Foreclosing on Community

Communities across the nation continue to struggle with the long-term effects of the housing market crash and resulting foreclosure crisis of 2006-2007. In Cook County, which includes the city of Chicago and several surrounding suburbs, foreclosure and resulting vacant buildings continue to pose complex problems even as foreclosure rates slow and the market begins to level out. In Chicago, a long history of racial residential segregation and the sub-prime lending crisis has concentrated the effects of foreclosure in African-American and minority communities. Why is this true? And what does it mean for the future of the city and surrounding suburbs?