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Profile of an Inner City Senior Research Associate, JSRI Director and Professor, JSRI
Suggested Citation Siles, Marcelo E. and Refugio I. Rochín. "North Lansing, Michigan: Profile of an Inner City." JSRI CIFRAS Statistical Brief No. 10, the Julian Samora Research Institute. Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. August, 1998. Lansing is one of the growth poles in Michigan with a growing minority population. Its Hispanics have registered more rapid growth than any other minority group. One area within Lansing, the North area, houses a relatively large proportion of Latinos; 16.7% as of the 1990 census. By comparison, the City of Lansing is 8% Latino overall. The Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) of Lansing, including three counties (Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham) has 3.5% Hispanics in the region. This report of the Julian Samora Research Institute examines the characteristics of Latinos living in North Lansing and compares their socio-economic condition with Hispanics living in the Lansing MSA. For purposes of comparison, we define the North Lansing area as bounded by the following: on the North by Grand River; on the East by Wood Road; on the South by Saginaw Highway; and on the West by ML King Boulevard. This boundary for North Lansing follows the spatial frame drawn by the Center for Urban Affairs at Michigan State University, used in their "social power" survey of November, 1993. Our data come from the U.S. Census Bureau, the 1990 Census of Population and Housing Tape File 3A for the following tracts: 0001, 0002, 0005.1, 0005.3, 0007, 0008, 0009.1, 0009.2, 0032, 0003.B64, and 0031.02.9. The terms Latino and Hispanic are interchangeable. These terms cover persons who have identified themselves as such during the Census as persons with Hispanic family traits or nationality (e.g. of Mexican, Puerto Rican, etc. origin). Why the focus on the North Lansing area? We want to know if North Lansing fits the concept of an "Inner City." Is North Lansing experiencing a worsening of socio-economic conditions? Inner cities have been described in urban studies as central
city areas with high rates of poverty and unemployment, low educational
attainment, low income per capita and median household income,
and an increasing number of households headed by a female single
mother (Gottdiener, 1986; Stone and Sanders, 1987). Other authors
such as Smith and Feagin have characterized "inner cities"
as places experiencing disinvestment, job exodus and increasing
concentrations of low-skilled and low wage jobs, neighborhood
deterioration, and housing deterioration (Smith and Feagin, 1987). Researchers, including Gappert and Rose, have noted other social and economic conditions of particular "inner city." For example, there is difficult physical access to public services and lower quality of services provided in "inner cities." Also, investments in education and recreational outlets for youth are particularly low. The "inner city" also faces a low revenue base of tax dollars or private donations. This low tax base, in turn, corresponds to a deterioration of the housing stock and a general decline of private business. Conceomitantly, there is an accumulation of factors with an aggregated affect in the "inner city" and a subsequent impact on families and individuals (Gappert and Rose, 1975). Multicultural/Ethnic Dimensions North Lansing is undergoing transformations in its revenue base, in its social and economic conditions, and in the concerns expressed by local businesses to redevelop North Lansing. The area, though, is not simply an urban space with an aggregation of problems. It is a community where Anglos, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans share their multicultural attributes. It is a confluence of cultures, histories, and different groups who sometimes differ in needs, but share a common space for community relations. Ethnic settlements are not new in North Lansing. Irish, Italian, and other European groups settled there before, dating back to the early years of this century. Also, North Lansing is considered by many as the "original" Hispanic settlement area in Lansing, with origins dating to the 40's. It continues to be the place where there is a high degree of Hispanic concentration. North Lansing seems also to serve as a springboard for some Hispanics who, after improving their human capital and employment, take advantage of opportunities to move to other areas in the MSA. A new Asian origin population is also arriving, thus making North Lansing a dynamic community of diverse multiracial, multicultural, and multi-ethnic interests.
