Census Tract and Neighborhood Racial Change and the Locational Decisions of Financial Services in Metro Detroit

Bibliographic Data

ID2371230
AuthorsT Friedline (0000-0001-6391-2566, University of Michigan, corresponding author), Jones Adu-Mensah (University of Michigan), Xanthippe Wedel (University of Kansas)
Year2025
Volume51
Issue7-8
Pages1621-1645
Publication date2025-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0896-9205 • E-ISSN: 1569-1632
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/08969205241287127
OpenAlexW4403454731
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited53

Scholarship on the geography of US retail financial services consistently finds racialized patterns in the locations of traditional (e.g. banks, credit unions) and higher-cost or alternative (e.g. payday lenders, check cashers) financial services. While scholars tend to offer explanations based on spatial void and market segmentation hypotheses, we theorize these racialized patterns as consistent with a social reproduction of investment and divestment. We use a novel, longitudinal dataset that follows census tract- and neighborhood-level changes in racial demographics and financial services in Detroit during the pre- and post-Recession periods. Changes in the locations of financial services follow changes in racial demographics, which occur in addition to the well-documented practice of targeting or avoiding tracts and neighborhoods based on their racial majority. These racialized patterns are heightened in the post-Great Recession period

American Community Survey · Archaeology · Business · Census · Census tract · Financial services · Geography · Metropolitan area · Racism · Sociology · Demography · Gender Studies · Homelessness and Social Issues · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies · Urbanization and City Planning · Finance

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