BEYOND THE STREET CORNER - THE HIDDEN DIVERSITY OF HIGH-POVERTY NEIGHBORHOODS

The widely reported social pathologies of urban ghettos, barrios, and other slum areas have played a prominent role in the backlash against Aid to Families with Dependent Children and other social programs. The policy debate, however, has been fueled by a series of stereotypes ab out the characteristics of the residents of such neighborhoods. This a rticle complements existing ethnographic research on high-poverty neig hborhoods by examining social and economic data from the 1990 Census o n all neighborhoods in U.S. metropolitan areas. High-poverty areas are found to contain a surprising amount of social and economic diversity . Although some residents clearly engage in ''underclass'' lifestyles, many of their neighbors are not public-assistance recipients and do p articipate in the labor market, albeit in lower-skill occupations and for fewer hours and lower wages. Other similarities and differences be tween high-poverty areas and other neighborhoods are explored, leading to a richer understanding of the nature of concentrated urban poverty .