The Puzzle of the Optimal Social Composition of Neighborhoods

Commentators rightly decry the excessive segregation of American neighborhoods by race and social class. If all demographic groups were randomly distributed throughout a metropolitan area, however, there would be great diversity within each neighborhood, but no diversity among them. There is much evidence that most people, including most African Americans, would object to that outcome because it would prevent households from choosing among varying social environments. Drawing in part on Robert Putnam's distinction between bonding and bridging social capital, this paper explores the perplexing normative issue of the optimal residential distribution of different social groups