Acculturation Without Assimilation? the Jewish Community of Chicago, Illinois

The settlement pattern of the Jewish population of Chicago has been interpreted in terms of the successive stages of the "race-relation cycle" from acculturation to assimilation. An examination of the recent relocation of this population at the northern city limits and beyond indicates that this spatial concentration is a result of the housing market as well as of the desire for voluntary segregation. Voluntary segregation in a high-status area combined with a modicum of Jewish education appears to be effective in preventing large-scale assimilation.