The Center for Urban Research and Education’s (CURE) Seminar Series will continue its spring season on Friday, April 5, with a presentation by Alan Mallach, Senior Fellow at the Center for Community Progress. Mr. Mallach will present, “The Crisis of the African-American Middle Neighborhood: Research from St. Louis, Detroit, and Other Older American Cities.”  

The abstract is as follows:

“The role of the urban middle neighborhood, the traditional urban working-class neighborhood, has not been widely studied, particularly that of the many African-American urban middle neighborhoods that emerged in the 1970s in the wake of white flight. Large numbers of these neighborhoods, after decades of stability and vitality, are in crisis, having undergone traumatic social, economic and housing market decline since 2000, with  devastating effects for neighborhood quality of life and black homeowner equity. I will describe the trajectories of these neighborhoods, focusing on St. Louis and Detroit; discuss some of the central reasons for the decline, including subprime lending. the foreclosure crisis, and the acceleration of black middle-class suburbanization; and explore the future prospects of these neighborhoods, and the implications of these changes for American cities.”

The event will take place on Friday, April 5 at 12:15 p.m. in Armitage Hall’s Faculty Lounge.  Lunch will be served.  All are welcome to this free event. Questions may be directed to Ms. Lisa Alston