Another area which concerns Houston's black communities is the location of solid waste sites and landfills in black neighborhoods. A recent study I was involved in documents that landfills, solid waste sites and dumps are located in black neighborhoods disproportionately. Again, environmental factors, negative kinds of activities tend to be focused or targeted for black neighborhoods more so than any other neighborhoods. It appears that black people in black neighborhoods, black residents want the same thing as other residents: To live in a neighborhood where the quality of life is amenable to rearing their children, attending public schools that have quality education and to be able to live a meaningful and worthwhile life. In looking at the unemployment and employment picture in Houston, Houston is known for its development of jobs between 1970 and 1980. Houston led the metropolitan areas in terms of job development. Looking at unemployment, Houston has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the Nation. As of December 1981 the unemployment rate in the Houston SMSA for December 1981 was 3.8 percent. Looking at the black unemployment rate, it was 7.5 percent. Looking at the black female unemployment rate, for the same period it was 9.4 percent. A distribution of the employed blacks in Houston indicate that over 36 percent are employed in low-paying and low-status jobs. For those persons who relocate to Houston looking for heavenly Houston on the golden buckle of the Sun Belt without skills and without the correct education may find themselves in the unemployment office. I take a quote from the Texas Employment Commission's summary report that says: Applicants who are classified as disadvantaged frequently experience great problems in their job search in the Houston area. Many of them are without personal transportation and depend upon public transportation during their job search. Job seekers of all races without requisite skills and aptitude, regardless of race, continue to experience problems. This holds true for older residents and newer residents who migrate from other parts of the country. This leads you to believe that people who relocate to Houston without the necessary skills to find themselves meaningful employment may end up unemployed. The Houston community in many cases has not used those Federal moneys that have been in low-income areas and depressed areas in a way to maximize the returns. Using the community development program, the block grant program, and the program in the mayor's office have done little to get financial reinvestment in the low-income neighborhoods. This cannot stimulate a true revitalization of poverty pockets. So, we are talking about not being able to have an influence over the problems and issues that concern many blacks in the city. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Dr. Bullard. [The prepared statement of Dr. Bullard follows:] BLACK HOUSING, COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT A CASE OF HOUSTON TEXAS by Robert D. Bullard Paper presented at the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the District of Columbia, Urban Centers Hearing, Houston, Texas, February 12, 1982 BLACK HOUSING, COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Introduction The quality of life that Black-Americans enjoy to a large extent is affected by the housing and economic conditions within their communities. Thus, housing and community development activities are viewed as important elements in maintaining stable black communities. As the black population in the United States is largely an urban population, urban housing and economic development policies have a direct impact on the future viability of black communities across the nation. While much attention has been focused on the growth and "boom" aspects of the Houston area, many issues and concerns of the black community have gone unnoticed or have been deemphasized. The problems that confront black Houstonians are not unlike those which confront other urban blacks in the northeast or midwest. Specifically, the problems of inadequate housing, declining neighborhoods, unemployment and underemployment, disinvestment in inner city neighborhoods, underrepresentation of blacks in the business arena, and the abscence of a coherent community and economic "master plan" for the black community are issue areas that confront virtually every black community in the United States. Black Housing Patterns and Trends Houston's land area has continued to expand outward from a mere 9 square miles in 1850 to over 550 square miles in 1980. -2 The black population is located in a broad belt that extends from the south central and southeast portions of the city into northeast and north central Houston. Blacks remain a highly segregated group. Over three-fourths of the black residents in the city live in census tracts that are more than 70 percent black (Farrell, et al., 1978). The black population has shown a steady increase over the past thirty years. In 1950, there were 125,000 blacks in Houston (or 21 percent of the city's population). By 1980, the number of blacks in Houston had increased to over 440,257 (or 27.6 percent of the city's population). The supply of low cost housing on the market in the Houston area has decreased dramatically since 1964. A Houston City Planning Department (1973, p. 33) report described this problem as especially acute for those neighborhoods which are in close proximity to Houston's Central Business District. The Mayor's Urban Policy Advisory Board (1979, p. 81) identified the major housing problem in Houston as the lack of a coordinated housing plan for moderate and low-income households. Houston does not have a progressive policy on inner city revitalization which results in uneven growth and uncoordinated redevelopment strategies in inner city neighborhoods. While blacks are moving to the suburbs in larger numbers, no national trend of Black suburbanization has been demonstrated. A recent study by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (1979) revealed that the black share of Houston's -3 suburban population decreased between 1960 and 1970 as white population grew at a much faster rate. Specifically, blacks comprised 13 percent of Houston's suburban population in 1960; the 1970 figure for blacks had dropped to less that 9 percent. It should be noted that black suburbanization often means an extention of the segregated housing patterns long typical of the central city; blacks often become resegregated in the suburbs (See Schnore, 1976; Grier and Grier, 1978; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1979). Housing Market Discrimination It has been over 12 years since the Federal Fair Housing Act prohibited racial discrimination in housing in the United States. However, blacks still do not enjoy complete market freedom in housing. Federal fair housing enforcement efforts appear to have become a low priority (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1979, p. 6). Houston's Fair Housing Ordinance became operational on July 9, 1975 (Houston Fair Housing Division, 1978). As of April 18, 1979, Houston's Fair Housing Division had received over 1,200 housing discrimination complaints; seventy-five percent of the complaints were filed by blacks, twenty-five percent were filed by Hispanics and five percent of the housing complaints were filed by Anglos (Edwards, 1979). The pattern of housing discrimination complaint activity in Houston has come largely from the renter segment of the population. Housing discrimination complaints seems to correspond to the growth patterns of the city. Complaints are more |