| US Poverty Rises |
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| Written by Steve Peraza | |
| Tuesday, 27 October 2009 | |
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To support his claims Zumbrum cited a report recently released by the US Census Bureau's 2008 American Community Survey. Written by Carmen Denavas-Walt, Bernadette D. Proctor, and Jessica C. Smith, "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008" analyzed data that the US Census Bureau collected between 2007 and 2009. More specifically the statistics came from responses to the Annual Social and Economic Supplements (ASEC) of the Current Population Survey (CPS). In the final analysis the report delineated three conclusions: First, between 2007 and 2008, the real (i.e., after adjusting for inflation) median family income decreased for the vast majority of US households. Second the poverty rate increased from 12.5% to 13.2% during the same period. Finally, in 2008 more people in the US were uninsured than in 2007, though there was no significant statistical increase in percentage. The report specified that between 2007 and 2009 poverty had spread in America, afflicting more people and affecting some regions more than others. The 13.2% poverty rate was the highest it had been since 1997. In real numbers the percentage increase meant that 2.5 million more people fell beneath the federal poverty line from 37.3 million in 2007 to 39.8 million in 2008. Urban poverty also increased between 2007 and 2009. The report stated that poverty in metropolitan statistical areas (i.e., cities and suburbs) had increased one percent from 11.9% to 12.9%, or from 29.9 million to 36.2 million people. More residents of the city proper fell under the poverty line as well; the principle city poverty rate increased from 16.5% (16 million people) to 17.7% (17.2 million people). The report qualified these statistics by explaining that the growing poverty rate disproportionately affected those who lived in the principle city, since they comprised only 38.4% of the metropolitan population in America but 52.9% of 36.2 million people beneath the poverty line. Put another way, despite forming a minority of the metropolitan population, residents of principle cities comprise a majority of those who suffer poverty in metropolises nationwide. These sobering statistics call to mind a moment of great consternation in Buffalo this summer, when the US Census Bureau designated the Queen City the third poorest in America. With a poverty rate of 30.3%, nearly one-third of Buffalonians live beneath the federal poverty line. Only Cleveland (30.4%) and Detroit (33.3%) have more poor residents. As we shall see these statistics prompted various political responses, some from above like Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown's "Buffalo Poverty Reduction Blueprint," and others from below like the awareness raising-video, "Buffalo, New York," produced by Joseph Augstell. How effective these responses will be at alleviating urban poverty in Buffalo remains to be seen.
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  written by Steve Peraza , October 30, 2009 Thank you for your comment, Dr. Collins. I have an anecdote and some speculation to offer in response. When I first moved to Buffalo I lived in University Heights, a nice neighborhood but certainly not affluent. I did nonetheless live a quarter of a mile from Amherst, New York, a well-to-do suburb of Buffalo. As is the norm, we had a December snowstorm that buried the city in snow. Now, as I’m sure you know, Buffalonians don’t stop doing what they have to do just because three feet of snow fell in a few hours (argh!)…so I had make my way to campus to meet with some colleagues. My block was a disaster, though; no plows had come by. Several of my neighbors’ cars were stranded pathetically in the road; it’s a miracle that I got out of my driveway, much less down the block to Eggert Road. But Eggert was clear, as it was bordered to Amherst and plowed every hour and a half. Needless to say Eggert was as white as the snow on the ground; my block, as well as those north and south of me, however, did not have the same demographic. I try not to cry race as much as I did when I was at St. Lawrence, but this was just obvious… As per speculation: I don’t know which cities have comprehensive public policies addressing poverty (something I’ll look into indeed!). In discussions with some colleagues I’ve heard of Pittsburgh’s successes, as a counterpoint to Buffalo. According to one source, Pittsburgh has recovered fairly well from deindustrialization, which many assume is the process responsible for Buffalo’s decline. Pittsburgh’s success is in no small part because the University of Pittsburgh has greatly invested in the revitalization of the city’s industry and aesthetic—something UB is only beginning to do with its 20/20 Plan. With that said, I’m on the fence about deindustrialization as a causative factor of Buffalo’s poverty. While I do believe that it undermined the city as a whole, I’m curious if Neil Kraus is right; that is, that underlying structural racism has further depressed the city by ghettoizing the black community on the East Side of Buffalo, and thus alienating a critical mass of the city’s population. I’m currently entertaining the idea that racism in a city with black critical mass might really undermine its economic success, even if a white elite class stands to benefit. report abuse
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 written by John Collins , October 30, 2009 I lived in Buffalo briefly in the late 1990s, but not long enough to get an especially good feel for the city. One thing I do remember clearly, though, is that we had what was - even by Buffalo standards! - a massive snowstorm that paralyzed the city. And the patterns in snowplowing correlated directly with race and class. There were some areas of the city - the poorest areas - that didn't get plowed for weeks. Reading the Buffalo News article that you cite here, it seems that the city administration is coming under fire for not having a more robust policy agenda to deal with the deep structures of poverty. I haven't been following Buffalo politics in recent years, so I'm curious as to whether you this is a fair criticism. It also makes me wonder whether there is any major city in the country that has a a robust policy agenda to deal with the deep structures of poverty. Are there good policy models out there? If there are, how might they be connected with the specific situation that Buffalo's citizens are facing? I'm learning a lot from reading your blog and can't wait to read more. Thanks for providing a great summary of the Census Bureau report. report abuse
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About a week ago Forbes.com writer, Joshua Zumbrum, reported that the current recession has "redrawn the contours of poverty." Whereas abject poverty had once been primarily the scourge of the South, Zumbrum explained, poor cities on the US-Mexico border and in the North Midwest in recent years have shown "comparable levels of poverty." In turn cities like McAllen and Brownsville, Texas, El Centro, California, Yuma, Arizona, and Saginaw and Flint, Michigan, comprise six of 
Regionally the West's 13.5% poverty rate witnessed the largest change, a 1.5% increase, or 1.2 million more people than the 2007 estimate of 8.4 million. The Midwest also witnessed an increase from 11.1% to 12.4%, while the Northeast and the South remained the statistically unchanged, 11.6% and 14.3%, respectively. 
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