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Old 01-31-2014, 04:26 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,259,082 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slavicamerican View Post
One way or the other, there is also a trend at play. It's very pronounced in DC where "DC" basically meant poor 10 years ago. Now, DC is starting to equate to wealthy while MD takes on the poor moniker.

It may not be happening in Pittsburgh like it is in other places.
Agreed, about DC.

 
Old 01-31-2014, 05:18 PM
 
1,445 posts, read 1,964,435 times
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Poverty is growing at a faster rate in the suburbs than in the cities, and the Pittsburgh area is ahead of the curve -- but not in a good way.

Nationally, about 55 percent of the population living in poverty is outside of cities, but in Allegheny County, 61 percent of people living in poverty are in the suburbs, and the number rises to 79 percent when the Pittsburgh metropolitan statistical area is measured. That area includes Allegheny and its six surrounding counties.
 
Old 01-31-2014, 05:37 PM
 
1,183 posts, read 2,136,535 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GeneW View Post
Poverty is growing at a faster rate in the suburbs than in the cities, and the Pittsburgh area is ahead of the curve -- but not in a good way.

Nationally, about 55 percent of the population living in poverty is outside of cities, but in Allegheny County, 61 percent of people living in poverty are in the suburbs, and the number rises to 79 percent when the Pittsburgh metropolitan statistical area is measured. That area includes Allegheny and its six surrounding counties.
Unless I'm missing something, these stats seem completely meaningless without context. As a number of people have mentioned, the city of Pittsburgh is far smaller, by area, than most. So obviously there is going to also be more poverty outside of it than in, say, Phoenix, which is literally 10 times larger by land area.
 
Old 01-31-2014, 05:40 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh area
9,912 posts, read 24,550,109 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GeneW View Post
Nationally, about 55 percent of the population living in poverty is outside of cities, but in Allegheny County, 61 percent of people living in poverty are in the suburbs, and the number rises to 79 percent when the Pittsburgh metropolitan statistical area is measured. That area includes Allegheny and its six surrounding counties.
Again you're talking in sheer numbers though, even though they're quoted as percentages. Portion of the number of people in poverty doesn't mean much. Per capita (in other words, percentage of the population as a whole) the poverty is still higher within the city limits in Pittsburgh.

It is a little change from the ideal people seem to have that there's no poverty in suburbs but it's not a particularly meaningful way of looking at such numbers.
 
Old 01-31-2014, 06:05 PM
 
Location: Washington, DC
273 posts, read 346,632 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greg42 View Post
Again you're talking in sheer numbers though, even though they're quoted as percentages. Portion of the number of people in poverty doesn't mean much. Per capita (in other words, percentage of the population as a whole) the poverty is still higher within the city limits in Pittsburgh.

It is a little change from the ideal people seem to have that there's no poverty in suburbs but it's not a particularly meaningful way of looking at such numbers.
Are you talking nationally or Pittsburgh?

Nationally, it is very meaningful and supports what we know from common sense and observation. While cities have become more attractive to the young and prosperous, the housing and credit bust hit suburban America particularly hard. The challenge for policy makers is calling this spade a spade and tackling the needs of poor suburbanites. Currently, social services are concentrated in cities, suburbs lack public transportation, etc.
 
Old 01-31-2014, 06:14 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,259,082 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slavicamerican View Post
Are you talking nationally or Pittsburgh?

Nationally, it is very meaningful and supports what we know from common sense and observation. While cities have become more attractive to the young and prosperous, the housing and credit bust hit suburban America particularly hard. The challenge for policy makers is calling this spade a spade and tackling the needs of poor suburbanites. Currently, social services are concentrated in cities, suburbs lack public transportation, etc.
In most states, AFAIK, suburban counties have departments of social services, just like their urban counterparts. Some cities, Pittsburgh and Chicago for example, are located within a county, so county services available to city people are available to the county people as well. I know of no transit service of any city that does not serve the metro area. Many, such as Chicago's, have extensive service to the suburbs.

The statistics do not bear out that the housing and credit busts have hit the burbs harder than the cities. Nor do the statistics bear out that more young people are locating in the city rather than the suburbs.
 
Old 01-31-2014, 06:26 PM
 
Location: Washington, DC
273 posts, read 346,632 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana View Post
In most states, AFAIK, suburban counties have departments of social services, just like their urban counterparts. Some cities, Pittsburgh and Chicago for example, are located within a county, so county services available to city people are available to the county people as well. I know of no transit service of any city that does not serve the metro area. Many, such as Chicago's, have extensive service to the suburbs.

The statistics do not bear out that the housing and credit busts have hit the burbs harder than the cities. Nor do the statistics bear out that more young people are locating in the city rather than the suburbs.
There are a million articles on the phenomena online. We see it happening here in DC.
 
Old 01-31-2014, 08:11 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,259,082 times
Reputation: 35920
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeneW View Post
Poverty is growing at a faster rate in the suburbs than in the cities, and the Pittsburgh area is ahead of the curve -- but not in a good way.

Nationally, about 55 percent of the population living in poverty is outside of cities, but in Allegheny County, 61 percent of people living in poverty are in the suburbs, and the number rises to 79 percent when the Pittsburgh metropolitan statistical area is measured. That area includes Allegheny and its six surrounding counties.
About 87% of Pittsburghers live in the burbs. So there are still more poor people in the city than in the burbs.
 
Old 01-31-2014, 09:15 PM
 
43,011 posts, read 107,679,689 times
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I'm tired of seeing this thread title at the top of the forum.
 
Old 01-31-2014, 09:28 PM
 
4,176 posts, read 2,922,149 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slavicamerican View Post
Katiana,

You're most likely right about Pittsburgh. However, across the country, poverty is now more of a suburban phenomena. It's just better hidden.

There's a ton of reporting on it. Take this, for example, from the CS Monitor:

Face of US poverty: These days, more poor live in suburbs than in cities - CSMonitor.com
Pittsburgh has less poverty than most major cities. Deep poverty is mostly found in rural areas like fayette and green counties. The big difference between urban and rural poverty is the access to services. Urban familes living in poverty have access to more services than the rural poor.
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