Where the Poorest Americans Live

Many metropolitan areas never recovered from the decade’s first downturn, in 2000. Midwestern and Northeastern Rust Belt metro areas, and several in the South, experienced the steepest increases in concentrated poverty as they shed manufacturing jobs and income throughout the decade. Chicago and Detroit chalked up among the largest declines in the 1990s but yielded back much of that progress in the 2000s.





This research merely confirms what we've suspected for some time: extremely poor neighborhoods and their residents are last to benefit from growth when times are good, and first to feel it when tough times arrive. Progress against concentrated poverty is possible when growth is strong and sustained, and buttressed by housing, education and transportation policies that guard against segregating poor families. With projections of high unemployment for years to come, the outlook for this indicator is grim.

But that's no excuse to throw up our hands in the fight against concentrated poverty. If anything, we need to redouble our efforts at growing not just any old jobs, but better-paying jobs, and jobs that are accessible to workers living in these disadvantaged communities. Now that we’re finally paying attention to rising inequality in America, it's a good time to focus on helping the places that bear the most severe burdens of an increasingly unequal society.

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2011/11/where-the-poorest-americans-live/419/

A Blueprint for a Profitable Urban Farm

The analysis suggests that at least three to 10 acres of contiguous space would be needed to create a viable commercial farm.

Global Green USA projects that in that space a profitable farm could be built to support three full-time equivalent staff. Based on three different crop scenarios, the report suggests that revenues could top $160,000 and profits could be more than $10,000 per year. It's kind of like an abbreviated business plan for potential urban farmers in Youngstown, showing at least one way to turn this idea into actual jobs.

The organization has been working with Youngstown since 2009 to help develop a sustainable city plan and to turn the city into a model of recovery for other struggling Rust Belt cities.

The city has been losing population for the last 30 years, and its shrinkage has been compounded by a worsening economic situation. As jobs dried up and people left town, the city became home to large amounts of vacant property – 22,000 empty plots according to an official count. Like many other cities facing similar increases in vacant land, urban agriculture has been seen as an option for putting land back to use. It's also an official strategy. The city's 2010 plan emphasizes the importance of shrinking the city.

About 44 acres of formerly vacant land is now being farmed in Youngstown. Based on this report, an ambitious group of farmers could soon be adding another 5.5 acres to that total, as well as a few local jobs.

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2012/06/blueprint-profitable-urban-farm/2179/