The 99 Freeway cut through Fresno like a knife!
October 24, 2008 — Link to a second Brookings Institution Study REALEASED TODAY…
The Enduring Challenge of Concentrated Poverty in America
Concentrated Poverty, Working Poor, U.S. Poverty, Earned Income Tax Credit, Inequality
Alan Berube, Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program
Elizabeth Kneebone, Senior Research Analyst, Metropolitan Policy Program
The Brookings Institution
http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2008/1024_concentrated_poverty.aspx
MY THOUGHTS IN RESPONSE TO BOTH STUDIES ON CONCENTRATED POVERTY IN FRESNO…
According to the Brookings Institution, Fresno was indeed cut in half by a freeway — and so were its people! The California Highway 99 is the most traveled road in California, it has transformed the state in many positive ways. However, did anyone ever stop to think that the transformation wasn’t all good???
(Follow the link to the study. Fresno begins on page 25.)
The freeway cut through Fresno, and not long after that discriminatory lending cut what they would lend to people on the west side of the 99, ultimately slicing through their earning power. The result today is that the value of life on Fresno’s west side has become worth less than life on the other side of the 99.
I know this story all too well, as I was taken to the west side of 99 to be bought and sold at the age of 12. It was clear to me then, almost 20 years ago, that it wasn’t just one person that was responsible for me being able to be bought and sold on the streets.
There was a culture on the west side among the victims, the helpers (police, service providers), and the innocent (store owners, and community members), which allowed for it. This report highlights the environment where exploitations of all sorts flourish. We should all do what we can to stop it.
http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2008/1024_concentrated_poverty.aspx