middle-class-apolis

Ray, who stays on top of all things related to urban policy, clued me in to this column from Governing.com about the decline of the middle class in cities.

Tidbit: The most middle-class metro area in America is Minneapolis/St. Paul. The least is New York. Here's more:

... The Brookings Institution looked at where poor, middle-class and wealthy families lived in 1970 and 2000 in the 100 largest metro areas and in greater detail in 12 selected regions. Big findings: The middle class (defined as those making between 80 percent and 120 percent of a region’s median income) is shrinking in nearly all these places (as it is in the nation as a whole), but the percentage of neighborhoods that can be considered middle class is shrinking even faster. Significantly, this isn’t just an inner-city problem; it’s happening in the suburbs as well. Bottom line: The likelihood that poor, middle-class and wealthy families share the same block is much less now than 30 years ago. And that may have ominous consequences for social mobility, urban investment and regional politics, the Brookings authors add.