Concentrated poverty and community development: A look at how Upstate South Carolina municipalities address issues of distressed neighborhoods.

摘要

America is known to be a place where there are opportunities to move in and out of social and economic classes. What about people that live in an area of concentrated poverty? Typically, residents of a neighborhood where 20 to 40 percent of the population lives at or below poverty face extreme barriers to these opportunities for a better life. Historically, government at the local, state and federal level have attempted to solve or at least assist these issues of distressed neighborhoods, particularly through what is known as community development. By having more local knowledge, municipal governments have first hand access to address concentrated poverty but since every situation unique, it is difficult to prescribe a one-fits-all solution to each individual area of concentrated poverty.;Through a case study analysis of three areas of concentrated poverty in the Upstate of South Carolina including Greenville, Anderson and Spartanburg, this study investigates city government community development efforts and how it functions to address concentrated poverty. This research finds that there are similarities and differences in the dimensions and elements of the community development processes in the three cities resulting in three different outcomes.