Mercury Rising
As Americans flee the cities for the suburbs, many are failing to leave poverty behind. The suburban poor outnumbered their inner-city counterparts for the first time last year, with more than 12 million suburban residents living in poverty, according to a study of the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas released Thursday.
Now, mostly this is because suburban growth is so much more rapid than urban growth. Poverty in large cities is still twice that found in the suburbs. But,
Marc H. Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, said many of the same social and economic problems that have plagued cities for years are now affecting suburbs: struggling schools, rising crime and low-paying jobs.
"I call it the urbanization of the suburbs," Morial said.
"I hope this says to people that the way to confront poverty is not to wall it off and concentrate it," Morial said. "You really need policies to eliminate it."
# posted by
Charles @ 12/07/2006 11:30:00 AM