What is causing white flight in near north suburbs? (Chicago: homes, neighborhood)

[MR_090xA]

Looking at US census data 2000-2010 from just the north suburbs, all the suburbs with the biggest declines in white percentage are close to the city and not bordering the lake.

Consider the following data of change in percent of population that is white, from 2000-2010:

Evanston: +0.37%
Kenilworth: +0.32%
Highland Park: -0.16%
Northfield:-1.19%
Glenview: -1.27%
Winnetka: -1.48%
Lake Forest: -1.7%
Deerfield: -1.92%
Northbrook: -3.16%
Wilmette: -4.2%
Niles: -6.71%
Lincolnwood: -7.61%
Morton Grove: -7.71%
Skokie: -8.67%

Is this simply due to people who want to get out of the city and are moving to suburbs that are affordable? Immigration? Or something else?

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by MR_090xA

Looking at US census data 2000-2010 from just the north suburbs, all the suburbs with the biggest declines in white percentage are close to the city and not bordering the lake.

Consider the following data of change in percent of population that is white, from 2000-2010:

Evanston: +0.37%
Kenilworth: +0.32%
Highland Park: -0.16%
Northfield:-1.19%
Glenview: -1.27%
Winnetka: -1.48%
Lake Forest: -1.7%
Deerfield: -1.92%
Northbrook: -3.16%
Wilmette: -4.2%
Niles: -6.71%
Lincolnwood: -7.61%
Morton Grove: -7.71%
Skokie: -8.67%

Is this simply due to people who want to get out of the city and are moving to suburbs that are affordable? Immigration? Or something else?

Most of those numbers are too small to call "white flight." In fact, almost all of them are. If you want to see some real white flight, check out Austin from 1960 to 1970, or Berwyn from 1990 to 2000. That's some white flight! What you cite is within a statistical error window.

[reppin_the_847]

Originally Posted by MR_090xA

Looking at US census data 2000-2010 from just the north suburbs, all the suburbs with the biggest declines in white percentage are close to the city and not bordering the lake.

Consider the following data of change in percent of population that is white, from 2000-2010:

Evanston: +0.37%
Kenilworth: +0.32%
Highland Park: -0.16%
Northfield:-1.19%
Glenview: -1.27%
Winnetka: -1.48%
Lake Forest: -1.7%
Deerfield: -1.92%
Northbrook: -3.16%
Wilmette: -4.2%
Niles: -6.71%
Lincolnwood: -7.61%
Morton Grove: -7.71%
Skokie: -8.67%

Is this simply due to people who want to get out of the city and are moving to suburbs that are affordable? Immigration? Or something else?

Well, out of these towns: Niles, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Skokie....these four towns have sometimes been considered to be stepping stone suburbs for the aspiring immigrants in Chicagoland (think of all the ethnic groups that have passed through these areas). And out of the four, Lincolnwood is tiny, but has some beautiful housing stock I gotta say. But the school districts in these areas haven't always been regarded as the greatest (Niles West & Niles North might be the preferred ones vs. say Maine East ?). Plus the areas are dense & almost as busy as the city of Chicago. If people want a more spacious, suburban feel with higher ranked school districts, they'll often have to push further north or west. For example for not much more $$$ some of these folks can sell in these towns and move to the Lake County section of Buffalo Grove and all of a sudden be in one of the hottest high school districts in Chicagoland (Stevenson HS in Lincolnshire). And in Buffalo Grove also you have a surprising amount of ethnic diversity as well.

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

OP, what was the overall population change in Chicago and suburban Cook County as a whole in the same period? That may answer your question; people are not necessarily fleeing minority populations, what they may be fleeing is Cook County and/or Illinois.

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by MR_090xA

Looking at US census data 2000-2010 from just the north suburbs, all the suburbs with the biggest declines in white percentage are close to the city and not bordering the lake.

Consider the following data of change in percent of population that is white, from 2000-2010:

Evanston: +0.37%
Kenilworth: +0.32%
Highland Park: -0.16%
Northfield:-1.19%
Glenview: -1.27%
Winnetka: -1.48%
Lake Forest: -1.7%
Deerfield: -1.92%
Northbrook: -3.16%
Wilmette: -4.2%
Niles: -6.71%
Lincolnwood: -7.61%
Morton Grove: -7.71%
Skokie: -8.67%

Is this simply due to people who want to get out of the city and are moving to suburbs that are affordable? Immigration? Or something else?

The northern suburbs aren't experiencing white flight. Some of the communities are just experiencing some diversification. The Asian population has been growing most visibly. However, this area is still significantly whiter than the nation at-large.

[garyjohnyang]

How is the actual raw number of whites in these areas changing? I would hesitate to call it white flight without 1) knowing that this is racially motivated and 2) figuring out whether the total white population is decreasing as Asians move in, or simply their percentage is decreasing because the inflow of Asians outpaces other groups.

[fusillirob1983]

Originally Posted by Frugal Audiophile

I don't know if a 1% difference over 10 years is enough to be categorized as any type of flight. The south and southwest suburbs have triple those numbers, sometimes quadruple

At this point the SW suburbs I wouldn't even categorize as flight in the same way it was flight 50 years or so ago. My parents' families moved in the midst of them and their siblings being in school in the early 1960s.

Compared to now, my friends and most of my friends' parents haven't moved from their homes in the SW burbs, whereas most of my friends and I have typically moved elsewhere for a number of reasons. A lot of the people I went to school with that found lower income jobs stuck around the neighborhood, a couple with higher paying jobs stuck around, but most who had the income to move elsewhere after college did. It probably had less to do with race and more with a more general socioeconomic decision. Those moving into my hometown tend to be minorities leaving the city for better schools and a safer environment

[Larry Siegel]

There is no white flight in Wilmette, but as older white people leave for whatever reason, Asians tend to move in, especially on the west side of town. I am not aware of any problem arising from this.

[fusillirob1983]

Originally Posted by Frugal Audiophile

The changes on the sw burbs are a lot more gradual then they were in the 60's but theyre still a lot faster than the north suburbs thats for sure. a 1% change over a 10 year span is insignificant but 10% is more noticeable though nowhere near 20% in one year like in the 60s

Right. I think to tie into my point, what the OP believes their experiencing in the northern burbs is not due to any sort of "white flight", and where those changes are occurring in the SW burbs, it's not so much the case of "white flight" as you're indicating happened in the 60s. It's generally more a diverse country and metro area than it was decades ago.

[dlong1991]

Old white people are dying