- June 7, 2012 - 12:01 am CURL research highlighted In January
2012, statistics from the Manhattan Institute for Policy
Research showed that Chicago is the most segregated city in
America. But why are people flocking to those like them? Aside
from a bevy of psychological and political reasons, Phillip
Nyden, professor of sociology and director of the Center for
Urban Research and Learning (CURL), points out people believe
“there is this false “common-sensical” notion that diverse
communities are changing communities,” in other words: not good
places to live. Some believe diversity means gentrification.
Others believe it means a community is unstable. However, Nyden
has found the opposite. “Our research is pointing out that this
is not true, this is not a law of social behavior, that these
communities are inherently unstable,” he says. Nyden’s research,
originally started in 1998 and funded by the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD), has shown that certain
neighborhoods in Chicago including