RACE, SCALE, AND THE CONCENTRATION OF POVERTY IN COLUMBUS, OHIO, 1980 TO 1990

Abstract

Changes in the geographic concentration of poverty emerge from forces that redistribute population across neighborhoods within urban areas and forces that alter the aggregate composition of metropolitan populations. We examined the relative importance of these two groups of forces with 1980 and 1990 Census data for the central county of the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area. We decomposed changes in isolation and exposure indices into redistributional and compositional components, and examined the influence of race and income on redistribution. The concentration of poverty increased for both Blacks and Whites, but much more for Blacks. Forces that redistribute population within urban areas were primarily responsible for a small increase in the exposure to neighborhood poverty by poor Whites. Spatial redistribution across neighborhoods combined with an increase in poverty at the metropolitan scale to substantially increase exposure to neighborhood poverty among poor Blacks. Long-distance migration plays an important yet complex role not previously examined. Contrary to common arguments, neighborhood redistributions of Black and White poor worked to reduce neighborhood poverty exposure, even though the redistribution of the nonpoor resulted in increased neighborhood poverty exposure for the poor of both races. [Key words: poverty concentration, race, neighborhood redistribution, Columbus, Ohio.]