NEIGHBORHOOD DIVERSITY AND SEGREGATION IN THE CHICAGO METROPOLITAN REGION, 1980-2000

This article examines how neighborhood racial diversity shaped segregation in Chicago from 1980 to 2000, utilizing data from the 1980, 1990, and 2000 United States censuses. Three questions framed this research project. First, how racially diverse were Chicago neighborhoods? Second, which neighborhood factors were associated with racial diversity? And third, how has the change in neighborhood racial diversity changed patterns of segregation in Chicago? The Theil entropy score and the Theil H index were used to create racial diversity scores for each census tract and global segregation scores, respectively. Evidence is presented that supports the thesis that racial diversity in census tracts increased, which fostered a decline in overall segregation. However, new patterns of segregation are emerging between the Latino and black populations that are creating new spatial divisions within the city and suburbs.