Segregated Cities Equal Higher Death Rates.

• Position: Death rates in cities with racial segregation - Brief Article

Living in cities with high levels of racial segregation is linked to higher death rates for whites as well as blacks, according to a study by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the University of California at Berkeley. They examined the link between residential segregation and mortality in 107 U.S. cities with a population of at least 100,000 and a black population of at least 10%.

Leading the list of segregated cities are Atlanta, Ga.; Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Mich.; Chicago, Ill.; and Gary, Ind. The least segregated cities, as measured by the index of black social isolation used in the study, are Sacramento, Calif.; Long Beach, Calif.; Virginia Beach, Va.; Tacoma, Wash.; and Aurora, Colo.

The researchers' analysis correlates national mortality and U.S. Census data with two different measures of black residential isolation from whites, showing that housing segregation is linked with higher rates of mortality for both blacks and whites and that, the more segregated the city, the stronger the association. In Atlanta, for instance, the death rate per 100,000 population for black males is 1,369.2 and 895.6 for white males, while in Aurora, Colo., it is 397.6 for black men and 177.7 for white males.

"It's not that living next to someone of your own race is bad for your health,"...