ly affluent with a median family income of about $31,860 dollars per year. Nonetheless, about 23 percent of the community now lives below the poverty line with around 14 percent of these earning under $10,000 per year. The unemployment rate is a little over 10 percent.
Population data show that the community is growing at a rate of about 6 percent every ten years. However, a good many people in the community are older people as shown by the median age of the community which is 32.2 years.
The ethnic/racial composition of the Flatbush-Midwood area is diverse. Statistics put out by the Board of Brooklyn Community District 14 (1994) indicate that about 39 percent of the area are white nonhispanics.
About 40 percent are black non-hispanics, and the remaining 21 percent are primary people of hispanic origin. However, the community does have some new immigrant groups now living in it, most of whom are Chinese, Israeli, Pakistani or Russian in ethnic background.
As can be seen from the foregoing, the Flatbush-Midwood area is one of the most culturally diverse areas of New York. However, like many other areas of the city and the country for that matter, this diversity is not integrative but self-contained. For example, each ethnic group lives in its own particular region of the district.
Afro-Americans have homes on Flatbush, New Kirk, and Church Avenues. The Chinese live along Avenue J. The Pakistanis live along Coney Island Avenue and the Russians live along Foster Avenue. Moreover, each of these ethnic areas have their own restaurants, grocery stores, doctors, banks, clothing stores, churches, and synagogues. This "separate but equal" aspect of the cultural diversity of the area can make for a lack of understanding between racial/ethnic groups.
With respect to the foregoing, it can be noted that racial/Ethnic data show that the community is ethnically diverse. What these data do not show is how the area is cop...