A Description of the Detroit-Shoreway Neighborhood Based on the 2000 Census

(Published in the Plain Press)

The Detroit-Shoreway area may be one of the most evenly integrated neighborhoods in the city of Cleveland, with blacks, whites and Hispanics spread fairly evenly throughout the community.

The neighborhood also contains a much higher ratio of renters to owners.

The Plain Press obtained the 2000 U.S. Census Data from the Northern Ohio Data and Information Service in the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. The census tracts for the Detroit-Shoreway planning area were combined for a portrait of the neighborhood.

The eight census tracts covering the Detroit-Shoreway community include 273 blocks. Of these, only 235 had a residential population in 2000, while the rest were completely industrial or other non-residential.

A block-by-block check of the census data shows that 83.8 percent of all blocks have black residents, and an additional 8.5 percent have residents with heritage from other racial backgrounds in addition to Caucasians. Thus, only 7.7 percent of the 235 blocks with residents have only Caucasian residents, and some of these include Hispanics, which also are spread throughout the community. In addition, 61 percent of these blocks (11 blocks) with only Caucasians have 10 or fewer residents, while another 3 have 11-20 residents and only two are larger blocks.

The Detroit-Shoreway planning district stretches from the edge of Ohio City on the east out to the West Boulevard and Cudell neighborhoods on the west. It is bounded by Lake Erie on the north and extends all the way to Clinton Avenue on the south. See the insert for boundaries of specific census tracts.

In the 2000 census, Detroit-Shoreway had a population of 17,382, with 56% of the residents concentrated in just three tracts--1034, 1018 and 1012.

Some 95.6% of residents were categorized as belonging to a single race, with the other 4.4% mixed. Of the 773 claiming a heritage with more than one race, 738 individuals claimed a background with two races, 30 with three races, and 5 with four races. Some 161 individuals cited a Caucasian-African-American background, and 70 were Caucasian-American-Indian, and 70 Caucasian-Asian. Some 345 were Caucasian and some other race. Some 55 people were Black and some other race.

Breaking down those belonging to a single shows that 66.4% were Caucasian, with 18.8% Black or African American, 1.2% Asian, less than 1% American Indian, and 12.7% some other race alone. The Black population was spread rather evenly throughout the neighborhood, with no area falling below 10 percent and the highest at about a fourth. The largest Black population was in Census Tract 1034, which was 25.4% black, with the second largest number in Census Tract 1018, which was 18.6% black. However, the second largest concentration of Blacks was in Census Tract 1025, which was 22.8% black. The lowest concentration of Blacks was 10.6% in Census Tract 1026, followed by Census Tract 1035 at 15.8% and Census Tract 1019 at 16.8%. Census Tract 1031 was 19.3% black and Census Tract 1012 18.8% black.

The 200 claiming only an Asian heritage also were distributed across the census tracts, with 30-40 in each of the following census tracts, 1012, 1019, 1018, 1035. Census Tract 1025 had only 3 pure Asians and the other census tracts had 15-20 each. The distribution of those claiming only American Indian heritage followed a similar pattern but with smaller numbers. Census Tract 1018 had 26 with pure native American backgrounds.

Some 4,175 residents claimed Hispanic or Latino heritage. This represents 24% of Detroit-Shoreway residents, and they too were spread quite evenly across the neighborhood, with a high concentration of 29.4% in Census Tract 1035 and a low of 18.2% in Census Tract 1012. The percentage of residents of Hispanic or Latino origin for the other Census Tracts were: Tract 1018, 21.3%; Tract 1019, 25.5%; Tract 1025, 26.8%; Tract 1026, 26.7%; Tract 1031, 19.2%, and Tract 1034, 27.4%. In terms of numbers alone, the largest number of Hispanics was 937, in Census Tract 1034, followed by 704 in Census Tract 1018.

The Hispanic population in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood is dominated by Puerto Ricans, who account for 78.5% of the 4,175 total.

However, many other groups are found in the neighborhood. Some 6.3% of Hispanics are Mexican, 1.5% are Cuban, 1.1% Dominican, 3% Central American-including 66 Guatemalans, 28 Hondurans, 12 Salvadorans, 9 Nicaraguans, and 3 Panamanians. Some 1% are South Americans, including 23 Peruvians, 7 Colombians, 5 Ecuadorians, and miscellaneous others. In addition, 16.8% claim other Hispanic or Latino heritage.

The native American population in the neighborhood also includes some diversity, with 271 claiming some native American heritage. Of these, a third cited only an American Indian heritage, while 35.8% cited an American Indian heritage combination with one or more other races. Some 78 cited specific Indian tribes, including 22 Cherokee, 12 Choctaw, 7 Chippewa, 6 Sioux, 5 Kiowa, 2 Cheyenne, 1 Blackfoot, and 1 Seminole. In addition, 5 cited Latin American Indian tribes.

The 200 Asians in the neighborhood included 88 Vietnamese, 25 Asian Indians, 25 Filipinos, 17 Cambodians, 14 Chinese, , 7 Koreans, 6 Laotians, 5 Japanese, 2 Bangladeshi, 1 Pakistani, and 6 others. The Asian population also was distributed fairly evenly across the census tracts. Although Census Tract 1025 had only 3 Asians, the others ranged from 17 in Tract 1026 to 39 Asians in Tract 1012.

Women outnumber men slightly, with 8,865 females and 8,512 males. The genders are fairly balanced through the various age categories until the senior years. Thus, there are 784 boys and 783 girls under age 5, 371 males and 349 females age 15-17, 708 males and 709 females age 30-34, 421 males and 450 females age 50-54, and 92 males and 110 females age 65-66. The ratio changes as the years advance, with 112 males and 202 females age 75-79, 90 males and 159 females age 80-84 and 65 males and 225 females age 85 and older.

The average household size is between 3 and 4 for all census tracts. The largest average family-3.54 persons--is found in Census Tract 1026, with two other census tracts, 1019 and 1025 not far behind at 3.53. The smallest household size was in Census Tract 1012, which averaged only 2.99. Some 35.9% of all households have only one person, and 56.1% of households are families. Some 26.6% of the 6,715 households in the Detroit-Shoreway community are married couples with families. Some 23.2% of all households are families headed by women with no husband present, while 6.4% are families headed by men with no wife present. Some 32.8% of family households have two people, while 24.4% have three people, 19.9% have four people, 12.6% have five people, 5.6% have six people, and 4.7% have 7 or more people.

Of the 2,945 non-family households, 81.7% have only one person, while 15.1% have two people, and 2.1% have three people.

Some 466 people were in group quarters, and 345 of them were males. Some 336 people were in nursing homes in the community.

There were 7,772 housing units in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood, with 86.4% occupied and 13.6% vacant. Only 33.9% were owner-occupied, while 66.1% were occupied by renters.

Some 44.7% of unoccupied houses were for rent, while 7.8% were for sale only, 4.3% were rented or sold but not yet occupied, 2.5% were for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use or for migrant workers. Some 40.1% were listed as other vacant units.