Response to America's Most Economically Segregated Cities
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Transcript of Response to America's Most Economically Segregated Cities
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A Rebuttal to “America's Most Economically Segregated Cities”
Dr. Karen CyphersVP of Research & Policy
Sachs Media Group, Breakthrough Research
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A few big strikes
• This report uses data from the Tallahassee Metro Statistical Area which includes Leon, Gadsden, Jefferson and Wakulla Counties, but in writing refers only to the city itself.
• This report also fails to clearly define what “economic segregation” means, and...
• Makes the mistake of using a politically-charged word to describe differences between regions.
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Unfair Metrics for College Towns
• To the study’s own admission, “almost all of the most segregated smaller metros are college towns”
• This makes sense:– Students are more often geographically separated, living
near campus. – Students tend to be employed in low-wage settings
regardless of how much they eventually earn.– Tallahassee has three large colleges and many smaller ones
serving its population, making its student-to-resident ratios differ from most smaller metro areas.
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What would it mean to be among the least “segregated” in this study?
• In this study, the "least segregated" areas are places that are largely homogenous, with most of the population resembling one another in income, job sector, education levels, etc.
• According to the metrics used in this report, Tallahassee would look far less economically "segregated" if our entire population lived below the poverty line.
• ... But nobody can argue that would be a good thing.
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What would it mean to be among the least “segregated” in this study?
• Indeed, this study admitted that their measure of segregation is “positively associated with the share of the population that is black, Latino, or Asian.”
• This makes their methods perhaps a better indicator of racial composition than of segregation. The two are not synonyms.
• For example, look at some of the metro areas that this study reports having the lowest levels of "economic segregation": – Fond du Lac, WI (91% white)– Monroe, MI (88% white) – St. George, UT (87% white)
– Tallahassee, FL (53% white)
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Tallahassee is diverse and creative... and that is a good thing
• Just two years ago, the same author of this report praised Tallahassee for our large and growing share of "Creative Class" workers.
• The author, Richard Florida, has written extensively on the benefits to communities of fostering creative class jobs. He writes that cities that attract and retain creative residents prosper.
• Rather than noting Tallahassee's growth in the creative sector as a positive, this current study actually punishes Tallahassee for having a large portion of creative class workers who may live in different areas than service or blue collar workers.
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Tallahassee is improving, too...• What this study calls "segregation" may more accurately be a depiction of
growth or improvement, at least in the case of Tallahassee.
• The Tallahassee Metro Area has, and still faces, higher than average rates of poverty.
• Our counties, cities, and residents have been working hard to reverse this trend, and we're making progress.
• Part of that progress means growing and adapting... and these efforts bring their own challenges.
• Part of that progress also means succeeding, but that happens in stages.
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Tallahassee is improving, too...
• In 2012, Tallahassee was noted for being among the nation’s best midsized cities for job growth.
• In that same year, Tallahassee was listed among the 10 best cities for millennials, praised for its accessibility to housing and education.
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Here’s how Tallahassee looks today...
% Bachelors Degree % Graduate Degree0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Tallahassee Metro AreaUnited StatesFlorida
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Here’s how Tallahassee looks today...
% High School Graduates83%
84%
85%
86%
87%
88%
89%
90%
Tallahassee Metro AreaUnited StatesFlorida
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The work never ends to improve
• The Big Bend area has a lot of promise, and we are working hard to address many challenges:– Affordable housing– Education– Poverty– Health care, and more...
• This study, however, fails to capture the true issues we face, just as it fails to define our community with a poorly measured and inappropriate term.