Poverty in the Suburban Sprawl: How a Rise in Suburban Poverty Affects Local Governments

• In Event: Public Policy and Public Administration: Public Policy in State and Local Governments

Abstract

Documenting the increase in Denver suburban poverty, Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube show how the number of people in poverty in the Denver/Auroro, CO Metro area increased by 138.2 per cent from 2000-2011. Less understood is the effect of suburban poverty on suburban local government and policymaking, especially with respect to delivering social services. In this paper the authors first set out to analyze the changes in Denver suburban poverty since 2000, going beyond Kneebone and Berube’s work to include other Denver suburban areas. Initial analysis shows that the 2010 most populous Denver suburbs (Aurora, Lakewood, Thornton, Arvada, and Westminster) all experienced at least a 5 to 20 per cent increase in poverty between 2000 and 2010. Secondly the authors analyze the impact of this rise in Denver suburban poverty on suburban cities, assessing the ability of those cities to meet rising demand, by using a combination of census data and semi-structured interviews with city officials and public service providers. Our initial findings suggest that suburban Denver governments are slow to respond adequately to the rise in poverty, creating further vulnerability for those in poverty, and that non-white populations in poverty are more deeply affected by inefficient government services than the white population in poverty.

Authors

• Roni Kay O'Dell, Cameron University

• Matthew T Klick, University of Denver