THE GEOGRAPHY OF METROPOLITAN OPPORTUNITY - A CASE-STUDY OF NEIGHBORHOOD CONDITIONS CONFRONTING YOUTH IN WASHINGTON, DC

This article uses tabular and mapping presentations of 1990 census tra ct data to investigate variations in adverse socioeconomic conditions across Washington, DC, neighborhoods. It also examines the levels of e xposure of youth of different races or ethnicities to these adverse co nditions. Underlying this analysis is the premise that aggregate neigh borhood conditions related to poverty and welfare status, educational attainment, out-of-wedlock births, employment, drug use, and crime ser ve as proxies for resident youth's perceptions of the opportunity stru cture as filtered through the local social network. Empirical analyses show two distinct clusters of indicators that vary consistently acros s Washington neighborhoods; one is related to socioeconomic status, dr ug use, and fertility, and the other is related to crime rates. Both s ets vary systematically by the racial-ethnic composition of youth in t he neighborhood. Youth in black, female-headed families are exposed to the most negative neighborhood conditions.