Given the growing concentration of Latinos in North Lansing, there is interest in knowing if the area is also becoming a "barrio" and especially, an "underclass barrio" with persistent, concentrated poverty. Although this Statistical Brief hints at underclass conditions, the report does not present an adequate analysis of the "barrio-zation" underway in North Lansing (See Moore and Pinderhughes, 1993). General Contrasts: From the 1990 Census From what the literature suggests, North Lansing appears to have "inner city" conditions:
 
The Lansing metropolitan area is a diverse urban area. Chart 1 shows the composition of persons living in North Lansing by race and ethnicity. Of the total 432,674 persons living in the MSA of Lansing almost 4% (3.9) reside in the North Lansing area or 17,897 persons. North Lansing's proportional share of Latinos increases when the area is compared to just the City of Lansing. The share of total residents living in the North area increases to 14.6%. Overall, the distribution of population in North Lansing is 63% for Whites, 16.8% for Blacks, 16.2% for Hispanics, and 4.5% for others. In the Lansing MSA, Whites represent 88%, Blacks 7%, Hispanics 3%, and others 3%. As indicated in Chart 1, both Latinos and African Americans are the two largest groups of minorities in the North Lansing area. The differences in percentages are insignificant, the rate for Latinos is 16.2% and for Blacks is 16.8% of the total population of North Lansing. However, both groups constitute a significant one-third of the total population in the area. There are 2,900 Latinos living in the North Lansing area. In terms of origin, of the total population of Hispanics, Mexican origin residents constitute the majority or 83.5%, Caribbean origin accounts just for 2.6%, and South Americans 3.2%, and other Hispanics 10.7%. For the Lansing MSA, the proportion of Mexican origin persons is 76%, Puerto Ricans account for 4.7%, Cubans for 3.3%, Central and South Americans for 5%, and other Hispanics 10.8% (See Chart 2). Hispanics living in the North Lansing area are relatively young. Chart 3 shows that the two largest age groups for Latino males and females are: "up to 11 years," and "22 to 44 years," in which almost two-thirds of Hispanics concentrate. By looking at each group in Chart 3, it is clear that males are more represented in the "22 to 44" segment or 32%, while 37% of Hispanic females are concentrated in the youngest age segment. In the second age group "12 to 21," Hispanic males are more represented than females, with 21.5% of males, compared to 16% of females.
In terms of language usage, as reported in the Census, the most commonly spoken language used by Latinos in North Lansing, next to English, is Spanish. That is, 1,524 persons reported Spanish as their main language; that is, more than half (53%) of Hispanics in North Lansing speak Spanish. In the Lansing MSA, 62% of Hispanics reportedly speak Spanish. No other language seems to have more importance than Spanish. Only German and other Germanic languages are spoken by 71 persons, or less than 1% or .59 of the metro region.
B. Household Composition and Family Structure As seen in Chart 4, there is no significant difference in
the Hispanic household type in North Lansing versus the Metro
area. In North Lansing, 44.2% of the Hispanic households are
composed of married couples with their own children, this figure
added to the 23% of families living with non-own children constitute
67% or two-thirds of the Hispanic households. At the Lansing
MSA level, the added figures increase by 1% or 68% of the total
Hispanic households in the metro area. Another significant finding seen in Chart 5 is that Hispanic males with no wife present constitute 8.5% in the Lansing MSA, while in North Lansing there is only 4%. Chart 6 shows graphically the variations of family type among Hispanics.
Hispanic educational enrollment differs between North Lansing and Lansing MSA, as seen in Chart 7. This difference seems to be related to the concentration of youth in the North Lansing area, discussed at the beginning of this report. Latinos in North Lansing have a 45% High School graduation rate while Latinos in Lansing MSA have 64%; thus, the MSA has a 19% higher graduation rate than in North Lansing. The graduation rates at the college level have similar disparities as for those in high school. As seen in Chart 7, college graduation rate for Latinos in Lansing MSA is 20%, whereas the rate for Hispanics living in North Lansing is 5.6%. These differences in educational attainment are usually correlated with differences in salary and wages, as well as to the high unemployment rates among youth in the age group of 16 to 19 years of age in North Lansing. Chart 8 shows that Hispanic youth among the ages of 16 to 19 in North Lansing have higher rates of unemployment (39%), while their counterparts in Lansing MSA is 14.3%. There is more than double the unemployment of young Hispanics in the North Lansing area than in the MSA.
D. Employment and Income Comparisons When unemployment rates are examined by gender, there's a significant variation between males and females (Chart 9). For Hispanic males in both areas, (not shown by a chart), there is a small difference of 1% (12.5% for the MSA and 13.5% for North Lansing). However, for females in North Lansing, the rate difference is 8.5% higher than for the Latinas in Lansing MSA (10% for the MSA and 18.4% for North Lansing).
Household income data also provide information on the gap
existing between Hispanics in North Lansing and the rest of the
population in the MSA region. Chart 10 shows that Latinos in
North Lansing earn considerably less than those living in Lansing.
In North Lansing the per capita income for 1989 was $5,832, while
in the Lansing MSA it was $8,312. This represents a net difference
of $2,480 which is 30% less of the income in the MSA. However,
when the data are compared to the total population per capita
income in Lansing MSA, the difference widens to $3,557; in other
words, Hispanics in North Lansing earn 38% less than the rest
of the Hispanic population in the whole metropolitan area. In
the next section, it will be shown that even when the difference
in income is 38% less, Hispanics in North Lansing pay 15% more
in renting costs. Hispanic household median income is also different for the
two areas. As seen in Chart 10, the median household income for
Hispanics in North Lansing is $16,830 while for Latinos in Lansing
MSA the median income is $27,814, a net difference of $10,984
dollars, which represents a significant 35% less. When the median
income is compared to the total population in North Lansing,
Hispanics still earn considerably less than the rest of the population.
