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A Levitt community outside of Philly, that was originally probably entirely white that has grown to be probably 80% African American. I've lost count of the number of people I know that moved there from my former company in Philly area. Well over 100 friends of mine over maybe a decade. NOBODY was interested in moving to MY neighborhood. Just Willingboro LOL.
The Levittowns in Long Island and Pennsylvania had overt racial tensions but not Willingboro.
Levitt himself had a "whites only" policy but this was illegal in NJ and Levitt was sued for it almost as soon as he started selling houses in the state. There was already legal precedent in NJ against Levitt and the State Supreme Court upheld the anti-discrimination rulings of the lower courts. African-Americans have lived in Willingboro since the late 50s.
Willingboro isn't alone in terms of self-segregating. East Mt. Airy in Philly is another popular place for middle-class african-americans (but it's by no means exclusive, plenty of whites live there as well). Lawnside, NJ is another majority black enclave in the suburbs with an amazing history.
The Levittowns in Long Island and Pennsylvania had overt racial tensions but not Willingboro.
Levitt himself had a "whites only" policy but this was illegal in NJ and Levitt was sued for it almost as soon as he started selling houses in the state. There was already legal precedent in NJ against Levitt and the State Supreme Court upheld the anti-discrimination rulings of the lower courts. African-Americans have lived in Willingboro since the late 50s.
Willingboro isn't alone in terms of self-segregating. East Mt. Airy in Philly is another popular place for middle-class african-americans (but it's by no means exclusive, plenty of whites live there as well). Lawnside, NJ is another majority black enclave in the suburbs with an amazing history.
Shaker Heights OH was also known for not having covenants in regards to housing as well. There are others like the Parkside neighborhood in Buffalo that also didn't have such policies and have had integrated neighborhoods for decades.
It's interesting how the psychological boundaries of so many cities have changed in the last 20 years or so. I had my playlist on shuffle on the way home last night and heard Bobby Womack's "Across 110th Street," recorded and released in 1972. For those of you not familar with the song:
Been down so long, getting up didn't cross my mind
I knew there was a better way of life and I was just trying to find You don't know what you'll do until you're put under pressure
Across 110th Street is a hell of a tester Across 110th Street
Pimps trying to catch a woman that's weak
Across 110th Street
Pushers won't let the junkie go free Across 110th Street Woman trying to catch a trick on the street, ooh baby
Across 110th Street
You can find it all in the street
When Womack wrote this song, the census tracts immediately to the east of Columbia University were 100% and 99.36% Black. Today, those tracts are 55% and 65% Black. And the surrounding area is now called "SoHa."
I have read threads on this forum and people keep on bringing up American history of things like segregation, "white flight", racial tensions as why American urban areas are the way they are.
Is it really that much of an influence in shaping the way cities are, or is it really a smaller influence than people think with many factors, socio-economic, cultural, logistic etc. playing a much bigger role. Perhaps stuff like inner city decline would be an issue, regardless of race, with poor stuck there.
People claim West coasters (compared to East coasters or Midwesterners) and Canadians and Australians don't have the same history of race relations and that explains urban differences.
Is this really true?
And how about today?
I really, really, wish we could go beyond race hang-ups in this 21st century in our society but since people keep bringing it up, I really wanted to get an idea of how important people really think it was (or is?) in shaping urban planning.
There are still active sundown towns in effect all throughout the USA.
At the end of the day it's about location, location, location and zip code and sometimes people equate such things in conjunction with race.
But many areas change over time in demographics. It's very complex.
There are still active sundown towns in effect all throughout the USA.
There were certainly some active in Oklahoma in the early 70s. My school played ball games in some of them. Get on the bus, go to the gym, get off the bus, play the game, get back on the bus, get the hell out of town. Make no stops.
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