Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
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Notes -
I'll start with the less loaded question, immigrants are attracted to areas with a lot of economic growth because they want to land their dream job. In the midwest there's no construction boom for working class immigrants to work in. There's no flood of nouveau rich craving exotic restaurants. There are no high paying engineering jobs to attract high skill immigrants.
Basically to an immigrant the midwest is bad weather, a foreign language, and limited job prospects. There are plenty of other cities on earth.
Now for the more controversial section.
"Nonwhite" isn't the relevant metric. Columbus, IN is only 2.1% black. 12.5% asian in 2020. 5.6% asian in 2010. Asians don't drive down housing prices in general and their increasing numbers imply that there are white collar jobs hiring in the area.
Poor blacks don't cease to be poor by moving out to the exurbs. They just get to be poor with long commutes.
Those inner city neighborhoods have a lot going for them. Plenty of infrastructure. Many social services. Close to jobs. They're highly desirable apart from the demographics.
Partly. Nonblacks have to choose between pricing them out or moving farther away.
Gentrification involves various programs to move the poor blacks out of inner cities to blue collar suburbs. Liberal whites move in to the newly vacant areas. Blue collar suburbs get stuck with crime and race riots. The residents then flee to more distant exurbs.
A good example is Ferguson, MI. 70% white in 1990, 70% black now. There were serious riots in 2014.
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