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Urban Change and Poverty (1988) / Chapter Skim
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Part I: Committee Report
Overview
Pages 1-11

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From page 3...
... As economic entities, however, cities are not static. They change constantly in response to demographic shifts, the evolving structure of the national economy, emerging transportation and communications technologies, and state and federal policy decisions.
From page 4...
... The committee was also interested in empirical analyses of two closely related topics that are important to understand in assessing emerging urban policy issues: urban social structure and the ecm nomic well-being of urban residents. An analysis of economic and demographic trends should reveal any new patterns, or the continuation of old patterns, that might concern policy makers, such as the growth of families with children headed by poor women in central cities.
From page 5...
... The committee found that cyclical economic forces, specifically, the 1981-1982 recession, have had surprisingly little effect on urban economies and big-city finances, at least according to available data. Federal aid cuts in social and training and employment programs have also had little direct effect on local government finances because such programs are mostly operated by private nonprofit organizations.
From page 6...
... Urban poverty, always a serious problem, appears to be getting worse, and it is being compounded by long-term changes in the structure of the national economy and in metropolitan and regional demographic patterns. SUMMARY FINDINGS WeB-Be~ng and Poverty The committee found that income and earnings are growing at a faster rate in metropolitan than in nonmetropolitan areas, reversing the trend of the 1970~.
From page 7...
... The isolation of concentrated poverty populations from new job opportunities that are being dispersed throughout metropolitan areas only makes that poverty more difficult to reverse. Urban Economies The committee found that manufacturing is continuing to disperse geographically and to decline as a share of the nation's employment and that cities with manufacturing economies, which are prominent in the Mideast and Great Lakes regions, are still losing the most jobs and population overall.
From page 8...
... Meanwhile, New England has been transformed into an economy based on services and light manufacturing (for example, computers) and Is now enjoying strong economic growth and very low unemployment rates.
From page 9...
... Urban Governance The committee found that city officials have coped with recessions and federal aid cuts by raising taxes, diversifying their revenue sources, promoting entrepreneurial economic development, and, in some cases, cutting services and the number of city workers. At the same time, voters have not been unhappy enough with service cuts and tax increases to turn mayors and other local elected officials out of office on a large scale.
From page 10...
... SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS The committee concluded that there is not now a major crisis in the condition of urban economies and urban finance. There are, however, some significant causes for concern, particularly in relation to the existence and consequences of entrenched urban poverty and other social ills, problems that are now concentrated in central cities.
From page 11...
... The use of tax-exempt bonds for private activities has been restricted, and, in addition, they have been subjected to stricter volume limitations. State and local governments that wish to continue to issue bonds to finance private activities, such as multifamily housing, convention and sports facilities, or waste disposal and pollution control facilities, will have to issue them as general obligation or taxable bonds.


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