Residential Location and White Attitudes Toward Mixed-Race Neighborhoods in Kalamazoo,Michigan

Abstract

Past studies have suggested that white attitudes toward mixed-race neighborhoods in northern metropolises vary spatially. Nonetheless, conflicting hypotheses exist in regard to the nature of these spatial patterns and explanations for them. Data gathered within the Kalamazoo Urbanized Area indicate that white attitudes are significantly related to both: 1) the level of interaction between whites and blacks, and 2) the distance between residence and the Negro neighborhood. Attitudes tend to be more favorable with higher interaction levels, and they tend to be less favorable as distance from the Negro neighborhood increases. When control is made for interaction, the relationship between attitude and distance is greatly weakened, indicating that interaction is the dominant variable. That does not eliminate the spatial component, however, because the racial interaction patterns in Kalamazoo are strongly related to distance from the black residential areas.