1980: 11% (city average 6.8%)
Unemployment rate (%) in 1990: 13% (city average 7.2%)
Unemployment rate (%) in 2000: 17% (city average 11%)
Unemployment rate (%) in 2005-2009: 20% (city average 9.2%)

Richest by Income: Tract 67
Unemployment rate (%) in 1980: 3.6% (city average 6.8%)
Unemployment rate (%) in 1990: 3% (city average 7.2%)
Unemployment rate (%) in 2000: 0.9% (city average 11%)
Unemployment rate (%) in 2005-2009: 2.6% (city average 9.2%).

On the one hand, the unemployment rate isn't 100% in any part of DC. The census tract with the largest unemployment rate is 59% (!)(in Ward 8). On the other hand, from my own personal and familial experience, I know that being (unintentionally) unemployed is a devastating experience.

In his When Work Disappears, sociologist William Julius Wilson describes how low- and middle-skilled jobs disappeared from urban spaces from 1980 on and either moved abroad or to suburban areas. These low- and middle-skilled jobs were in manufacturing. Those who could move to the new areas with jobs did, leaving behind those who did not have the money to move. Also, in some suburban areas, whites imposed covenants that excluded people of color (also called sundown towns), and thus excluding people of color from these new jobs. This mass movement of people out of these urban areas destroyed businesses and further reduced the number of jobs.

We can see increasing levels of unemployment in Tract 71 and decreasing levels in Tract 67 since 1980. It might be the case that Ward 67 has increasing levels of highly educated, specially trained individuals, who are highly compensated. There are still low- and middle-skilled service jobs, such as home health and child care workers, cleaning services, administrative jobs, etc. Worldwide, we have seen an expansion of jobs perceived as women's work (cleaning, child care) and huge declines in manufacturing work, which is assumed to be men's work. We see an expansion of women working in small electronics and clothing manufacturing, which, as far as I know, are not located in Ward 6, but rather are located in Export Processing Zones around the world. With these changes, in the United States, high-levels of education are very important to both job attainment and income, especially in DC (the land of the MA degree). Here is the data on high school degrees:

Poorest by income: Tract 71

% persons without HS diploma, 1980	55%	(33%)
% persons without HS diploma, 1990	40%	(27%)
% persons without HS diploma, 2000	36%	(22%)
% persons without HS diploma, 2005-09	27%	(15%)

Richest by Income: Tract 67

% persons without HS diploma, 1980	23%	(33%)
% persons without HS diploma, 1990	9.5%	(27%)
% persons without HS diploma, 2000	5.2%	(22%)
% persons without HS diploma, 2005-09	7.9%	(15%)

The current focus on improving DC schools is in part a response to the changing job market in DC and the US, a job market that requires much more than a high school diploma. I think that it is worth thinking about how to organize work in a more just and humane manner. How might we think about this in Ward 6?

Comparing the Richest and Poorest Census Tracts Continued

Here are some more items of interest about these two census tracts:

Poorest by income: Tract 71
0-14 minutes to work: 6%
15-29 minutes to work: 37%
30-59 minutes to work: 49%
over 60 minutes to work: 8%
Lower-rent quartile: $150
Upper-rent quartile: $685
Median Household Income: $29,063
Lower-rent quartile as a percentage of median household income: 6%
Upper-rent quartile as a percentage of median household income: 28%
Same house 1 year ago (Black or African American): 90.8%
Same house 1 year ago (Whites): 74%

Richest by income: Tract 67
0-14 minutes to work: 12%
15-29 minutes to work: 47%
30-59 minutes to work: 38%
over 60 minutes to work: 2%
Lower-rent quartile: $982
Upper-rent quartile: $1,950
Median Household Income: $135,573
Lower-rent quartile as a percentage of median household income: 8.6%
Upper-rent quartile as a percentage of median household income: 17%
Same house 1 year ago (Black or African American): 90%
Same house 1 year ago (Whites): 81%

We can see that those in Tract 71 have longer travel times to work. At the upper range of $685, rent takes more of one's income in Tract 71 than in Tract 67 for the upper range of $1,950. (It is a problem using the median household income for the entire tract for this.) There seems to be a lot of stability year to year in the tracts. More to think about... (Of course, I am using the estimated numbers, rather than actual census numbers, because this is survey data. The survey data gives a general idea for now.)

