A close look at population change in America’s poorest urban neighborhoods over the past four decades shows that the concentration of poverty is growing and that gentrification is rare. This report by City Observatory examines changes in high-poverty urban neighborhoods in the nation’s largest 51 largest metropolitan areas to show why the persistence and spread of concentrated poverty–not gentrification–is our biggest urban challenge.
The growth in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty—and the impact of this trend on people and neighborhoods—underscores the importance of Reimagining the Civic Commons and its emphasis on creating value for and in partnership with urban communities.
