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Combating Suburban Poverty

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Combating Suburban Poverty Combating the Suburbanization of Poverty THE FUTURE OF JUST, SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN THE PUGET SOUND REGION CNU SEPTEMBER 2017 COMBATING THE SUBURBANIZATION OF POVERTY / 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Pii ›› Acknowledgments P1 ›› Executive Summary P3 ›› Challenges in Seattle & the US Importance of Transportation Nationwide Issue P6 ›› Local Model: Tukwila P7 ›› National Models Denver Regional Transit-Oriented Development Fund Chicago Southland Programs Montgomery County Neighborhood Opportunity Network P11 ›› Suburban Poverty Trends P13 ›› Spatial Mismatch P15 ›› Solutions Cutting Poverty by 25 Percent Leveraging Sound Transit 3 (ST3) for Poverty Reduction P19 ›› Discussion P21 ›› Next Steps Resources i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Congress for the New Urbanism produced The symposium included the following this report with support from the Bullitt speakers and topics: Foundation and King County GreenTools because of local concerns about growing Introduction to the Region suburban poverty in the Puget Sound region. ›› Dow Constantine, King County Executive Most people in the Puget Sound region— and America—live in the suburbs, yet their ›› Chenoa Egawa, Coast Salish of the Lummi problems often receive less attention than the and S’Kallam Nations of Washington State problems of people living in central cities or rural areas. For this reason, a symposium on ›› Rebecca Saldaña, Washington State Senator Combating the Suburbanization of Poverty National & Local Perspectives on the was held on May 2, 2017, in Seattle, WA to Suburbanization of Poverty coincide with 25th annual Congress for the New Urbanism and take advantage of national ›› Scott Bernstein, President, Center for experts on suburban transformation who Neighborhood Technology gathered in Seattle for the week. ›› Elizabeth Kneebone, Fellow, Metropolitan Leading up to the Congress, CNU sponsored Policy Program, Brookings Institution a Legacy Project to look at the revitalization of Tukwila, a demographically diverse suburb to Discussion the south of Seattle. Tukwila, which experiences many of the challenges of suburban cities in ›› Charles Ellison, Principal and Chief the region, is connected by light rail to jobs and Strategist, B|E Strategy transportation networks, and is fortunate to have forward-thinking leadership. ›› Kim Powe, Deputy Director (Acting), Puget Sound Sage CNU would like to thank the Bullitt Foundation, King County GreenTools, ›› De’Sean Quinn, Councilmember, City of symposium participants, and the CNU Tukwila 25.Seattle Local Host Committee, which included: Master of Ceremonies Bill Lennertz / Janet Shull / Randy Chatterjee ›› Gene Duvernoy, President, Forterra Erin Christensen Ishizaki / Lawrence Frank / David Goldberg / William Greene / Philip Harris / Sean Congress for the New Urbanism Hodgins / Sandy Howard / Matthew Lambert David Laulainen / Vincent Martinez / Morgan ›› Lynn Richards, President & CEO O’Grady / Heidi Oien / Tom Phillips / Stephen Poulakos / Megan Ritchie Saffitz / Michael Schuler Manuel Soto / Patti Southard / Patricia Tillman ›› Alex McKeag, Program Manager Brent Toderian / Cristina VanValkenburgh / Lewis Villegas / Jonathan Winslow / Chuck Wolfe ›› Robert Steuteville, Report Author COMBATING THE SUBURBANIZATION OF POVERTY ›› ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Like most of America, the Seattle region is experience rising poverty in its suburbs. From 2005 to 2015, the suburban poverty rate grew by 29.7 percent in the Puget Sound region, a rise that is more than double that of the central city. ›› At the same time, the total number of people in year can be as high as 76 percent of household poverty in the suburbs increased four times as income—an unsustainable pattern. much as in Tacoma and Seattle combined. The poverty rate is still lower overall in the suburbs, While the demographics of the suburbs have but 70 percent of the region’s impoverished changed, tranportation options remain limited. people now live outside of primary cities as a Most Puget Sound residents live close to a bus result of migration, immigrants settling in the or or rail line, but few reside near high-frequency suburbs, and changing economic conditions in transit. That’s especially true for minorities the region. and low-income people outside of cities. The suburbs have become far more diverse— Most approaches to poverty reduction rely on racially, ethnically, and economically—in this increasing income through employment and century. Particular groups—such as Latinos, skills by training, and by subsidizing necessary American Indians, African Americans, and services such as child care. These important single-parent households—fare significantly efforts have not been