Brooklyn Getting Richer, Suburbs Getting Poorer

A story in the Times today has some data to back up what we’ve been seeing and experiencing anecdotally. As rents and home prices rise in Brooklyn, the well-to-do are moving into the city and the poor are fleeing to the suburbs, reversing a trend that has held since the mid-20th century. The number of poor people declined by 11 percent in Brooklyn and 10 percent in Manhattan, and increased 14 percent in the suburbs, or 100,000, from 2000 through 2010. “Poor” is defined as a family of four making less than $23,350 a year. The analysis is from the Metropolitan Policy Program of the Brookings Institution. The first ten years of the 21st century were the tipping point, according to the study. The reasons? Higher housing costs, which “pushed poorer people out of Manhattan and Brooklyn, in particular,” said the story. Also, immigrants are now settling in the suburbs, where costs are lower and jobs pay less. Meanwhile, the number of poor households in Staten Island rose 18 percent.
Suburbs’ Share of Poor Has Grown Since 2000 [NY Times]