America’s suburbs have grown more diverse

The number of racially diverse suburbs in America jumped 37 percent in the last decade, a new study from the Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity at the University of Minnesota Law School shows.

However, the study, cited in a New York Times blog post, noted that the growth in diversity is a tenuous one. With mortgage lending discrimination, a lack of affordable housing and real estate agents showing off homes with an area’s demographics in mind, diverse populations can become more homogeneous. The study also found that when neighborhoods lose their racial diversity, they tend to stay that way.

As previously reported, the suburbs of New York City have caught up with a national trend — in which buying is more affordable than renting.

Oak Park, Ill., outside of Chicago, was found to be a suburb making good in its effort to keep its diversity. [NYT] — Zachary Kussin