Over the past three decades, considerable effort has been devoted to assessing the importance of spatial mismatch in determining racial and ethnic differences in employment outcomes. The hypothesis posits that persistent racial housing segregation in . metropolitan areas coupled with the spatial decentralization of employment have left black and, to a lesser extent, Latino workers physically isolated from ever-important suburban employment centers. Given the difficulties of reverse-commuting by public transit and the high proportions of blacks and Latinos that do not own cars, this spatial disadvantage literally removes many suburban locations from the opportunity sets of inner-city minority workers
