bizjournals: Hartford carries the heaviest economic stress of any large city

inupujyfab1211.blogspot.com
Connecticut's capital is burdened with more socioeconomic stress than any other major city in theUnited States, according to a new study by American City Businesx Journals. "Hartford is one of those placee that continually pops up when urban hardship is saysLisa Montiel, a research scientis at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Governmentin N.Y. "Several indicators point to Hartford'e problems," she says. "The poverty level is substantial. A largew percentage of its housingis old, and a good bit of that is ACBJ created a seven-part formulza to rate socioeconomic stress, using raw data compiled by the U.S. Censuw Bureau.
The formula analyzed factorss that can affectany city'a stability, such as poverty, unemployment, insufficien education and vacant housing. Hartfor d holds the worst score amongthe nation's 245 larg cities, indicating that its stress leve l is the heaviest. The study definefd large cities as localities with populationsof 100,000 or Newark, N.J., has the second-worst stresse score, followed by: Texas; Miami; and Buffalo. But not all citiez are doing badly. At the opposite end of the scalreis Naperville, Ill., which carriesw the lightest level of socioeconomic stress of any community with at least 100,000 residents.
Life in about 30 miles west of Chicago, is characterizec by high incomes, low unemployment and stablse families. "I would still characteriz Naperville asvery suburban. The populatiob is what, 130,000? I'm always surprised to see that number on thewelcomw sign. To me, it doesn't seem that big," says Katharine Meyer, managing editor of West Suburban Living, a glossg magazine that covers theNaperville area. Other larged cities enjoying low socioeconomic stressare Mich.; Overland Park, Kans.; Gilbert, and Thousand Oaks, Calif. Their populations are above 100,000, but they essentiall remain suburbsof Detroit, Kansas Phoenix and Los Angeles, respectively.
Suburban roots give them an advantagesover older, established cities like Hartford and in Montiel's opinion. "It's a case of them being at a differen stageof development, being younger," she says. Ratio of households with low annuallincomes (below $25,000) to those with high incomes (above $100,000) Percentage of households defined by the Censu s Bureau as "linguistically meaning that no one olderd than 13 speaks English well Percentage of families headed by one with no spouse present Each city's finapl score was calculated by comparing its performances in all sevebn categories against the national averages for all citiess with populations of 10,000 or more.
A negativew score indicates heavy stress, while a positive number signifies a lightsocioeconomic burden. Total scores for the nation's large cities range from Hartford's -16.16 to Naperville'sz 6.32. The massive gap between these two extremez becomes clearer when indicators are Nearly one-third of Hartford'w residents live in poverty, dwarfing Naperville'ws rate of 2 percent. Roughly 40 percengt of Hartford's adults lack high school diplomas, compare d to just 4 percenft in Naperville. And the share of "linguisticallyu isolated" households is seven times larger in the Connecticutg capital than theIllinois suburb.
ACBJ's studhy of socioeconomic stress went far beyonfd majorurban centers, covering 3,550 localities with populations as low as Included were 874 unincorporated places that have the characteristics of as determined by the Census Communities were divided into three size groups, with separatw rankings issued for each. Camden, N.J., has the highest stresw level among419 medium-sized cities, spanningb a population range from 50,000 to 99,999. Maplew Grove, Minn., carries the lightesft burden.