According to the freshly released 2013 ACS by the United States Census Bureau, there have been modest, but insignificant, gains toward alleviating poverty within many urban areas.
The U.S. Census Bureau accounts for cities based on specific Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which is the agglomeration throughout a given metropolitan area, capturing not only the main big-city or mid-sized city, but also its surrounding suburbs. As Alexis Stephens reports from Next City's Equity Factor blog, "the MSAs that showed reasonable gains in median income were Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, New York-Newark-Jersey City, and San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward. (The median income for the country in 2013 was $51,939, up from $51,759 in 2012.) The Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia MSA had the largest decrease in median household income, down 3.8 percent."
These changes may be a rise in overall income of residents of the area, but it may also reflect how many lower-income households are priced out of living within the city, and displaced by higher income individuals. Indeed, looking at the national poverty rate, in 2013 it barely budged and remained at 15.8 percent nationwide. As Stephens writes, "any gains made overall during the recovery haven’t been able to markedly lift the households of low-wage workers or the unemployed."
FULL STORY: How Cities Stacked Up by Median Income and Poverty Rates for 2013
Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary
Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.
Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024
A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.
Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts
From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.
Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding
The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.
Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly
The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.
LA's Top Parks, Ranked
TimeOut just released its list of the top 26 parks in the L.A. area, which is home to some of the best green spaces around.
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.