Pan-Latino Neighborhoods: Contemporary Myth or Reality?

Abstract

Building upon recent theoretical developments in pan-ethnic research, this article explores Latino neighborhood diversity for urban and nonurban Latino-majority neighborhoods from 1980, 1990, and 2000. We measured Latino neighborhood diversity using the Theil entropy score for four Latino groups: Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and all other Latinos. The evidence points to: (1) a small increase in Latino neighborhood diversity for the period between 1980 and 2000; (2) a negative relationship between Latino concentration and Latino neighborhood diversity; and (3) a negative relationship between Latino neighborhood diversity and the concentration of economic disadvantages. The findings suggest that researchers need to think carefully about how to empirically create a measure for a diverse Latino neighborhood and that they need to develop new surveys and questions that ask Latino respondents about their motivations for moving into a neighborhood.