The Housing Divide examines the generational patterns in New York City's housing market and neighborhoods along the lines of race and ethnicity. The book provides an in-depth analysis of many immigrant groups in New York, especially providing an understanding of the opportunities and discriminatory practices at work from one generation to the next. Through a careful read of such factors as home ownership, housing quality, and neighborhood rates of crime, welfare enrollment, teenage pregnancy, and educational achievement, Emily Rosenbaum and Samantha Friedman provide a detailed portrait of neighborhood life and socio-economic status for the immigrants of New York.

The book paints an important, if disturbing, picture. The authors argue that not only are Blacks—regardless of generation—disadvantaged relative to members of other racial/ethnic groups in their ability to obtain housing in high-quality neighborhoods, but that housing and neighborhood conditions actually decline over generations. Rosenbaum and Friedman's findings suggest that the future of racial inequality in this country will increasingly isolate Blacks from all other groups. In other words, the “color line” may be shifting from a line separating Blacks from Whites to one separating Blacks from all non-Blacks.

Emily Rosenbaum is professor of sociology at Fordham University.

Samantha Friedman is assistant professor of sociology at Northeastern University.

“Casts much light on longstanding debates over the assimilation and economic advancement of foreign immigrants in the USA.”

“Well organized, tightly written and full of interesting and provocative information. The authors produced a very good piece of scholarship that is theoretically grounded and attentive to detail, especially concerning methodological issues including the potential limitations of their study.”

“This well written book makes a major contribution to urban sociology and race/ethnic studies.”

“[W]ill be fascinating for policy makers and scholars concerned with housing patterns and racial discrimination.”

“An excellent and timely volume, very well written, clearly organized, and cogently argued.”

“The Housing Divide brilliantly transforms the Big Apple into a crystal ball for glimpsing the racial and ethnic future of 21st century America. The core finding—that, just as in the past, racial discrimination keeps Americans with African ancestry from taking advantage of opportunities used by the newest immigrants and their children to get ahead—portends a troubling future in which American society may cleave between blacks and non-blacks. This book is a wake-up call to America to finally address racial discrimination in housing.”

“The Housing Divide takes a hard look at housing and neighborhood quality in the nation's largest and most diverse city. It exposes long-standing features that are found in most American cities, including the potential for upward mobility by some immigrant newcomers, the traps that others fall into, and the continuing reality of racial discrimination that limits progress for too many New Yorkers.”

“The authors offer a particularly balanced, thorough discussion in chapter 1 of how residence both reflects socioeconomic status and helps to determine it.”