Are New Residential Developments Segregated? Evidence from California’s Newest Neighborhoods

Hans Johnson, Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)
Joseph M. Hayes, Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)

New residential developments are often the subject of much controversy. Some regard these neighborhoods and their proliferation as serious problems, contributing to environmental degradation, increased traffic, as well as leading to increased segregation and economic exclusivity. Others are concerned that not enough new neighborhoods are being built and that the high price of housing is a reflection of the difficulty in gaining regulatory approval to build the large new housing developments necessary to keep pace with the nation’s growing population. In this paper, we examine California’s newest neighborhoods. California is at the epicenter of racial and ethnic change in America, and the state’s newest residential neighborhoods could either reflect or respond to such change. We find that California’s newest neighborhoods are home to many families with children, yet do not reflect the full diversity of the state’s population by race and ethnicity. In particular, the poor (who are disproportionately non-white) are priced out of these new neighborhoods.