The Search Behavior of Black Households in Pittsburgh in the Housing Allowance Demand Experiment

摘要

The report analyzes the experience of black households that searched for housing during the Housing Allowance Demand Experiment in Pittsburgh, PA. The focus is on the relationships among the process of searching for housing, the maintenance of existing patterns of segregated housing in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), and the extent to which black households restricted their search for housing to black areas. The racial discrimination black households encountered when they searched in nonminority neighborhoods is also discussed. Differences in the effectiveness of housing market information for black and white searchers are analyzed. The report categorizes neighborhoods into four types: black neighborhoods, mixed neighborhoods, white neighborhoods with clusters of black residents, and white neighborhoods without clusters of black residents.