Residential Inequality in American Neighborhoods and Communities
Glenn Firebaugh, Population Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University
[1]
How does stratification intersect with the residential landscape in America, and why does it matter? It matters because where people live reflects and affects their position in society. Although the American Dream promises homes in desirable neighborhoods for those who work hard enough, effort alone does not guarantee fulfillment of this dream, as recent events have reminded us. Natural disasters, the recession, mortgage foreclosures, and wild swings in housing prices have dashed the residential hopes of many Americans in recent years. The inability of immigrants to achieve their housing and neighborhood goals is another current concern. At the same time, longstanding residential divides by race and class have been sustained by discriminatory practices and individuals’ preference to reside near those similar to themselves. These and other themes were explored in the second Penn State Stratification Conference, held September 12-13 at the University Park campus.
[2]
More than 150 social scientists, graduate students, and interested laypeople assembled in the Nittany Lion Inn to hear 19 papers on residential inequality in American neighborhoods and communities. The residential inequality conference attracted a diverse set of scholars who are investigating different aspects of this issue—from the segregation of neighborhoods based on race and income to the consequences of the recent housing crisis. Both the conference schedule and the format were designed to provide a broad picture of the contours of residential inequality in America by creating a forum for the exchange of ideas. Selected papers from the conference will be published in the July 2015 issue of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, with Barrett Lee, Glenn Firebaugh, John Iceland, and Stephen Matthews as guest editors.
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[2]
The conference was co-sponsored by Penn State and the American Academy of Political and Social Science. This is the second Penn State Stratification Conference; the first, “Bringing Stratification Back to the Study of Religion,” was held in May 2011.