Housing and Inner City Population Change in Columbus and San Diego

Abstract

Social change in American inner cities has been dramatic in recent decades. Widespread neighborhood decline has been interpreted as a major national problem. Our understanding of the problem and our national policies in this area too often have been based upon stereotypes that ignore the tremendous variation in the conditions of individual cities. This paper establishes a standardized method for comparing central zones consisting of the oldest 12 square miles of large cities. Census data for 1960 to 1980 in nine urban places are examined, with greater detail presented for two central cities that have had contrasting architectural and social histories. In Columbus central zone neighborhoods underwent a variety of housing and population changes, while in San Diego most were consistently stable or growing.