A plan to impulse Philadelphia´s economic prosperity, can be read between the lines in the Pew Charitable Trusts report ”State of the City” , where you can find important data that can help be to reverse its burden of poverty and transform it into a world-class city.
Although the evidence shows that in recent years, the city of “Brotherly Love” has been climbing up positions from its impoverished status; its current situation keeps it below the national average.
The tenth annual report, published fifteen days ago, shows that a mixture of poverty, racial segregation and inequality in the “ethnic” policy of companies, has turned one of the most populated cities in the country into an economically depressed niche.
“The State of the City” report seems to reveal only bad news and social instability, but if the authorities who run the city were able to read its encrypted lines, they could make plans to help Philadelphia to achieve the splendor of old times.
A summary of what was found
The composition of the population of Philadelphia is a key for understanding its imbalance and it serves as a guidance to promote the necessary changes.
Its major racial group is African-American, which comprises 40.9% of the population. Whites who own a home in the sixth most populated city in the US represent 34.6%. Hispanics are the ones who in the last decade have expanded the portion of the cake with 14.8% of its inhabitants. Asians are also a crucial part. 7.5% of them are residents.
Now, the first ethnic group, African-Americans, owns 2.5% of the businesses in the region, while whites own 76%. If we add to this fact, the variable that business owners hire people who look like them, we can understand why poverty touches this ethnic group more severely.
Employment and prosperity are determining variables for a city to develop economically and socially.
The poverty rate has been stuck around 26% in the last five years, the highest among the most populated cities in the country; homicide and homeless rates have increased; and homeownership has decreased.
The number of homeless increased from 6% in 2014 to 19% in 2018. The recent annual report found that 34% of homeless adults reported a substance use disorder and that the majority were African Americans.
In terms of insecurity, shootings incidents increased 17% to reach 1,403 in 2018 compared to last year.
Between 2016 and 2018, violent crime was reduced by 26% in South Philadelphia / West, almost 24% in Bustleton , 20% in Oxford Circle and 19% in Frankford. On the contrary, it increased almost 11% in the city center / east and 6.5% in Juniata Park / Feltonvill .
The average houshold income of the City of Philadelphia decreased during the last two years and is below the national average.
The average family income of the city is $39,759, which is much lower than the national average of $60,336, less than that of Pittsburgh, Chicago and Baltimore.
Translated by: José Espinoza
Noticias Newswire
