Neighborhood Development Organizations and Neighborhood Disadvantage: Race,Resources,and Inequality in Chicago

Abstract

This article analyzes the relationship between neighborhood development organizations (NDOs) and neighborhood disadvantage in Chicago between 1990 and 2010. NDOs are often seen as interdependent partners with local and state governments in the co-production of social welfare, but not all have equally beneficial effects. Instead, NDOs are associated with lowering rates of disadvantage in majority non-Hispanic White neighborhoods, leaving other neighborhoods behind, especially predominately Black neighborhoods. Organizational resources and residential mobility help explain this inequality. NDOs in majority Black neighborhoods are less likely to have the organizational resources that enable NDOs to affect neighborhood disadvantage. When NDOs are associated with the lowering of neighborhood disadvantage, it is often in neighborhoods with preexisting advantage or high rates of residential mobility. As cities continue to rely on nonprofit organizations such as NDOs for neighborhood development, this research gives a clearer understanding of how this reliance may contribute to perpetuating racial inequalities.