Poverty moves into the suburbs
Brian LaVelle is a single father of two who resides in Lakewood, a suburb of
Cleveland Ohio lost his job three years ago as a forklift operator when the steel
mill that he worked for closed down. According to a recent survey taken in
2005 Brian, like 1.2 million others living in the suburbs, has fallen below the
annual poverty line of $20,000 for a family of four. Alan Berube an analyst for
Brookings Institution states that "[t]he suburbs have reached a tipping point".
Five years ago, a charitable organization in the suburbs of Cleveland Ohio who
once served fifty families a month is now faced with trying to meet the demands
of some seven hundred families who are dependent upon them for food every
month. Suburban poverty, unlike that of inner city poverty often times goes
unnoticed or ignored. In the city, poverty tends to be located in areas with a high
concentration of low cost housing or in areas with subsidized housing making it
easier for business and government to cater to the needs of this populous by
providing job training centers, food pantries, low cost health care and other
social services. In the suburbs however, it is much harder to separate out the
poor from the affluent because they generally both live in the same zip codes as
one another making it much harder for business and government to target the
lower income families which in turn eliminates the much needed resources
available to the suburban poor when compared to those of the inner city poor.
Full article can be found here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id16960673/site/newsweek
Cleveland Ohio lost his job three years ago as a forklift operator when the steel
mill that he worked for closed down. According to a recent survey taken in
2005 Brian, like 1.2 million others living in the suburbs, has fallen below the
annual poverty line of $20,000 for a family of four. Alan Berube an analyst for
Brookings Institution states that "[t]he suburbs have reached a tipping point".
Five years ago, a charitable organization in the suburbs of Cleveland Ohio who
once served fifty families a month is now faced with trying to meet the demands
of some seven hundred families who are dependent upon them for food every
month. Suburban poverty, unlike that of inner city poverty often times goes
unnoticed or ignored. In the city, poverty tends to be located in areas with a high
concentration of low cost housing or in areas with subsidized housing making it
easier for business and government to cater to the needs of this populous by
providing job training centers, food pantries, low cost health care and other
social services. In the suburbs however, it is much harder to separate out the
poor from the affluent because they generally both live in the same zip codes as
one another making it much harder for business and government to target the
lower income families which in turn eliminates the much needed resources
available to the suburban poor when compared to those of the inner city poor.
Full article can be found here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id16960673/site/newsweek