Comparing the Richest and Poorest Census Tracts

I decided to compare my census tract with the poorest and the richest (according to median household income) census tracts in Ward 6. Embarrassingly, I realized that my own census tract is the richest in Ward 6. How could I not have known? Tract 67 is just below Lincoln Park to Pennsylvania Avenue; Tract 71 is east of 11th below Pennsylvania Avenue. Our census tracts are about just a couple of blocks away from each other, but on opposite sides of Pennsylvania Avenue. What are the differences according to the census data?

Poorest by income: Tract 71
Median Household Income: $29,063 (decreased by 10% since 2000)
Percentage of households making under $30,000: 53%
Percentage of households making over $100,000: 21%
Percentage of homeowners: 34%
Percentage of renters: 65%

Richest by income: Tract 67
Median Household Income: $135,573 (increased by 37% since 2000)
Percentage of households making under $30,000: 4%
Percentage of households making over $100,000: 66%
Percentage of homeowners: 65%
Percentage of renters: 34%

Very different experiences separated by a matter of a couple blocks. It is especially notable that the percentage of homeowners and renters are exactly the opposite of each other. Now, how can we use sociology to understand what these substantial differences mean for people in Ward 6? That is the subject of this blog.

The Census and Ward 6

Well, Ward 6 has a bunch of census tracts. They can easily be found on this map by putting in one of our zip codes (listed in a previous post). With this information, we can use the Decennial Census data or, even more exciting, the American Community Survey (The first-ever release of 5-year American Community Survey estimates happened this month!) with its own snazzy Fact Finder that helps to make easy tables. I need to check these again to be certain, but here are the census tracts.
47
59
6001
6002
61
6201
6301
6302
64
65
66
67
6801
6802
6804
69
71
72
7901
8001
8002
81
82
8301
8302
8402
85
86

Who Lives in Ward 6?

To get an overview of Ward 6, I looked at the NeighborhoodInfo DC website, which has lots of great data. Unfortunately, the census data only goes up to 2000, but website also has public assistance, financial, and police data. Some interesting items:

1) Population: As of 2000, there were 68,000 in Ward 6. The Ward had 5000 fewer people in 2000 than in 1980. The percentage of children increased by 1% between 1990 and 2000. In 2000, 6.7% were foreign born. About 50% have lived in the same house for the past 5 years.

2) Poverty: Between 1980 and 2000, the poverty rate stayed about the same (20% or so), the unemployment rate increased to almost 10%, and the number of people without a high school diploma went down quite bit (38% to 21%), while 60% of families with children are female-headed.

3) Isolation factors: These days not having a car is encouraged for environmental reasons. In 2000, isolation was measured by whether you had a phone and/or a car. 63% of households didn't have a car in 2000. I wonder how many don't now.

4) Child Well-Being: Between 1990 and 2000, the number of children in poverty increased to 36%. By 2007, the percentage of births to teenage mothers had decreased to 8%.

5) The Great Recession: Subprime mortgages jumped up in 2005 and 2006 (6.7%) from 3.8% in 2004. Last year, the median house price was $506,000, the number of food stamp recipients are up (13,396 as compared to Ward 3, which has 331), and TANF recipients have decreased (4,042).

There is a bit of an overview. I am now ready to get some much more up-to-date data.

Where is Ward Six?

Ward 6 is one of eight wards in DC. Here is a map of our Ward. It is located in SE DC and covers the following zip codes: 20001, 20002, 20003, 20004, 20024. The neighborhoods include: the Arena Stage in Southwest, Barney Circle, Capitol Hill, Chinatown, H Street, NE, Mount Vernon Square, Hill East, Navy Yard, Lincoln Park, Stanton Park, Penn Quarter, NoMa, Barracks Row, Sursum Corda, the Nationals Baseball Stadium, Rosedale, Swampoodle, Lola Park, the Waterfront, and Union Station. Where is Swampoodle?

Welcome to Sociology in My Neighborhood

While I love my neighborhood on Capitol Hill in DC, I clearly recognize many disturbing trends going on, especially around gentrification and the Great Recession. I thought that I might use my sociological training to try to figure out what is going on. This won't be a blog about the political world of the Congress, which also sits on the Hill. Rather, this blog will present a wide variety of data about Ward Six (census, survey, historical, ethnographic, etc.), present a multitude of different perspectives (hopefully far beyond the business community's views), and try to do public sociology, which in the words of Michael Burawoy "endeavors to bring sociology into dialogue with audiences beyond the academy, an open dialogue in which both sides deepen their understanding of public issues." I'm looking forward to learning more about Ward Six and sociology in the meantime.