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![[Image: Compass Rose]](/art/CompassRoseSmall.jpg)
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Chapter 2 THE SOCIAL AREAS OF CINCINNATI
The Four Social Areas Described One of the major purposes of this report is to take the great mass of 2000 census data and make it more useful for the purpose of analyzing the needs of various sections of the city.
In Chapter 1 we have described the process whereby the census tracts were ranked according to a complex index of social class and then grouped into four quartiles. Appendix II gives us the actual census tracts and their index numbers. The neighborhoods, their census tracts and overall SES index are shown in Table 2a. The quartiles or social areas themselves can be used as units of analysis, along with census tracts and neighborhoods.
Table 2b shows the summary statistics for the four social areas. Table 2c gives the average statistics. Note that the statistics in any given column in Table 2c merely give the average for all the tracts in that particular quartile. Table 2d gives city totals. Each table presents 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000 data.
SES I: A High Problem Area The Social Area Described SES I is the area commonly thought of as the inner city. It is "worse off" on all the social indicators listed in Table 1a (see Appendix II for actual values). It is the white area in Figure 2. It includes all of Lower Price Hill, Linwood, North Fairmount-English Woods, Camp Washington, South Cumminsville-Millvale, Fay Apartments, Winton Hills, Over-the-Rhine, and tracts in East Price Hill, Westwood, South Fairmount, Northside, Roselawn, Avondale, Evanston, Walnut Hills, Mt. Auburn, and the West End. During the 1990s the East End moved up to SES II and, for the first time, single tracts in Westwood and Roselawn fell to SES I. Otherwise, the list of neighborhoods included in SES I has changed little since 1970. This area is 81 percent African American, and is known to have a large Appalachian population. There is also an emerging Hispanic presence. Six percent of the dwelling units are overcrowded. Only 32 percent are single family units but this is up from 22 percent in 1990. The unemployment rate is 18 percent (compared to 9% in 1970) and more than three-fourths of the workers are in blue collar or service occupations. Only 53 percent of the adults have a high school education. The median family income is $15,733. Fifty-three
percent of Cincinnati's families in SES I have incomes below the poverty level. The number of households in poverty in SES I declined from 16,072 to 5,045 between 1990 and 2000. This rate of decline (68%) was much greater than the population decline (17%). The rapid rate of decline in the family structure indicator (percent of children under 18 in two parent homes) slowed dramatically. Between 1970 and 1990 it had declined from 71.4 to 27.3. Between 1990 and 2000 it dropped to 24.4. Still, this means that only one child in four in SES I lives in a two parent home.
The number of households on public assistance declined from 11,382 to 5,045 during the decade. The percentage of the population who are first generation immigrants went up for the first time since 1970, from .9% in 1990 to 2.4% in 2000. This was nearly identical to the 1970 rate of 2.5%. This is probably due to an increase in the Hispanic population. The percentage of first generation immigrants increased in all four quartiles but only slightly. As in previous decades, foreign immigrants are now likely to live in the upper SES quartiles. Percentages of immigrants are down in all four quartiles since 1970.
In summary the news from SES I has positive features. Statistics for the 1990s show a reversal of the trend for the inner city to become poorer, more unemployed and more welfare dependent. Even the trend toward single parent families slowed down somewhat. The percentage of single family dwelling units has increased steadily since 1970 when it was only 15%. In 2000 it was 32%. (This compares to an average of 46% in the other quartiles). Trends in previous decades presumably reflected changes which have affected most American inner cities - white flight, deindustrialization, and the movement of jobs and tax base to the suburbs. The trend toward racial isolation continued in the 90s. If these positive trends continue and were not a temporary effect of the economic boom of the 90s, they offer real hope for improving the quality of life in the inner city. Progress on reducing crime, racial isolation, despair and drug addiction will also be necessary.
SES II: Second Stage Neighborhoods The second quartile, (shown in pink in Figure 2) is comprised of neighborhoods on the inner rim of the western plateau and the Mount Airy-Northside slopes, Winton Place, Corryville, Bond Hill, Linwood, Carthage, Evanston-East Walnut Hills, sections of the West End and Mt.Auburn, and clusters in Avondale, Fairview-Clifton Heights, and Madisonville. The census tracts in SES II are usually contiguous to SES I areas. Twenty three percent of the city's population live in this area. Fifty percent of the population is African American. (This is up from 43 percent in 1990 and is higher than the city wide percentage of African Americans (42.8%).
Shifts in CompositionOver the decades, the composition of this area has changed somewhat in terms of which neighborhoods it includes, but this change is not dramatic. During the 80s, tracts in the CBD, Madisonville, and Walnut Hills moved upward to a higher quartile and Linwood moved from SES I to SES II. These movements reflect redevelopment efforts in the CBD and Walnut Hills and population change in Linwood. There was also movement in the other direction. During the 80s six census tracts moved from SES II down to SES I. These tracts were in the East End, East Price Hill, Evanston, Avondale, West End and Fay Apartments (one each). During the 90s the area changed further. In West Price Hill, tract 98.02 moved down from SES III and tract 97.04 moved up to SES III. Evanston had one tract shift from SES III to SES II. In Avondale 2 tracts moved to SES II from SES I and two moved in the opposite direction. Linwood move to the top of SES I.
Social Indicator ChangesWith a median family income of only $30,190 most families in SES II struggle to make ends meet. In 1970 15 percent of the households had incomes below the poverty level. This rose to 18 percent in 1980, 24 percent in 1990, and 24 percent in 2000. In 1970 SES II was 41 percent African American. In 2000 this percentage was 50. In 1970 38 percent of Cincinnati's African Americans lived in SES II. This fell to 36 percent in 1980, 31 percent in 1990 and, in 2000, stood at 29 percent. The number of families decreased from 27,117 in 1970 to 17,811 in 2000. The family structure indicator was 73.5 in 1970 and fell to 34.7 in 2000. As with SES I, the area in 2000 was poorer, more African American and the two-parent family structure was disappearing.Table 2a Cincinnati Census Tracts and SES Quartiles
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