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Click on maps to see the full size images.
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Map #1 - Charlotte, North Carolina Metropolitan
Area Municipalities |
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Charlotte, North Carolina is a rapidly growing
"New South" region with major population and job increases.
Metropolitan Charlotte’s population has increased 22% from
1990 to 1999 to about 1,417,217 people. The city of Charlotte
itself grew 31.5% during the same period. Charlotte can also
be characterized as a region with a strong central city economically.
County Business Patterns data show that from 1991 to 1997 the
number of jobs grew 24.6% with little difference between the
city of Charlotte and its suburbs. Job Growth has been particularly
strong in the Finance/Insurance/Real Estate, Business and Health
Services and Construction industries. In November 2000, the Charlotte
region had a low unemployment rate of 3.3%, down from 3.9% in
1993. The city of Charlotte has seen a greater decrease in unemployment
from 4% in 1993 to 2.8% in November 2000, an unemployment rate
lower than the suburbs. Charlotte has also seen a migration of
African Americans from the north and an increasing black middle
and working class.
Though the Charlotte region is characterized
by positive economic indicators for the region as whole, inequities
exist between African-Americans and whites that affect participation
in the region’s growth. Residential segregation is an example
of a negative constraint for the access to housing markets of
African Americans which in turn hampers, their ability to accumulate
wealth. Though Charlotte is less racially segregated than many
other U.S. regions, disparities can be found in the housing market
and in the region’s geography. |
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Map #2 - Charlotte, North Carolina Metropolitan
Area African American Population |
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In 1990, 19.9% of the Charlotte region’s
population was African American. The city of Charlotte had 54.4%
of the region’s African American population, a slight increase
from 50.4% in 1980. There are also significant African American
populations in most of the smaller cities surrounding Charlotte.
Segregation levels for African Americans are
quite low in Charlotte compared to other U.S. metropolitan areas,
in part due to the clustered pattern of racial populations. African
Americans in the city of Charlotte live mostly in the northern
and western sections of the city, while whites tend to live mostly
in the south and east. Charlotte the city is much more segregated
than the region as a whole. And though there is spatial variance
for African Americans in the Charlotte region that may minimize
distances to opportunity structures in the region, poverty and
lower housing values intersect most of the clustered African
American neighborhoods in the region. |
Map #3 - Charlotte, North Carolina Metropolitan
Area Percent in Poverty
and Over 40% in Poverty. |
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The region of Charlotte has one of the lowest
rates of concentrated poverty for U.S. metropolitan areas. The
Charlotte area has only 9 high poverty census tracts (those with
over 40% of residents in poverty) compared to 36 in the Atlanta
region. 13% of African Americans live in high poverty tracts,
which is low compared to many southern cities and most U.S. metropolitan
areas. Concentrated poverty may be relatively low because poverty
is more clustered and less concentrated in any one place in the
region. Most cities in the region, particularly Charlotte, have
both poor and wealthy neighborhoods.
With all the good economic indicators for
the Charlotte region, some disturbing trends can be found, particularly
in the differences between poverty rates between African Americans
and whites. 1990 Census shows that 51,552 or 22.9% of African
Americans in the Charlotte region lived in poverty compared to
59,352 or 6.2% of whites. Poverty especially affects young African
Americans, where 22, 468 or 30.9% for children 17 and under are
under the poverty line, compared to 13,393 or 6.5% of white children.
The map shows poverty and major African American
populations (greater than 40%) in block-groups. High poverty
(over 40%) and moderate poverty (20 to 40%) block groups spatially
intersect block groups with major African American populations.
Two-thirds of all moderate poverty block groups and 84% of all
high poverty block groups were located in areas with over 40%
African Americans. More than half of high poverty block groups
with major African-American populations were in the area surrounding
downtown Charlotte to the north and west.
