Rice Kinder Institute expert available to comment on inequality in different areas of Houston

EXPERT ALERT

Jeff Falk
713-348-6775
jfalk@rice.edu

Mike Williams
713-348-6728
mikewilliams@rice.edu

Rice Kinder Institute expert available to comment on inequality in different areas of Houston 

HOUSTON – (April 3, 2015) – Not all areas of Houston are created equal for African-Americans when it comes to home ownership, education and poverty, according to a recent study of American metropolitan areas from Arizona State University (ASU). Kyle Shelton, a postdoctoral research fellow at Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, examines the research in a recent blog post and is available to discuss the findings with the media.

The study’s analysis is rooted in a national investigation of what the ASU study dubs “post-civil rights suburbs,” areas defined as having more than 75 percent of housing stock built after 1975. These are usually second-ring suburbs that sit a distance from historic urban centers. The study contends that minority residents in these communities are surrounded by greater social and economic equity and more stable neighborhoods than minority residents living in either older suburbs or the central cities.

“According to the study, a middle-class African-American family in Sugar Land might appear on the surface to live the same life as a similar family with a similar income in Pasadena or Houston,” Shelton said. “But in fact, the Sugar Land family is more likely to live in a neighborhood with lower poverty rates, higher homeownership rates and a higher percentage of college-educated neighbors.”

Shelton’s blog is available at http://bit.ly/1P3xzut. More information on Shelton is available at http://bit.ly/1paLdQg.

Rice University has a VideoLink ReadyCam TV interview studio. ReadyCam is capable of transmitting broadcast-quality standard-definition and high-definition video directly to all news media organizations around the world 24/7.

To arrange an interview with Shelton, contact Mike Williams, senior media relations specialist at Rice, at 713-348-6728 or mikewilliams@rice.edu.

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