A MOBILITY STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING OPPORTUNITY

Postwar changes in the metropolitan settlement structure have profound ly altered the geography of opportunity in the older cities of the Nor theast and Midwest. Poverty is concentrated in once-central cities, wh ile employment continues to deconcentrate to the suburbs. In the face of these changes, antipoverty policy has become a geographic exercise of moving people and resources from certain places to other places. Th e three main strategies for confronting inner-city poverty are dispers al, development, and mobility. These strategies are discussed and comp ared, with particular emphasis on the mobility approach. The article a rgues that the mobility approach-which connects poor inner-city reside nts to suburban employment opportunities without changing the location of households or firms-is the most promising near-term strategy for c ombating urban poverty.