Sam Pratt was the first to draw attention to the fact that if you read beyond the headline that declared "Gloversville has highest poverty rate in state" in yesterday's Albany Business Review, you discover that "the lowest poverty rate in New York is 5.9 percent in the Columbia County city of Hudson."
You have to be curious about where they are getting their information. According to QuickFacts from the U.S. Census Bureau, the 2010 census determined that 21.8 percent of people living in Hudson were living in poverty. That's an improvement over 2000, when it was 25.6 percent, but 21.8 percent is a long way from 5.9 percent. But even if the 5.9 percent were true, it wouldn't give Hudson the lowest poverty rate in the state. Larchmont, Rye, and Scarsdale in Westchester County have poverty rates of 1.3 percent, 1.3 percent, and 2.1 percent respectively.
"Single, divorced and separated women" below poverty level. Notice the huge discrepancy between this category and "Married couples".
ReplyDeleteThis holds in every city and in every state that I have checked.
To me, this is an argument FOR lesbian marriage. It is only fair:)
Lower proportion of impoverished people in Hudson (1 in 5, down from 1 in 4) could be a result of ongoing population collapse (-10% in last ten years, -19% in last 20 years -- or something very close to that figure) linked to gentrification.
ReplyDeleteA new well-off person buys a building where lots of poor people rent, and it becomes a one or two person residence instead of a fifteen-person residence. The poor people move outside the City or leave the County entirely.
Hudson remains a poor city, with 50% more impoverished than the NYS average, household income 27% below the State average, and median house values 42% below the State median value. One needs to study data more closely to understand trends but it's clear that huge challenges remain.