The Other America

The Other America
In the 1950's millions of the white middle class moved out of the cities and into the suburbs, while the poor were going the opposite direction into the cities. This ended up in an urban crisis nicknamed the "White Flight." It had a direct impact on the poor, and hurt city economy. The lost business made it so cities could no longer afford things they once could and they had to cut down on police, schools, public transportation, and fire departments. Poverty grew and inner cities decayed, even though most Americans were unaware of it. By 1959 the poverty line for a family of four was $2,973 and in 2000 it was $17,601. Americans finally accepted the fact when writer Michael Harrington forced them to wake up with his book The Other America: Poverty in the US (1962).



Urban Renewal proposed a solution to the housing problems of the inner cities. The National Housing Act 1949 was passed to provie "a decent home and a suitable living enviroment for every American family." This act called for all rundown neighborhoods to be torn down so new low-income housing could be built. However some of the clear land was used for shopping centers, highways, parks and factories resulting in not enough housing to accomodate the misplaced people. Sadly many of the displaced people just ended up moving from ghetto to ghetto. Many cities of urban renawal claimed it had merely become urban removal.