POVERTY AREA DIFFUSION: THE DEPOPULATION HYPOTHESIS EXAMINED

Abstract

Large tracts of land in American inner cities were transformed into extreme poverty areas between 1970 and 1980. Today, these extreme poverty areas have become the localities of what are popularly known as underclass behaviors. The leading explanation for the large increases in poverty areas is frequently referred to as Wilson's hypothesis. This paper examines the role depopulation plays in the growth of extreme poverty areas. A growth typology of extreme poverty areas reveals four different neighborhood outcomes resulting from population change. The evidence demonstrates that the depopulation hypothesis does not describe the growth circumstances of all poverty areas. Regional variations in poverty area depopulation rates are a reflection of how broader demographic and economic changes have played out unevenly across the national urban system.