enough. The Seattle worse economically than the population as a region cut unemployment by two-thirds since whole. the depths of the Great Recession of 2008, while the poverty rate declined only slightly. From a household financial perspective, the suburbs can be a poverty trap. Families move The good news is that poverty reduction is a to the suburbs seeking lower costs, but get two-sided coin—reducing expenses is just as the hidden extra costs of transportation. As important as raising incomes. “Saving a family a net residential density drops, vehicle miles dollar is actually better than providing a dollar traveled rises, and so does the combined cost in income, because we don’t tax the savings,” of housing and transportation as a percentage notes Scott Bernstein, President of the Center of income. Cars are expensive, and they are for Neighborhood Technology and member needed to access jobs and make essential of the Congress for the New Urbanism. household trips in the spread-out automobile- “Achieving both can begin to reduce poverty.” dependent suburbs. This situation is worse for the working poor in outlying areas of the region, where housing plus transportation Sound Transit 3, adopted November 2016, (H&T) costs for a family earning $33,000 a is a tool for the region to help low-income 1 and working-class families—but it needs to Communities around the US are piloting be linked specifically to poverty reduction. programs that address the growing problem Investments that pair transit-oriented of suburban poverty. Many of them connect development with affordable housing can services, affordable housing, transit, and reduce household expenses as transportation walkability to reduce household costs and choices grow. Land-use policies that create provide access to jobs and the day-to-day needs walkable neighborhoods linked to regional of low-income and working-class families. transit could connect new and existing transit These case studies emphasize several important lines with neighborhoods where people live points: Collaboration in the suburbs is affordably. Because four out of five household important—both among the many jurisdictions trips are not work-related, building more and the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. walkable urbanism in the suburbs helps balance Also, place-based programs are key—especially family budgets. Low-income and working- those that connect transit, neighborhoods, class families should have easy access to the affordable housing, and critical services. Finally, basic necessities of life, and neighborhoods and this cannot be overemphasized, a reliable built around the five-minute walk are key to funding source is needed to show that the This report stems from a accomplishing that goal. Puget Sound region is serious about equitable symposium held in conjunction development. with the 25th annual Congress A dedicated pool of money is needed to ensure for the New Urbanism in that resources are distributed to reach those Seattle and King County have a history Seattle, WA. CNU partnered people who need them most. A small portion of tackling difficult problems, pioneering with King County GreenTools of ST3 would amount to a large sum of money policies across the US on issues like energy on this symposium that to leverage private and nonprofit funding to efficiency and climate change. King County’s drew nearly one thousand lower costs and create jobs for those on the commitments to equity and social justice, participants. Framing the issue lower end of the income scale. paired the region’s investments in sustainable and providing national context communities and climate readiness, makes were two speakers invited by Additionally, tying opportunities to the area’s Seattle a highly promising place to demonstrate CNU, while King County excellent workforce development programs will accelerated poverty reduction in the suburbs brought in local and regional ensure that the region’s growing manufacturing, and serve as a model for other regions thought leaders to provide construction, transportation, and technology nationwide. critical on-the-ground context sectors will have access to the people who need to this pressing national issue. that work. COMBATING THE SUBURBANIZATION OF POVERTY ›› 2 CHALLENGES IN SEATTLE & THE US The nature and relationship between the suburbs and the central city have radically changed in recent years in and around the Puget Sound region. The challenges are similar in many US metro areas. ›› In the post-World-War-II era, the region was poverty rate is still 38 percent higher than conceived as a dense central city surrounded the suburbs, but that gap is narrowing. The by bedroom communities from which workers inner-city rate was 60 percent higher than the commuted to downtown jobs. Poverty was suburban rate as recently as 2005. concentrated in the inner cities, as were the services
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