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This study uses data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, in conjunction with neighborhood-level data from the U.S. decennial census and American Community Survey, to examine the trajectory of individuals' neighborhood characteristics from initial household formation into mid-to-late adulthood. Multilevel growth curve models reveal both different starting points and different life-course trajectories for blacks and whites in neighborhood economic status and neighborhood racial composition. Among respondents who first established an independent household during the 1970s, improvement in neighborhood income over the adult life course is substantially greater for whites than for blacks, while the racial difference in the percentage of neighbors who are non-Hispanic white narrows slightly with age. Racial differences in the characteristics of neighborhoods inhabited during adolescence help to explain racial differences in starting points and, to a lesser extent, subsequent trajectories of neighborhood attainment. Residing in an economically advantaged neighborhood during adolescence confers greater subsequent benefits in neighborhood economic status for whites than for blacks. These findings are used to begin developing a life-course perspective on neighborhood attainment.

In this article, we use data on virtually all foreclosure events between 2005 and 2009 to calculate neighborhood foreclosure rates for nearly all block groups in the United States to assess the impact of housing foreclosures on neighborhood racial/ethnic change and on broader patterns of racial residential segregation. We find that the foreclosure crisis was patterned strongly along racial lines: black, Latino, and racially integrated neighborhoods had exceptionally high foreclosure rates. Multilevel models of racial/ethnic change reveal that foreclosure concentrations were linked to declining shares of whites and expanding shares of black and Latino residents. Results further suggest that these compositional shifts were driven by both white population loss and minority growth, especially from racially mixed settings with high foreclosure rates. To explore the impact of these racially selective migration streams on patterns of residential segregation, we simulate racial segregation assuming that foreclosure rates remained at their 2005 levels throughout the crisis period. Our simulations suggest that the foreclosure crisis increased racial segregation between blacks and whites by 1.1 dissimilarity points, and between Latinos and whites by 2.2 dissimilarity points.

Focusing on micro-level processes of residential segregation, this analysis combines data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics with contextual information from three censuses and several other sources to examine patterns of residential mobility between neighborhoods populated by different combinations of racial and ethnic groups. We find that despite the emergence of multiethnic neighborhoods, stratified mobility dynamics continue to dominate, with relatively few black or white households moving into neighborhoods that could be considered multiethnic. However, we also find that the tendency for white and black households to move between neighborhoods dominated by their own group varies significantly across metropolitan areas. Black and white households' mobility into more integrated neighborhoods is shaped substantially by demographic, economic, political, and spatial features of the broader metropolitan area. Metropolitan-area racial composition, the stock of new housing, residential separation of black and white households, poverty rates, and functional specialization emerge as particularly important predictors. These macro-level effects reflect opportunities for intergroup residential contact as well as structural forces that maintain residential segregation.

This study combines data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics with data from four censuses to examine the effects of foreign-born populations in the immediate neighborhood of residence and surrounding neighborhoods on the residential mobility decisions of native-born black and white householders. We find that the likelihood of out-mobility for native householders is significantly and positively associated with the relative size of, and increases in, the immigrant population in the neighborhood. Consistent with theoretical arguments related to the distance dependence of mobility, large concentrations of immigrants in surrounding areas reduce native out-mobility, presumably by reducing the attractiveness of the most likely mobility destinations. A sizable share of local immigration effects can be explained by the mobility-related characteristics of native-born individuals living in immigrant-populated areas, but the racial composition of the neighborhood (for native whites) and local housing market conditions (for native blacks) also are important mediating factors. The implications of these patterns for processes of neighborhood change and broader patterns of residential segregation are discussed.

We use longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, data from three U.S. censuses, and techniques of spatial data analysis to examine how the composition of extralocal areas - those areas surrounding a householder's neighborhood of residence - affect the likelihood that whites will move out of their neighborhood. Net of the influence of local neighborhood conditions and other predictors of residential mobility, high concentrations of minorities in surrounding neighborhoods reduce the likelihood that white householders will move, presumably by reducing the attractiveness of the most likely residential alternatives. This effect suppresses the influence of the racial composition of the immediate neighborhood so that controlling for extralocal conditions provides substantially greater support for the white flight thesis than has previously been observed. We also find that recent growth in the size of the extralocal minority population increases the likelihood of white out-migration and accounts for much of the influence previously attributed to racial change in the local neighborhood. Finally, high levels of minority concentration in surrounding neighborhoods exacerbate the positive effect of local minority concentration on white out-migration. These results highlight the importance of looking beyond reactions to local racial conditions to understand mobility decisions and resulting patterns of segregation.

"To assess the relative roles of race and ethnicity in shaping patterns of residential segregation, this article utilizes indices of segregation and a geographic mapping strategy to examine the residential patterns of West Indian blacks in the greater New York City area. The socioeconomic characteristics of neighborhoods occupied by West Indian blacks are also examined and compared to those of areas occupied by African Americans. The results indicate that, on one hand, West Indians are largely denied access to residential areas occupied predominantly by whites and are confined to areas of large black concentrations. On the other hand, West Indians appear to have carved out somewhat separate residential enclaves within these largely black areas....", (excerpt)