?The Cost of Segregation? report puts stark numbers to the cost of the status quo Chicago?s struggle with crime has become the subject of national headlines?as well as a presidential fixation. While leaders at all levels look for solutions to a vexing problem, political debates have become stages for slinging blame.
A new study, The Cost of Segregation, released earlier this week, suggests one of the biggest culprits is Chicago?s legacy of racial and economic segregation, which has become a burden on the entire city. While this fact isn?t news to most Chicagoans, the detailed analysis conducted by the Metropolitan Planning Council and Urban Institute, two leading urban policy think tanks, is eye-opening: According to the study, a more equitable Chicago could increase its economic output by as much as $8 billion every year. It?s a damning report, one that suggests simplistic talk of sending in the troops to ?stop crime? ignores both the realities on the ground, as well as the root causes of economic disparity. At a time when new HUD Secretary Ben Carson is talking about ?A Plan for Urban Renewal,?this kind of analysis can be an important reference point.
The study?s authors?Gregory Acs, Rolf Pendall, and Mark Treskon of the Urban Insitute, and Amy Khare of the Metropolitan Planning Council?broke down nearly three decades of economic and census data, looking at the separation of specific demographic groups on multiple fronts: African-American/White, Latino/White, a...