Patterns of Puerto Rican Segregation and Mobility

Abstract

In this article patterns of Puerto Rican residential segregation and mobility within metropolitan areas are examined for the period between 1970 and 1980. Using a weighted OLS procedure, this study tests the effects of social status, ethnicity, racial heritage, discrimination, and housing market conditions on patterns of segregation between Puerto Ricans, Anglos, and Blacks. Census data for 49 metropolitan areas with 4,000 or more Puerto Ricans were used in this analysis. The findings suggest there was considerable variation in the level of segregation between Puerto Ricans, Anglos, and Blacks in terms of regional location, size of metropolitan area, and size of the Puerto Rican population. On average, 61% of all Puerto Ricans would have had to move from their place of residence in 1980 to achieve residential integration with Anglos. The average level of segregation between Puerto Ricans and Blacks was only 3% lower (58%). Although segregation between the three groups declined during the 1970s, the sharpest declines occurred in the level of Puerto Rican and Anglo segregation from Blacks, particularly in the suburbs. Further, Puerto Rican mobility within metropolitan areas via suburbanization actually declined during the 1970s. Multivariate analysis revealed that the low socioeconomic status of Puerto Ricans relative to Anglos was the most significant factor affecting the level of segregation between the two groups. High levels of segregation were also associated with older Puerto Rican communities, low levels of suburbanization and decentralization of employment. Puerto Rican segregation from Blacks was associated with residence in older Puerto Rican communities, high levels of housing demand and high vacancy rates.

The Specificity Principle in Acculturation Science

“…Fifty countries have 25,000 or more naturalization-eligible persons. Because Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, their patterns of migration and settlement in the United States differ from other immigrant Caribbean peoples to the United States (Baer, 1992; Massey, 1981; Santiago, 1992; South et al, 2005). …”

An Integrative Model for the Study of Developmental Competencies in Minority Children

“…Where a family lives determines many of the elements of the environment that will either promote or inhibit the child's development (Blau, 1981). Barriers in the housing market, which create residential segregation, have been perceived to have a direct and constraining effect on the resources available to a population within a segregated area (Massey & Bitterman, 1985;Santiago, 1992). Despite the mitigation of legal barriers, members of the same ethnic and racial groups still tend to cluster in specific residential areas because of social position variables and stratification mechanisms (e.g., ethnic and racial discrimination that does not allow families to freely live in any area that they can afford) (Massey & Bitterman, 1985).…”

Reconstructing Racial Identity

“…Black Americans have been subjected to the highest degree of racial segregation in major urban centers over the past five decades, and so have most Caribbean immigrants, who tend to be considered black or colored (Kasinitz, 1992). Recent studies have shown that Latinos, especially Puerto Ricans and dark-skinned immigrants, suffer from a similar disadvantage in the housing market of metropolitan areas such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Hartford (Santiago and Wilder, 1991;Santiago, 1992). Some scholars have even predicted that Latinos will become a &dquo;middle race&dquo; between whites and blacks in the United States (Domfnguez, 1973).…”