People of color have lower incomes. For example,
25% of African Americans, compared to 11% of whites earned less
than $10,000 in the Charlotte region in 1990. However, the lack
of wealth can also be explained by the inability to make returns
through investment in the marketplace. One way wealth can be
created is in the housing market. In Charlotte, disparities in
the housing market can make it difficult for African Americans
to create wealth. |
Maps #4, #5 and #6 - Housing Values in
White, Mixed and African American Neighborhoods
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A major way wealth can be created is though
returns on investment in housing. Housing values and the rate
of change in value help determine a successful investment. Housing
markets succeed in times of economic growth, times of greater
demand than supply and can be driven by the desire of the location
by consumers. However, when the desire of the consumers is aligned
with prejudice and racism, low-income people of color face even
greater constraints.
Historically, neighborhoods in U.S. cities
were drawn by race and class distinctions and these patterns
persist from previous overtly discriminatory practices in housing
markets. In fact, the checkerboard-pattern in segregation within
the Charlotte area has morphed from a more salt and pepper pattern
since the industrialization of Charlotte between 1890 and 1920. During this period white property owners forged
separate neighborhoods, thus separate markets, for blacks.
African Americans faced further alienation
in Charlotte with redlining practices in which African American
neighborhoods were written off for housing credit and urban renewal
practices, in which many black households were razed for downtown
development. It is good to keep in mind that the current disparities
in the markets between African Americans and whites are not separated
from this historical context. Although, Charlotte has become
a less segregated region since the 1950’s, patterns of disparities
are clear between black and whites and space is still racialized
in the area.
Disparities between housing values can be
seen geographically between neighborhoods with different racial
compositions. Mostly white neighborhoods (over 90% white) that
had high housing values are located in the south side of Charlotte,
in first tier suburbs to the south and outer suburban areas to
the northwest and southwest. Middle value homes are spread out
throughout the region, while moderate and low value homes tend
more to be located in Gaston, Lincoln and Rowan counties. Most
white neighborhoods are comprised of middle to upper valued homes.
In less segregated neighborhoods with some
African Americans (over 10%) housing values tend to be lower
than in mostly white areas.
These neighborhoods tend to be spread across the region,
with more neighborhoods located near the center of Charlotte
and its satellite cities than white neighborhoods.
Most are comprised of middle to moderate valued homes.
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Housing values in neighborhoods where over
40% of the population are African American are much lower than
less segregated and white neighborhoods. African American neighborhoods
comprise of mostly moderate or low valued homes in the city of
Charlotte and other cities in the region. Neighborhoods with
sizeable African American populations have much lower values
than less segregated or mostly white neighborhoods. |
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Neighborhoods with sizeable African American
populations |
Less Segregated Neighborhoods
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Mostly White Neighborhoods
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1990 Property Values |
Over 40% African American
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Less than 40% African American and Less
than 90% white |
More than 90% White |
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$1 to 35,000 |
14.3%
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3.7%
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1.8%
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$35,000 to 55,000 |
76.2%
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29.6%
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19.8%
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$55,000 to 85,000 |
4.8%
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49.1%
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42.6%
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$85,000 to 160,000 |
4.8%
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15.4%
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25.7%
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$160,000 to 448,000 |
0.0%
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2.2%
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10.0%
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100.00%
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100.00%
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100.00%
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Housing markets are vastly
complex and this research looks simply at disparities within
the market. However when analyzing
causes for disparities, metropolitan housing markets should not
be looked at simply as determined by individual preferences,
class stratified urban morphology or simply the aging of housing
stock, but also as historical and present valuations of African
Americans and African American neighborhoods by a structurally
racist marketplace.
When areas are grouped
by the rate of African Americans in Charlotte block groups we
see clear patterns. When most African
Americans enter the homeownership market, they likely have a
lesser rate of return on their investment because of lower housing
values in areas they typically reside in.
Also noteworthy is the low homeownership rate within African
American communities. In
Charlotte only 44% of African American households lived in homes
they own, compared to 72% of white.
Barriers to wealth are further magnified for African Americans
when relatively few enter into homeownership. |
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