Key
indicators show that it’s mixed bag in terms of quality of life in the
nine-county region, according to a new report (included below) from ACT
Rochester. But, as usual, things look much worse when you zero in on the City
of Rochester.
ACT
Rochester compiles a yearly report card that measures what it says are key
indicators of the community’s well-being. It also includes a statewide
comparison and says whether the trends are heading in a positive or negative
direction, of if they are unchanged.
The
indicators are arts, culture, and leisure; children and youth; community
engagement; economy; education; financial self-sufficiency; health; housing;
and public safety.
Some
highlights:
• State
funding for the arts has declined more than 50 percent regionally since 2001, following
a statewide pattern;
• The region’s
child poverty rate, 19 percent, is below the state and national rates. But the child
poverty rate in the City of Rochester is an absurd 47 percent. The city numbers
are even higher for African American and Hispanic children;
• The
trade, transportation, and utilities sector, along with the health care sector,
provided the most jobs in the region between 2000 and 2012 — 32 percent;
• Twenty-nine
percent of third graders in the region passed the state’s new reading test,
below the state’s 31 percent average. The passing rate in the City of Rochester
was an abysmal 6 percent. The numbers are similar for the state math test;
• The City
of Rochester had the lowest median income in the region, $30,708, with the
highest rate of poverty, 32 percent.
The public
safety section of the report is intriguing. It says that violent crime in the
City of Rochester increased 33 percent from 2000 to 2012. But year-end reports
from the Rochester Police Department show a general downward trend in violent
crime, at least from 2009 on.
The numbers
reinforce a December report put out by ACT Rochester and the Rochester
Area Community Foundation. Rochester’s concentration of poverty is unique and
profound, the report says, and poses deep barriers to social and economic
progress.
2014 ACT Rochester Report Card (1) by chrisatcity
This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 1, 2014.
It is too bad that city is unwillingness to inform readers that the region ex rochester has a child poverty rate of ~10%, and the reason for the huge difference versus the city(47%) is that 68% of households in rochester with kids have on,y one parent whereas the corresponding figure for the rest of the region is ~25%. Why not expect people to behave responsibly?
How many more of these reports do we need? Everyone knows what and where the problems are. Imagine if all of the time and resources dedicated to creating these reports/convenings/conversations, etc…was actually used to do something about poverty?
I agree that something needs to be done about poverty and accompanying racism.
If we are serious then just look a the Governor’s proposed budget. Areas where addressing some of the issues re poverty include fully restoring progressive income
taxes , reject the proposals to end the bank taxes, collect the stock transfer tax. These would allow the defeceit to be paid and cover needs addressing poverty including education, neighborhood development, housing, job opportunities , transportation and green energy. This means electing representatives who do not stay with the status quo which is designed to keep the problems at the talking but actually do little level. The media needs to cover political progressive alternatives with greater depth and frequency. Look at the onniGreen Party platform on line. Come to the meeting which will address these issues on April 10th 7p.m. at the Flying Squirrel Center 285 Clarissa St.
Bonnie Cannan