Poverty Heads to the Suburbs

The migration of America's low income population is spreading to the suburbs. But the suburbs aren't ready to handle the influx, according to this piece.

1 minute read

February 26, 2010, 6:00 AM PST

By Nate Berg


"More consequential to a far larger group is the mass out-migration of impoverished people from center cities into the suburbs, often in the same metropolitan areas. According to a recent Brookings Institute Study, the process is accelerating. Between 2000 and 2008, the percent of poor people living in the suburbs increased by 25%, compared to by 5.6% in central cities and 15.4% for the nation as a whole. More of the poor now live in the suburbs than in central cities: 12.5 million versus 11 million.

The out-migration of the lower-middle class has been just as notable."

As a population heavily reliant on public social services and transit, the transition from centralized inner cities to decentralized suburbs will likely result in many needs going unmet.

Thursday, February 25, 2010 in Next American City

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