> [WS:] Interesting. There are poor suburbs around
> Baltimore, but I did not think of it as a national
> trend. Even interesting is that suburban living is
> far more expensive than urban living - heating,
> transportation, house maintenance etc. So perhaps
> moving to the burbs is the cause of poverty (or a
> contrbuting factor) rather than an uncorrelated
> backdrop. That is, these people are worse off because
> they moved to the burbs (or stay there instead of
> moving to the city) and have to pay more for thing
> shat would cost them less in the city.
Joanna sent this link back in February; I thought it was pretty convincing -WD
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200803/subprime
March 2008 Atlantic Monthly
The subprime crisis is just the tip of the iceberg. Fundamental changes in American life may turn today's McMansions into tomorrow's tenements. by Christopher B. Leinberger The Next Slum?
"If gasoline and heating costs continue to rise, conventional suburban living may not be much of a bargain in the future. And as more Americans, particularly affluent Americans, move into urban communities, families may find that some of the suburbs' other big advantages—better schools and safer communities—have eroded. Schooling and safety are likely to improve in urban areas, as those areas continue to gentrify; they may worsen in many suburbs if the tax base—often highly dependent on house values and new development—deteriorates. Many of the fringe counties in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, for instance, are projecting big budget deficits in 2008. Only Washington itself is expecting a large surplus. Fifteen years ago, this budget situation was reversed. ... "As the residents of inner-city neighborhoods did before them, suburban homeowners will surely try to prevent the division of neighborhood houses into rental units, which would herald the arrival of the poor. And many will likely succeed, for a time. But eventually, the owners of these fringe houses will have to sell to someone, and they're not likely to find many buyers; offers from would-be landlords will start to look better, and neighborhood restrictions will relax. Stopping a fundamental market shift by legislation or regulation is generally impossible."