According to a new study by the National Resource Network, 77 cities in California (Los Angeles included) fall into the “economically challenged” category, together with 220 other cities across the United States. Unfortunately, Californian cities make for more than a quarter of their list.
The organization in question, the National Resource Network, is affiliated with the government’s White House Council on Strong Cities and according to them, for a city to be “economically challenged” it needs to meet at least one of the three criteria – unemployment of over 9 percent, more than 20 percent of city’s adults living below the poverty line or population decline of over 5 percent in the period between 2000 and 2010.
The report, called Hidden in Plain Sight: Why California’s Economically Challenged Cities Matter has discovered that even while struggling, these cities often play important roles in their respective states and it concludes that giving these cities a boost might lead to state-wide economic growth. The report also goes to great lengths to explain why it is essential for policymakers and officials to do everything in their power to energize such cities.
