'Incubators For the American Dream' Are Shrinking

Across the nation, middle class neighborhoods are shrinking as cities and suburbs become increasingly segregated by income.

1 minute read

June 27, 2006, 9:00 AM PDT

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech


"...poor and rich neighborhoods are both on the rise, as cities and suburbs have become increasingly segregated by income, according to a Brookings Institution study released last week...Widening income inequality in the United States has been well documented in recent years, but the Brookings analysis of census data uncovered a much more accelerated decline in communities that house the middle class...

The decline of middle-income neighborhoods may also be a consequence of increased economic opportunity and residential mobility, especially for upper-income minorities, said Joel Kotkin, an urban historian and senior fellow at the New America Foundation...

The Brookings study says that increased residential segregation by income can remove a fundamental rung from the nation's ladder for social mobility: moderate-income neighborhoods with decent schools, nearby jobs, low crime and reliable services."

Sunday, June 25, 2006 in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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