Thursday, September 06, 2001
Good intentions, but not next door
A survey commissioned by The Enquirer to examine racial attitudes in Greater Cincinnati finds that blacks and whites value mixed-race neighborhoods - even if they don't live that way
By Ken Alltucker
The Cincinnati Enquirer
In a city that prides itself on its neighborhoods, most blacks and whites agree with this:
The places where they live are open and friendly, welcoming to newcomers of all races. Racial diversity is good, making neighborhoods better places to live.
But these responses in a new Enquirer poll of racial attitudes tell only part of the story about a Metro area ranked the nation's eighth most segregated.
Half of all whites also fear falling property values. Four of 10 whites think tensions increase in racially mixed neighborhoods. And three of 10 African-Americans are dissatisfied with their housing.
The Enquirer poll, the first of racial attitudes here since April's riots, gives critical insight into a city fragmented into mostly segregated suburbs, neighborhoods and blocks -- despite what people say. While federal housing laws have eliminated institutional discrimination, a cultural and social divide works to keep the races apart.
Residential segregation is ''embedded in our society,'' says Ed Rigaud, president and chief executive officer of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, in the works on Cincinnati's riverfront.
''Even if real estate agents are no longer doing it, there is a natural self-selection process that can continue in segregated patterns,'' Mr. Rigaud says.
In Greater Cincinnati, suburbs like Colerain Township and West Chester saw gains in both middle-class black and white populations over the past decade.
But those were the exceptions.
Far more often, whites leave as blacks arrive, in a well-established pattern that often creates divides.
Whites who leave for the suburbs cite declining schools, increasing petty crime and lower property values in changing neighborhoods. Blacks are frustrated that they've chased a better life that keeps slipping away.
''Blacks move to a new neighborhood. Whites get frightened and either respond with violence, a cool welcome or by moving out,'' says Zane Miller, a retired University of Cincinnati history professor and author of Visions of Place: The City, Neighborhoods, Suburbs and Cincinnati's Clifton, 1850-2000.
''It would be nice if we could solve all the police problems and job problems that are still fostering resentment. First, we must mitigate racial residential segregation,'' he says.
Change and uncertainty
College Hill prides itself as a city neighborhood with a strong sense of community, but long-time residents such as Judi Fothergill feel a little uneasy these days.
It seems kids loiter more on street corners, and nuisance crimes like car break-ins and vandalism are becoming commonplace.
''When I was a teen-ager, I'd walk home at night and wouldn't even pass another soul,'' says Ms. Fothergill, who is white. ''You always felt safe.''
Now, she rarely strolls home at night or along the neighborhood's main strip, Hamilton Avenue.
College Hill is feeling the strains of significant demographic shifts over the 1990s. The west side community lost 2,813 whites and gained 2,010 blacks. It's now a majority-black neighborhood: 55 percent African-American, up from 41 percent in 1990.
College Hill's biggest concern today is the increase in the number of low-income housing units as government-subsidy programs spread out from the city core, says Jim Williams, president of College Hill Forum, the neighborhood's community organization.
''Since they are getting rid of a lot of people downtown, we are seeing a lot of people come here,'' says Mr. Williams, who is black. ''We're trying to get the city to check on other neighborhoods'' to make sure subsidized housing is evenly spread around.
Jerome Upshaw, 53, who is African-American, doesn't see the same problems that some of his neighbors do. He moved to College Hill from Silverton five years ago.
''We were looking for a nice community that had halfway decent schools,'' Mr. Upshaw says. ''It's comfortable here. There's a fair mixture'' of blacks and whites.
He also doesn't think neighbors should complain about kids hanging out unless they offer a solution.
''That's what kids will do when you don't give them a place to go,'' Mr. Upshaw says.
The 1990s also saw significant change south of College Hill in Westwood, the city's largest neighborhood, where the black population jumped from 17.7 percent to 32.8 percent. There were 6,629 fewer whites and 5,355 more blacks than a decade before.
Jean Williams, who has lived in Westwood since 1985, says many of her friends have left for suburbs such as predominantly white Monfort Heights and White Oak.
''For some people, crime is a concern,'' says Ms. Williams, who is white. ''They are tired of their kids getting threatened. I have noticed there seems to be more vandalism.''
Neighbors have started a citizens watch group through the Cincinnati Police Department that trains residents to walk the neighborhood's streets and report potential trouble.
