Recycling Wealth in the Inner City Essay -- Essays Papers

Recycling Wealth in the Inner City INTRODUCTION The modern story of developed areas is a move from the inner city to the suburbs. This decentralization of metropolitan areas has left urban areas neglected. Such a transformation has had negative consequences, because it has inherently meant the abandonment of those left behind in urban centers. Furthermore, the issue is complicated by the fact that the distinction between those moving to the suburbs and those left behind has been defined largely by race. As Kain notes, â€Å"the means by which racial segregation in housing has been maintained are amply documented. They are both legal and extra-legal; for example: racial covenants; racial zoning; violence or threats of violence; preemptive purchase; various petty harassments; implicit or explicit collusion by realtors, banks, mortgage lenders, and other lending agencies; and, in the not-so-distant past, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and other Federal agencies† (Kain, pp289). Thus, a major issue exists in that not only is economic activity shifting from urban areas to suburbia, but minorities are being systematically left behind and delegated to the neglected inner cities. The repercussions of the increasing suburbanization go beyond merely restricted access to choice housing for minorities. Just as important as the housing market shift have been the movements of prime job markets and choice schooling to the suburbs (Jenks and Mayer). The combined loss of these three elements (housing, jobs, and schooling) has ensured a comprehensive disadvantage for minorities left in the inner city. Especially with regard to the black community, the result has been concentrated urban areas of black Americans livin... ...y in the United States, Washington, D.C., National Academy Press, 1990, pp187-222 Kain, John F., â€Å"Housing Segregation, Negro Employment and Metropolitan Decentralization† Mathew Edel and Jerome Rothenberg, pp288-307. Light, Ivan and Gold, Steven J. Ethnic Economies. San Diego: Academic Press. 2000 McFadden, Areaka (Department of Commerce) and Childs, Stephanie, (MBDA). â€Å"President Bush Announces Historic FY ’05 Funding Increase for Minority Business.† MBDA News. Tuesday, February 3rd, 2004. http://www.mbda.gov Sturdivant, Frederick D. (ed.). The Ghetto Marketplace. New York: The Free Press. 1969 Vietorisz, Thomas and Harrison, Bennet. The Economic Development of Harlem. New York: Praeger Publishers. 1970 www.blackwallstreet.org Yancy, Robert J. Federal Government Policy and Black Business Enterprise. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Company.1974