Where the Hood At?: Fifty Years of Change in Black Neighborhoods

＂In Where the Hood At? Michael C. Lens takes a quantitative approach to summarizing the socioeconomic characteristics of urban Black neighborhoods in the U.S. from 1970 to roughly 2020. This period provides a sample of approximately 3,000-7,000 neighborhoods depending on the year. Lens begins with U.S. Census data in 1970 and defines a Black neighborhood as one in which Black people constitute a plurality. He focuses on how these neighborhoods vary across time and space, looking at the key indicators of poverty, disadvantage, and housing characteristics. While there is a lot of variation within metropolitan areas, histories of Black migration, discrimination against those migrants, and regional economic differences make for substantial variation in Black neighborhoods across the country. Lens evaluates how those neighborhoods evolved over time, identifies where Black neighborhood indicators are better and worse, interrogates some reasons why Black neighborhoods flourish, and discusses the role of public policy in Black neighborhood outcomes＂--

MICHAEL C. LENS is a professor in the Luskin School of Public Affairs, Departments of Urban Planning and Public Policy, University of California, Los Angeles