While African-Americans have a long and complex history of distinctive styles in music, art, and literature, they do not have a similar history in domestic architecture and home furnishings. I can find no research that explores this question, so I will offer a hunch based upon my observations and some conversations with a few people in Oak Park. I think that one can partially explain the dispersal of people in both the rental units and home buying in terms of these cultural and class preferences. Or at least the idea is worth considering. My remarks are focused on Oak Park and do not apply to other middle-class African American communities.
Oak Park has two basic apartment types - vintage and modern.
Vintage apartment buildings were built prior to 1920 and are often courtyard style. They tend to be three story high and in multiples of six units so that the larger buildings have multiple entrances and lack the long hallways common is more recently built places. They are large with hardwood floors and sometimes have built-in bookcases and fireplaces. A one bedroom will have four rooms - bedroom, living room, kitchen and full sized dining room. They never have central air-conditioning.