College Towns Big Losers In Community Development Block Grant Cuts

Major funding cutbacks' effect on Berkeley and other university communities gives a chilly overview of the future.

"The current funding formula, in place since 1978, has a bias favoring both cities with an older housing stock and university towns, said HUD spokesperson Brian Sullivan. Under the current system, most college students, even those supported by their families, count as low-income residents, making university towns appear far poorer than other evidence would suggest.

A recent HUD report showed that College Station, Penn., home to Penn State University, had a poverty rate of 48 percent, due mostly to its large student population. Berkeley receives more than twice as much CDBG money as Richmond, a city with an equivalent population, but far greater poverty."