This conference paper discusses the current situation of racial differences in housing in the Chicago (Illinois) area with regard to the ramifications of the "Miliken v. Bradley" (1974) case. The Miliken case closed the door on busing and school desegregation plans crossing school district lines and in many cases, crossing municipal boundaries. It legitimized the idea that social problems could be geographically limited and that accountability for social welfare should be localized. The case's impact is far-reaching in terms of the way people think about the relationship between the predominantly Black and Hispanic American inner city and the predominantly White suburbs and who is responsible for what problems. The maintenance of separations directly affects housing and the economy within metropolitan systems. The following major topics are discussed: (1) metropolitan patterns of segregation (high segregation in Chicago with very few Blacks and Hispanic Americans living among Whites, and increased suburban populations of Blacks and Hispanic Americans, but high concentrations of each in relatively few communities); (2) community types (older enclaves, high proportion Black, rapid growth, moderate growth, and losing); (3) segregation and employment; and (4) a metropolitan approach (continued commitment to the education system, efficient public transportation and improved access of Chicago's unemployed to areas of suburban economic growth, regional commitment to economic revival of the southeast side of Chicago, and acknowledgment of the interconnectedness of the metropolitan system and recognition that unemployment and poverty in Chicago mean welfare and prison costs elsewhere). (SLD)