http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315078/Race-maps-America.html

I am curious what you all think before I comment

Pretty interesting. The large city I'm most familiar with is Los Angeles. The neighborhood my mother was born and raised in east of downtown was mostly white in the 50's and early 60's with a smattering of latino's (that spoke english) and Armenians. She distinctly remembers seing black people for the first time when she went shopping with her mother downtown when she was about 7 years old. Now the area (Montabello) is well over 90% hispanic. It is fascinating to me how demagraphics change over time. Compton and parts of south LA have gone from white to black to majority hispanic in the span of 50 years. There is even cases of 'gentrification' occuring in some inner city areas where yuppies are moving into high crime areas and turning them back into vibrant, attractive places to live.

The biggest challenge facing LA in particular right now is a booming hispanic population pushing blacks out of traditionally black areas. This has led to violence and in many cases, random murders based on skin color.

I think people tend to live in neighborhoods that are composed of people who are similar to themselves, and this self-segregation extends to many things other than race. For example, my neighborhood is made up of households that are similar in ages, professions, education, political viewpoints, etc.

Younger couples with kids tend to live in newer neighborhoods with other younger couples who also have kids. Neighborhoods two or three miles from colleges tend to be made up of college staff and faculty who tend to be more liberal and white. Neighborhoods near smelters, mines and industrial facilities tend to be made up of blue-collar workers who seem to favor a higher ratio of pickup trucks to sedans. Hispanic immigrants (legal or not) tend live in areas where they can afford the housing and where other people speak the language and observe the customs that they feel most comfortable with. Farmers tend to live in rural areas and typically go to church more than the nation's average. I could go on, but...

There is still "racism" in the country, but these sorts of maps that divide people up by race are misleading in the sense that a superficial look at them might support the notion that the country, despite its supposed progress in racial matters, is still segregated and broken down primarily by racial prejudices. The reality, however, is that the divisions that show up on the maps (and others like them) are the result of freely made personal choices, and have as much to do with culture, income, education, profession and family history as they have to do with race.

People choose to move to areas where they feel comfortable and can afford. Does racial identity play a part in this? Sure, along with a hundred other things.