America’s Suburbs Are Becoming Poorer

The suburbs were once synonymous with economic mobility and the American Dream, but that is no longer the case.

Richard Florida of CityLab writes that the nation is facing a new suburban crisis. Poverty is growing at a faster rate in the suburbs than in cities.

In the suburbs, crime rates are rising, and factories and malls are closing. Suburban sprawl makes it difficult for low-income workers to commute to their jobs and get ahead financially.

While it remains true that persistently poor urban neighborhoods concentrate and perpetuate a cycle of poverty, poor suburban neighborhoods also present challenges: They isolate and disconnect their residents both from jobs and from economic opportunity, and also from the social services that can mitigate poverty’s worst effects.

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