US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty 

 SUMMARY. 

Every family should be able to live in a neighborhood that supports well-being and boosts children’s chances to thrive and succeed. Yet today too many low-income families and families of color live in neighborhoods that lack resources and instead amplify the effects of growing up poor. 

We lay out a proposal for a coordinated regional strategy to improve access to opportunity neighborhoods for low-income families and families of color. 

THE PROBLEM. 

Today, almost 14 million people live in neighborhoods with concentrated poverty, more than twice as many as in 2000. Low-income families and families of color have been blocked from areas rich in amenities and opportunities by housing discrimination and exclusionary zoning. Low-income communities of color have been starved of capital and resources. A growing body of research suggests that growing up in a high-poverty neighborhood amplifies the effects of growing up poor. Both economic segregation and concentrated poverty are on the rise. Can a coordinated, regional strategy for neighborhood investment reverse a legacy of segregation, disinvestment, and exclusion?