Another group, Westwood Concern, formed last November to alert City Hall about the neighborhood's changes. The group wants to prevent crime, encourage home ownership and revitalize the business district, co-founder Melva Gweyn says.
Ms. Gweyn, who is white, doesn't think race is the underlying cause for her neighbors' concerns.
Both blacks and whites have left Westwood to live in the suburbs, she says. And some of her new African-American neighbors have spent thousands of dollars improving their homes.
Yet she acknowledges that race does play a role in what people think about the neighborhood.
''There has been for decades now, really, an intimidation that has been directed at white people,'' she says. ''People have felt the only power they have is to leave the area.''
'Tipping' out of balance
A phenomenon known as ''the tipping point'' may be occurring in some Cincinnati neighborhoods, says Mr. Miller, the retired UC history professor. The theory holds that if enough people of one race leave a neighborhood, the balance tips, creating mass demographic shifts.
Part of the reason behind tipping is that blacks and whites have very different views on what makes a racially balanced neighborhood, says David Reingold, professor at Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
National studies show that whites consider a neighborhood balanced if it's 75 to 80 percent non-minority. Blacks think an ideal figure is half black, half white.
Only 10 of more than 200 Greater Cincinnati cities, towns, villages and townships have black populations of more than 25 percent. And of those 10, all but tiny Woodlawn Village lost white population over the 1990s.
The city of Cincinnati has the largest black population by far -- 43 percent, up from 38 percent in 1990. That represents a gain of 3,000 blacks, and loss of 45,000 whites.
There's been no study on when the population of Cincinnati's neighborhoods begin to ''tip.'' Neither is there clear evidence that property values fall when neighborhoods change.
Some national studies show that home values may decline at first, but they usually rebound over several years. And diverse neighborhoods such as Clifton, North Avondale and Walnut Hills have some of the highest property values in the city.
Mr. Rigaud, who is black, recalls trying to move to Greenhills, when it was an all-white neighborhood, in 1965.
One apartment owner slammed a door in his face. An employee at another apartment complex agreed over the phone to rent to Mr. Rigaud, an employee of Procter & Gamble. Yet when Mr. Rigaud arrived to pay a security deposit, the employee said she had to check with her boss because Mr. Rigaud was black.
The apartment owner called Mr. Rigaud the next day and informed him of a new rule prohibiting three or more children, an effort to shut out Mr. Rigaud's family.
Rather than give up and move to a predominantly black neighborhood, Mr. Rigaud obtained a lawyer through Housing Opportunities Made Equal, a nonprofit group that fights housing discrimination.
They convinced a white P&G employee who also had three kids and a similar income to try to rent the apartment, which he got.
When presented with evidence of apparent discrimination, the apartment owner reluctantly agreed to rent to Mr. Rigaud. And the neighbors immediately welcomed him.
Today, Mr. Rigaud enjoys a similar camaraderie among his white neighbors in Mount Lookout.
''I think that it is generally true in Cincinnati,'' Mr. Rigaud says. ''The neighbors are welcoming, but the system isn't.''
Remnants of bias
For decades the system steered blacks to a handful of neighborhoods near downtown, such as West End and Over-the-Rhine. The once-thriving communities were damaged by freeway expansion and the concentration of low-income housing.
Discriminatory lending practices by banks ensured that blacks who wanted to escape the deteriorating neighborhoods wouldn't get loans to buy homes in white neighborhoods.
This historical discrimination has shaped perceptions about different neighborhoods. Often, blacks don't look for new homes outside the city.
''The majority of clients I have already live in the city,'' says Steven Alexander, an African-American Realtor. ''They already know where they want to live. They know the neighborhoods.''
Despite current federal housing protections, about one in four blacks say they have experienced discrimination in the past 10 years while buying or renting a home in Cincinnati, the Enquirer poll finds. Yet more than 90 percent of both blacks and whites say they welcome neighbors of other races.
While Mr. Miller doubts that everyone answered truthfully, he sees some hope in the results. If the region can develop a wide variety of racially mixed neighborhoods, he says, blacks and whites will no longer think their living options are limited.
''We can still have segregation, to a certain degree. But it will not be as intense,'' Mr. Miller says. ''The people who are segregated, both whites and blacks, would know they chose to live that way. Then the resentment would disappear.''
ONLINE EXTRA: Complete poll results and PDF of the report
Good intentions, but not next door
Race forum tonight
About this series
North Avondale works to keep racial balance
Racial separation slows other progress
Tell us what you think
How this poll was done
