Report: Poverty In Williamson County Tripled (Texas)

KEYE TV ^ | Aug 1, 2013 | Fred Cantu

[bgill]

The U.S. Census finds that the number of people in poverty in Austin's suburbs more than doubled in the last decade -- up a whopping 142 percent. Meanwhile, Williamson County started off with 11,735 people living in poverty in 2000 and ended up with 34,069 by 2010.

That figure includes a lot of working poor. People who perhaps accepted a limited time offer of a job and a place to live. And others lost their job altogether in the economic downturn of 2008.

[Grams A]

Houston is booming.”

You left out the part about the traffic mess 24/7, smaller older homes on narrow city side streets being torn down and replaced by multi-family dwellings, etc. The growth is good in one respect but it is driving up the cost of living for people, increasing taxes and fees which the Gay Democrat Mayor just loves and causing an increase in crime.

Will be interesting to see who wins the battle between the preservationists in the Heights and the Mayor considering that the Village area residents couldn’t keep the City’s greedy hands out of their area.

[Marcella]

I just happened to come by this information two days ago:

The majority of the billionaires in the US live in the Dallas Fort Worth area - DFW - and those billionaires have quite a bit more than 1 billion, up to 20+ billion owned by Sam Walton's daughter who lives there. Next to her is Stemmons with about 9-10 billion, then others less than that but above 1 billion. Those are the known billionaires in that area.

All billionaires in the Houston area are stuck in the 1 billion, don't make it to 2 billion.

[GeronL]

Apartment complexes will concentrate the riff-raff and the trash of society eventually too.

The city I am living in has been tearing down old apartments. They want single family homes.

[GeronL]

blame the refinery smog

[ctdonath2]

One of the biggest problems with poverty is that the official definition keeps getting revised upwards by people who benefit from the numbers going up instead of down.

[mom of young patriots]

This will depend on how many illegal non citizens get turned into a voting majority. Are you listening Marco? The cities are thumbprints in a sea of red and the red areas are non ambiguous.

http://www.buffalogapnews.com/

[mom of young patriots]

I don’t listen much to this station. Their relationship with the comprehensive truth is as casual as it is anywhere in the media. I see the street corner beggers, but then they have always been there. They clearly stake out a corner and fight off all intruders. Lately, I have noticed that they are better dressed and looking very well fed. Not at all like someone you’d assume was destitute. These scammers are thick at the intersections and I think that the relatively mild winters attract them from other areas. I know there is real poverty and need everywhere in the country including the Austin area, but who is to know what the real numbers are when the ones who choose the “homeless” lifestyle as a career are showing up in the soup lines too?

[laplata]

Good point.

That is a neat little newspaper.

[Ditter]

Do you mean Rice Village? What has the city done there?

When business is good, the traffic is bad and vice verse.

[Right Wing Assault]

That’s $30 a square foot.

[GeronL]

That is just crazy

[Texas Fossil]

OK, sorry for the rudeness. I am just sensitive about the continual allusion to TX becoming a “blue” state.

And 20 years is a long time. Unfortunately we cannot even seen the next 6 months under Obozo.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Austin is, but the surrounding counties, especially Williamson, are conservative.

[laplata]

Thank you.

Yes, the thought of Texas becoming a “blue” state is beyond disgusting and does tend to get one up-tight.

Half of my family lives in Texas and the first settled there in 1858.

Under Obozo, the evil bastard, anything is possible and none of it is any good.

[af_vet_rr]

I am glad to hear that Austin is having the same growth that Houston is having.

Yeah, but it leaves me feeling that there is a bubble just around the bend, but we have a much more diverse economy than we did when the dotcom stuff blew up, and when Houston went through it's smaller problems.

[af_vet_rr]

I have a cousin in Lubbock who is politically astute and he says Texas could become a Blue State in 20 years or less.

It won't take nearly 20 years. Between the illegals/criminals (that will be citizens in the near future thanks to Obama and his GOP collaborators), the Californians, Floridians, and New Englanders moving in, we'll turn a lot quicker than that. Plus we have a state government that is really kind to the children of illegals, encouraging even more to come here and have kids.

I don't think I'll be around in 20 years, but I expect it will turn blue before I pass on.

If you had bet me that Houston would elect an openly lesbian mayor, and Dallas would elect an openly lesbian sheriff within my lifetime, you would have made some money.

[Texas Fossil]

One of my ancestors was born in TX during the Republic of Texas. He ended the CW in a prison camp in NY. He walked home to Texas after the war.

We have owned/operated farms in this county since 1889. I was the fist in family to move away, was gone 25 years. Back since 1995. It is Home. Expect to die here.

And at 65 I would still defend her with my life.

[af_vet_rr]

I was in Austin all last week. Surprised me to see a lot of "Help Wanted" signs in front of restaurants and fast-food places along the roads. Many with the pay posted on the signs. However, they were $10 to $12 per hour. Restaurants in the better areas all busy with customers, doing great. Malls seem busy enough.

Austin's biggest problem is transportation, and it's only going to get worse. Those $10 and $12 per hour jobs you saw? You can't afford to live anywhere decent in Austin proper on that unless you live as frugally as you can and are sharing costs with others, which pushes you out to the suburbs/outer areas, which means you are going to be contributing to an already bad transportation problem.

Going back to the original post, it's not that Williamson County is having problems outside of law enforcement that can't hold their liquor and a crooked DA, it's that people who are working the crap jobs are being forced out of the area.

[laplata]

I don’t know what to say but to agree with you. I’m 62 and won’t be around, either.

A lesbian sheriff in Dallas. God help us.

I fear for the children...

[jpsb]

We will be lucky if we stay red for 20 years. Harris county went blue and Harris county used to be reliably red.