Maria Krysan and Kyle Crowder Examine How Social Forces Impact Patterns of Segregation
Posted: 3/25/2018 (CSDE Research)
When it’s time to look for a new home or apartment, most people turn to the familiar: they seek to move to known neighborhoods, they ask friends or family for leads, and they focus on areas that are part of their daily routine. In a recently co-authored book, Cycle of Segregation, Maria Krysan and Affiliate Kyle Crowder contend that these behaviors reinforce patterns of residential segregation. Although economic and political impacts on segregation have been widely studied, the social element is less understood. Crowder underscores the importance that social behavior has on shaping – and maintaining – patterns of segregation, noting: “People’s daily rounds are really shaped by residential segregation: where we go to work and shop, where we go to church, and where our kids go to school… Those daily activities mean we all have exposure to different sets of neighborhoods, and when it comes time to search for housing, we tend to search for housing in places that we know.”
Although the research highlighted in Cycle of Segregation focuses on Chicago neighborhoods, Crowder notes that these patterns are also visible in Seattle. Click on the link below to read the full interview.