Mapping Bay Area's Resegregation: What You See May Surprise You

As Bay Area cities scramble to find housing solutions to prevent displacement, a new report warns that the region is resegregating by race and class.

Urban Habitat, a nonprofit located in Oakland that focuses on equity issues, released a report this week that takes a closer look at where the demographic shifts are happening within the nine-county Bay Area, as well as Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.

"The most dramatic increases in poverty, from a regional scale, are actually happening in suburbs and cities outside of the traditional regional center," said Tony Samara, the Oakland-based group's program director for land use and housing.

Between 2000 and 2014, more people have become renters, commutes have become longer and poverty in most Bay Area cities has increased, the report says.

The report contrasts with the older American narrative of white flight and concentrated affluence in the suburbs and is meant to stimulate a regional conversation about the impact of gentrification, displacement and policy.

“We talk about resegregation because we believe that despite what is, on the one hand, a very dramatic change, we’re still talking about the misallocation of resources of land and of political power on the basis of race and ethnicity," said Samara.

Here are three images that help explain what's happening around the Bay Area and beyond.

1. In Most Bay Area Cities Poverty Has Been Increasing

Between 2000 and 2014, poverty increased in 106 of 117 communities in the study region that have populations over 10,000, the report says.. The darker the red in the map below, the more the poverty rate has increased.

2. African-American Population Increasing in 'Outer Region'

The report says that between 2000 and 2014, the region's African-American population declined by 22,000. All but two counties, Napa and San Joaquin, experienced overall declines. But some individual cities saw increases in their black population during the period, with bigger increases in the outer regions.

3. Latino Population Growth Concentrated Along the Eastern Edge

Between 2000 and 2014, the Bay Area's Latino population grew by 474,000 residents, according to the report. There were decreases along the east and west sides of the bay in San Mateo, Alameda and Santa Clara counties, and increases in the outer regions.