Strengthening Transit Through Community Partnerships
Even though national unemployment has dropped 4.5 percentage points since 2010, poverty continues its stubborn rise across the United States, and the city of Long Beach, California, is a case of this disconnect. It’s the second-biggest city in Los Angeles County, an economic region that’s currently at full employment and grew by $50 billionbetween 2009 and 2014, yet nearly 1 out of every 5 of its residents is living under the federal poverty line.
Civic stakeholders in the poverty issue have long cried for federal and state policies that wipe out employment barriers faced by low-income communities, more subsistence support from the federal government, redrawing zoning laws — all changes that have been vetted by urban researchers. But a new proposal from the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT), called theUrban Opportunity Agenda (UOA), suggests that on top of these pillars, cities should also be investing in local strategies that help households learn how to rein in their monthly spending.