Urban Neighborhoods, Once Distinct by Race and Class, Are Blurring

Urban fabric: America’s cities and metropolitan areas don’t look like they used to. Since the turn of the century, the back-to-the-city movement has changed the demographic and development patterns in metro areas, and the old model of urban/suburban or poor city/rich suburb have largely broken down. As a result, according to a new study in Urban Science, the lines that have traditionally divided cities by race and class have blurred.

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Neighborhood fragmentation of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Tampa in 2010. (Source: Urban Science, Creative Commons license)

Race and class still underpin a stark divide between the most affluent white neighborhoods and high-poverty black neighborhoods, which haven’t changed as much as other types of neighborhoods. The suburbs, meanwhile, are in the midst of a dramatic change that’s making them more diverse, and more like the old model of the inner city.

Today on CityLab, Richard Florida takes a look at how urban neighborhoods, once distinct by race and class, are blurring.

—Andrew Small