ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 12, 1997 TAG: 9703120057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY THE ROANOKE TIMES
High levels of new construction and annexation can help communities desegregate their neighborhoods, the study shows.
Roanoke's apparent high level of segregation relative to other Virginia cities is the result of a series of factors largely beyond the city's control, including local government structure, slow growth in construction, and a school system independent from its suburbs, City Manager Bob Herbert said Tuesday.
"There are no quick fixes. It really is a regional question," Herbert told Roanoke City Council and the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors at a quarterly luncheon meeting of the two bodies.
At an earlier council meeting, members had asked Herbert to investigate a news report about a University of Michigan study that ranked Roanoke as the most segregated city in Virginia.
Using the U.S. Census Bureau's 1990 housing data, Reynolds Farley of the University of Michigan calculated what he called "indexes of dissimilarity" for communities that had at least a 3 percent black population, or at least 20,000 blacks.
The index would be 100 where whites lived on all-white blocks and blacks lived on all-black blocks. Where there was no racial pattern, the index would be zero.
Roanoke had a rating of 72, the highest in the state, but down 3 points from its rating of 75 based on the 1980 census. It was the only Virginia city ranked by the study as above the national average in racially segregated housing.
Farley's study showed large changes in some Florida cities' housing segregation levels between 1980 and 1990. In many cases, changes were attributed to annexations and new construction.
The Florida retirement communities of Bradenton, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Fort Pierce and West Palm Beach made the "Top 10" most segregated cities list based on the 1980 study. But growth had pushed them off the most segregated list a decade later.
"The study showed high levels of new construction really have a great deal to do with [lessening] segregation," Herbert told the panels. "In many cases, annexation was an important piece."
The Virginia General Assembly in 1976 passed a law severely limiting the state's larger cities from growing by annexing their suburbs. Roanoke hasn't been able to grow in area since then, Herbert noted.
At the same time, the city is largely built out. Most new residential construction has taken place in Roanoke County.
Other factors that tended to lessen housing segregation included the presence of military bases and large state universities, according to Farley.
Herbert also said that Virginia's status as the only state in the country in which all cities are wholly independent of outlying suburbs plays a role in boosting the type of housing segregation levels the study measured.
Independent city status also means school systems are separate between cities and their suburbs. That probably has something to do with segregation patterns, Herbert said.
The city's Fair Housing Board, which was reconstituted in January, is studying the issue further, Herbert said.
Richmond, ranked by the study as the second most segregated city in the state, rated a 64, about average among all cities in the country.
Two other Virginia cities - Charlottesville and Danville - ranked among the least-segregated metropolitan areas in the country. Each scored a rating of 45.
The study ranked Midwestern and Northeastern cities as the most segregated in terms of housing. They are: Gary, Ind., which rated 91; Detroit, 89; Chicago, 87; Cleveland, 88; and Buffalo, N.Y., 84.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 linesby CNB