Suburban Poor? Are You Sure?

Confronting Suburban Poverty in America was released a few weeks ago, and the Internet has been abuzz with responses to it. One thing many agree with authors Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube on is that suburban poverty is on the rise. Actually, it's exploded significantly over recent years, and federal policies are not equipped to meet the growing challenges. 

On Rooflines, the Shelterforce blog, planning professor J. Rosie Tighe gave some praise to the book, noting that it does stress the importance of the perception of poverty in this country in shaping how it's addressed. Joe Kreisberg, offered a critique of the book that included its flawed definition of "suburban" and assertion that federal anti-poverty programs to date have been too "place based".

So what do the authors have to say about all of this? Well, for one, defining "suburbs" was a difficult task that they confronted carefully, being sure to reflect on the range of experiences and diversity among such locales. Interested in what else they had to say? Head over to the growing conversation on Rooflines.