No, it isn't at all, and your comments:
That is what the article is all about. The middle class is leaving the city because they can't afford to live there and because the quality of the public schools is declining.
Don't prove your assertion.
The middle class cannot afford to live there not because their income is low (it is quite high), but because state and municipal taxes are shockingly high.
That is a matter of policy, not of demographics.
The public schools are of poor quality because of forced busing (a policy intiative) and enormous waste of taxpayer money on programs run by employees who have no accountability (another policy matter).
The ethnic makeup and the economic makeup of Boston are not the source of the problems: the destructive policies of Boston politicians are the source of the problems.
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Exactly. Mumbles Menino can take a big chunk of the blame, for one.
Your post is good. I agree with much of it. The government policies in Boston and in MA are terrible and we need to recognize the role that bad policy plays in creating these problem. However ...
The part above seems to me a bit too broad-brush. I agree with Bill Cosby (and others) that the urban black culture is self-destructive. Policy needs to change, yes, and so does the culture of this demographic group.
I bought a small city house in my hometown a few years ago. I held onto it for just one year. The taxes were double what they were in the burbs, and when gang graffiti showed up on the side of the house, I knew it was time to go. I was lucky to break even.
When I was growing up in the 50’s and early 60’s, we did not have those issues. The city had a large middle and working class contingent. Now it is largely minorities on some sort of .gov program, most are single parent households, etc. The population has dropped by 30%.
I really don’t think it is a race issue. I think it is more of a class culture issue. I currently live in a very mixed race neighborhood, and we just don’t have those problems.
According to the article, they are moving elsewhere in the state, so that is not a factor. Municipal taxes were not mentioned in the article as being a major factor in their decision. Many are sending their children to private schools in the city.
That is a matter of policy, not of demographics.
It is a chicken or egg proposition. What policies caused the flight of the middle class from the city? "Ask any young urban parent, and you'll get an earful on why: skyrocketing housing prices, lackluster city schools, and a rising rate of violence."
From the article:
Boston ranks sixth from the bottom of the hundred largest American cities in its percentage of children, with just 19.8 percent of its population under 18 in 2000, down more than 10 percent from its high point of 31.9 percent in 1970/
Boston has reversed decades of population loss to draw middle-class and affluent residents back to the city for luxury condos, restaurants, and upscale boutiques that have sprouted like mushrooms after rain. But there is one thing these newcomers have not brought with them: children.
The public schools are of poor quality because of forced busing (a policy intiative) and enormous waste of taxpayer money on programs run by employees who have no accountability (another policy matter).
The school system's demographics have changed dramatically since the 1970s, with blacks, Latinos and Asians comprising about 86 percent of the city's 62,000 public school students, up from 48 percent in the mid-1970s. Busing is no longer a factor. What is going on in Boston is happening in other major US cities where busing was never an issue. It has to do with housing patterns and where people feel comfortable living regardless of economic class.
The ethnic makeup and the economic makeup of Boston are not the source of the problems: the destructive policies of Boston politicians are the source of the problems.
We will agree to disagree. Have you read the Barone article? This country is undergoing a major demographic change that began in 1965. One in every eight residents of this country is foreign born, the highest it has been in over eight decades, and in a few years it will be one in seven, the highest in our history. And our population has increased 100 million since 1970. Living patterns are changing as a result. Look at Miami, LA, San Francisco, etc. To blame what is happening on the policies of local politicians is nonsense. The are just reacting to what is happening.