Inequalities

Tag: housing

  • Are Fragmented Cities Making us Unhealthy?

    In Chicago there are 1,492 separate local government jurisdictions, including 366 school districts. In Miami there are only 36 jurisdictions, and 2 school districts. The fragmentation of local government has real political consequences: smaller districts can compete for the advantaged by offering tax breaks. More school systems reduce the opportunity to mix students across racial […]

  • America the Segregated

    Of all the forms of inequality in American society, residential segregation may be the most pernicious. Where you live determines where you go to school, what social networks you can join, what jobs you can access, and whether your voice is likely to be heard in the electoral politics. That is why a new report […]

  • A new agenda focused on health and community development

    The health promotion field should start paying attention to community development, and vice versa. In the November issue of Health Affairs several authors (including my friend and mentor David Erickson) make the argument for better collaboration between practitioners, advocates, and developers around the shared goals of revitalizing neighborhoods. One important contribution of this issue is […]

  • It Starts with the Bank and Ends in the ER

    How do economic downturns affect population health? In several groundbreaking papers Chris Ruhm showed that some health outcomes actually improved during the recessions of the previous three decades: people smoked and drank less, they stayed off the roads leading to fewer accidents, and the smokestacks from some factories stopped, lowering air pollution and perhaps lung […]

  • Census Bureau Releases 2009 Poverty Estimates

    The U.S. Census Bureau has just released its 2009 poverty estimates to much fanfare and press coverage. The headline statistic: 44 million people, roughly 1 in 7 Americans, were in poverty in 2009.