The demographic inversion of the American city

By Mark Frauenfelder at 1:15 pm Tuesday, Aug 5

Eric Zimmermann of The New Republic says:

On TNR.com, Professor Alan Ehrenhalt describes the startling trend of “demographic inversion” in American cities:

“Chicago is gradually coming to resemble a traditional European city -- Vienna or Paris in the nineteenth century, or, for that matter, Paris today. The poor and the newcomers are living on the outskirts. The people who live near the center -- some of them black or Hispanic but most of them white -- are those who can afford to do so.”

Of course, this is a stark reversal from the decades of “white flight” that re-shaped the demographics of American cities.

The demographic inversion of the American city (The New Republic)