De Facto Segregation in the Bay Area Saanvi Kunisetty

 De Facto Segregation in the Bay Area

Saanvi Kunisetty

Though the San Francisco Bay Area’s population is racially distributed quite well, De Facto segregation and residential segregation is ever-present. People of the same race tend to settle down and live near each other, resulting in “pockets of segregation” in counties. This racial segregation has in turn caused economic segregation. Access to employment, health care, healthy food, and wages is not distributed equally. Single-family zoning has been increasing, and 51% of San Francisco housing is single-family. Other cities in the Bay Area have even more single-family housing, with the city of Piedmont having 100% single-family housing. 

Researchers have linked a spike in white population and a decline in black population to the rise in single-family housing. This problem is tied to the unaffordability of single-family houses by low-income families, along with people’s tendency and comfortability of settling with those similar to themselves. Most single-family zoning communities have been found to be heavily populated by whites who are given access to rich community resources such as better funded police departments and prime education systems. Allowing this to continue will only further fuel De Facto segregation, and will prevent minority groups from receiving the same treatment and resources as others.

Resources:

https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/09/10/why-bay-area-neighborhoods-are-still-racially-segregated/