Two comments on this important article from the Journal. First, when my children and grandchildren are seeking the way to radical discipleship and racial reconciliation (as I hope they will be), they will be moving to the inner-ring suburbs, not to the "inner cities," many of which are well on their way to becoming islands of affluence. Second, this article is unfortunately stuck in a "black–white" model of ethnicity in which whites are the majority and blacks stand in for "minorities." Very soon we white people will be a plurality, not a majority, in America. Even the best journalism has yet to catch up with this reality.

re: cities, ethnicity, neighborhoods, race, trends, unintended consequences

Andy:

Today, cities are refashioning themselves as trendy centers devoid of suburban ills like strip malls and long commutes. In Atlanta, which has among the longest commute times of any U.S. city, the white population rose by 26,000 between 2000 and 2006, while the black population decreased by 8,900. Overall the white proportion has increased to 35% in 2006 from 31% in 2000.

In other cities, whites are still leaving, but more blacks are moving out. Boston lost about 6,000 black residents between 2000 and 2006, but only about 3,000 whites. In 2006, whites accounted for 50.2% of the city’s population, up from 49.5% in 2000. That’s the first increase in roughly a century.