This difference needs further analysis since it cannot be explained
solely by the differential in educational attainment or age (Chart
11). Chart 12 shows that poverty conditions of Latinos in North Lansing are also severe. The poverty rate for Latinos in Lansing MSA is 23%, while the rate in North Lansing is equal to 41.4%. Thus the poverty rate among Hispanics in North Lansing is almost 2 times larger (15.1% higher) than the rate of the MSA. In other words, one in two Hispanics living in North Lansing are below the poverty level, whereas one in four Latinos in Lansing are living in those conditions. Considering gender, Latina, or female-headed households reported
high rates of poverty. Chart 12 shows that Hispanic female household
with no husband present in North Lansing have 69% of poverty
rate, while in the Lansing MSA is 46%. The difference of poverty
rate for Latinas in North Lansing is then, one and a half times
higher than their counterparts in the MSA. The conditions are not better when data is explored by married couple families. Almost a quarter of Hispanic married couple families in North Lansing tend to be poor. Whereas Latinos in Lansing MSA show that only 11.6% of the households are below the poverty rate line, 24.015% of the married couple families in North Lansing are below the poverty line.
F. Household Ownership There is no difference in the ownership of residences for Hispanics in both areas, as seen in Chart 14. In terms of renting patterns, Hispanics again have no significant difference between those living in North Lansing and Lansing MSA. Approximately 55% own a home and 45% rent. However, Latinos renting in North Lansing pay more than their counterparts by $30 a month (See Chart 15). Actually, Hispanics in North Lansing pay $60 more monthly for rent than non-Hispanics. As shown in Chart 16 median mortgage payment is $472 in North Lansing, while it is $624 in the Lansing MSA. The median owner costs are $190 for Hispanic owners in North Lansing, as compared to $256 for Latinos in the MSA. This may be a reflection of the real estate cost/quality characteristics that are similar in any other urban area (See Chart 16). In addition, Chart 17 shows that plumbing facilities are different, since almost 1% of the Hispanic households in North Lansing lacks these facilities; and only a third of a percentage or 0.36% live in those conditions in the Lansing MSA (See Chart 17). Chart 18 shows that 20% of the Hispanic households do not own at least one vehicle, compared to 12% of Latinos in the Lansing MSA. 
The major findings of this paper highlight the general living
conditions in North Lansing. The stark contrasts between the
area of North Lansing and the MSA suggest conditions of an "inner
city." As shown by the data for 1990, the basic statistics
for income, educational attainment, poverty rates, housing conditions,
and other traits are signs of relatively lower standards of living
within North Lansing, compared to the general conditions of the
MSA. A practical next step is to analyze the primary data obtained through the survey planned and executed by the Department of Urban Affairs at MSU. This data should provide more recent information about the basic needs and concerns of the different groups living in the area. In addition, it will be interesting to pursue similar research efforts in other Metropolitan Areas (MSA) in which similar or comparable characteristics can be found in order to design an empirical model that can describe and evaluate the causes that make Latino Communities "Inner City" comparable communities.
Further efforts should be made to generate greater investments into local businesses of North Lansing. The economic base appears to be under-developed within this "inner city." We end this report with some base questions: (1) What kinds of businesses can promote the development of investments, services for youth, and jobs? (2) What changes have improved local conditions? (3) What changes have hurt local conditions? (4) What is happening within the general MSA? (5) Is there a noticeable gap between "haves" and "have nots?"
   References Gappert, Gary and Harold M. Rose. "The Social Economy of Cities." Urban Affairs Annual Review, vol 9. Beverly Hills, Sage Publications. 1975. Gottdiener, Mark. "Cities in Stress: A New Look at the Urban Crisis." Urban Affairs Annual Review, vol 30. Beverly Hills, Sage Publications. 1986. Moore, Joan and Raquel Pinderhughes. In the Barrios: Latinos and the Underclass Debate. New York, Russell Sage Foundation. 1993 Smith, Michael Peter and Joe R. Feagin. The Capitalist City: Global Restructuring and Community Politics. New York, B. Blackwell. 1987.\ Stone, Clarence N. and Heywood T. Sanders. "The Politics of Urban Development." Studies in Government and Public Policy. Kansas, University Press of Kansas. 1987 |
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A. The Demographics
Concentrations of Hispanics are
younger in the Lansing metropolitan area. For instance, working
middle age Hispanics tend to concentrate more in the Metro area
of Lansing, whereas children up to 11 years of age are concentrated
in the North Lansing area. This seems to indicate that North
Lansing must respond more to Latino youth than other areas of
the metro area.
C. Education
Summary
and Conclusions
