Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Philadelphia suburbs (4.5 M people) are holding steady with about a 5.5% poverty rate.Suburban poverty rate is probably about 1% outside the small post industrial cities(camden-Chester etc.) of those suburban counties. Poverty hasn't made its way out of the older post industrial, row house dominated, inner ring suburbs yet. Even the original suburban middle class towns with the two story cape cods that are 60-70 years old are still in phenomenal shape.
I dont think its going to happen at least not in the Philadelphia area.
Wouldn't believe everything one reads, esp when written by often-socialist journalists who tend to live in a dumpy part of some city in a rathole and ride lovely mass transit to get to their highly paid job....
Actually, in past 10yrs, would argue trend has intensified for many of wealthiest, most educated and <40yo to live and work in suburbs, e.g., SiliconValley and Greenwich....and rarely visit the alleged "city"...
Suspect most middle-class families in urban regions prefer a newer, 3K sq ft house on 0.4 ac; good, safe public schools; ability to easily drive one's new Camry/Accord, etc ?20mins to one's office in a suburban office park: the model of life for many in places like Plano, TX; Naperville, IL; Irvine, CA; Cupertino, CA; CherryHill, NJ; Scarsdale, NY, etc etc....
Most families aren't big on nightlife, tourist attractions, skyscrapers and exposure to poverty/violent crime on a daily basis....easy enough to watch/read about all that stuff on one's high-res screen in suburbia somewhere....
The return to the cities is sort of misleading.Yes young professionals are moving back into the cities but its only an isolated fraction of that city.
For example young professionals are moving into parts of Manhattan/Brooklyn,Chicagos Inner Loop,Center City Philly,Baltimores Inner harbor etc., but the vast majority of those cities aren't seeing that influx of middle/ upper middle class residents. The majority of those cities population growth is status quo or being populated by poor immigrants looking for a better life then say a cotton farm in rural Paraguay or Shen Min..
The return to the cities is sort of misleading.Yes young professionals are moving back into the cities but its only an isolated fraction of that city.
For example young professionals are moving into parts of Manhattan/Brooklyn,Chicagos Inner Loop,Center City Philly,Baltimores Inner harbor etc., but the vast majority of those cities aren't seeing that influx of middle/ upper middle class residents. The majority of those cities population growth is status quo or being populated by poor immigrants looking for a better life then say a cotton farm in rural Paraguay or Shen Min..
It doesn't matter the demographics of those moving into the city, but rather the demographics of those moving out. I'll use Mpls. as an example since I know it best. It has its yuppies (and actually alot of the upper class, empty-nester demographic) moving into the city proper. As more come in, they begin to price out others. We are seeing large increases in the poverty rates of some of our inner suburbs. The majority of the poor areas in the metro are still in the city proper, but even those areas are improving as the classic white flight trend reverses. Wealthy professionals are still going to live in the exclusve suburbs, but a whole lot of poor people are going to be living in the suburbs next to them. Also, these new groups aren't confining themselves to downtown. Many of the wealthier and middle-class city neighborhoods are seeing the same trends.
Wouldn't believe everything one reads, esp when written by often-socialist journalists who tend to live in a dumpy part of some city in a rathole and ride lovely mass transit to get to their highly paid job....
Actually, in past 10yrs, would argue trend has intensified for many of wealthiest, most educated and <40yo to live and work in suburbs, e.g., SiliconValley and Greenwich....and rarely visit the alleged "city"...
Suspect most middle-class families in urban regions prefer a newer, 3K sq ft house on 0.4 ac; good, safe public schools; ability to easily drive one's new Camry/Accord, etc ?20mins to one's office in a suburban office park: the model of life for many in places like Plano, TX; Naperville, IL; Irvine, CA; Cupertino, CA; CherryHill, NJ; Scarsdale, NY, etc etc....
Most families aren't big on nightlife, tourist attractions, skyscrapers and exposure to poverty/violent crime on a daily basis....easy enough to watch/read about all that stuff on one's high-res screen in suburbia somewhere....
You realize how many people commute to the Silicon Valley from San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley, right?
Wouldn't believe everything one reads, esp when written by often-socialist journalists who tend to live in a dumpy part of some city in a rathole and ride lovely mass transit to get to their highly paid job....
Actually, in past 10yrs, would argue trend has intensified for many of wealthiest, most educated and <40yo to live and work in suburbs, e.g., SiliconValley and Greenwich....and rarely visit the alleged "city"...
Suspect most middle-class families in urban regions prefer a newer, 3K sq ft house on 0.4 ac; good, safe public schools; ability to easily drive one's new Camry/Accord, etc ?20mins to one's office in a suburban office park: the model of life for many in places like Plano, TX; Naperville, IL; Irvine, CA; Cupertino, CA; CherryHill, NJ; Scarsdale, NY, etc etc....
Most families aren't big on nightlife, tourist attractions, skyscrapers and exposure to poverty/violent crime on a daily basis....easy enough to watch/read about all that stuff on one's high-res screen in suburbia somewhere....
I agree with you HSW. Some of this journalistic rhetoric is wishful thinking on the part of certain factions of liberals who want this to happen. It doesn't mean any trend has been established or is ongoing.
Most people I know won't give up there comfortable suburban setting to live in a city. Besides, there only so much room to pack them into the city.
It doesn't matter the demographics of those moving into the city, but rather the demographics of those moving out. I'll use Mpls. as an example since I know it best. It has its yuppies (and actually alot of the upper class, empty-nester demographic) moving into the city proper. As more come in, they begin to price out others. We are seeing large increases in the poverty rates of some of our inner suburbs. The majority of the poor areas in the metro are still in the city proper, but even those areas are improving as the classic white flight trend reverses. Wealthy professionals are still going to live in the exclusve suburbs, but a whole lot of poor people are going to be living in the suburbs next to them. Also, these new groups aren't confining themselves to downtown. Many of the wealthier and middle-class city neighborhoods are seeing the same trends.
What is allegedly happening in Minneapolis doesnt necessarily mean it is happening in every city. Yes alot of cities are seeing young professionals moving back into the downtown areas, but they are only a sliver of the actual fabric of the entire city.
Philadlephia has the 3rd most populous downtown in the USA and it has alot of young professionals migrating to center city. But guess what? Center City is about 2% of the entire city. So as Center City Philly and a few other select neighborhoods prosper, the middle class of Philaldephia continues to make its exodus out of the city and into the suburbs. The middle class is still being replaced by a lower class of immigrants which will try to follow in their predecessors footsteps.
Unfortunately US cities over the past 100 years, as a whole, are usually nothing more than repositories for the poor and castoffs. Thats not all going to change overnight.
This isnt just happening in Philadlephia but most of the big eastern cities including NYC. I looked at the data from Hennepin County MN., and its showing a per capita of incoming residents of $24,354 and a per capita of outgoing residents of $30,017.
I don't know the Minneapolis area at all but my guess is that its no different from the other big cities. There is an elitist part of town usually the downtowns that pull in young professionals, but as the middle class of Minneapolis builds up equity they move out and raise their families in the suburbs for better schools and less crime.The ephemeral city.
Study this map and 99% of the counties with big cities in the US are showing significant negative wealth in regards to migration patterns.
Lets not carried away here. Its very small areas of the cities that are seeing newfound wealth and growth.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
