Who is able to afford to live in the many largely white suburban communities across our region today is not a matter of personal determination; it is a matter of history.”

Racial separation in the region is very strong: less than 10 percent of census tracts are racially“balanced,” that is, have about the regional average proportion of black families. Blacks are substantially under-represented in more than 70 percent, and substantially over-represented in about 20 percent of census tracts.