In recent years, growth in Cary has skyrocketed “from 7,640 residents in 1970 to more than 160,000 today” (Cary Economic Development). The area is now overflowing with high-profile tech companies, diversity, and new development. This growth has influenced the founding principles of Cary, such as its accessibility to all and its small town feel, and has also introduced new principles, such as diversity, enriched culture and recreation programs, and a family-focused community. Rightfully so, this influx of growth from northern areas has earned Cary the nickname “Containment Area For Relocated Yankees” (NPR) and attracted many young educated professionals. This has shifted the demographic makeup of Cary to include young families, prompting the …show more content…
In order to supplement these higher land costs for the remaining land, builders must construct houses and sell them at progressively higher prices. Having lived in Cary my entire life, I can’t think of a more welcoming environment to grow up in. In my eyes, all families, no matter financial status, deserve the opportunity to find and live in that place where they feel just as at home and comfortable as I do in Cary. Even as house prices and incomes in Cary continue to rise, we must retain variety in our housing and its prices, ensuring that all income levels can find a place to call home in …show more content…
New development has created heavily concentrated pockets of affluence, an effect clearly visible in our schools. Take, for example, Green Hope High School and Cary High School, two public high schools only miles away but with distinct differences in demographics. The former has a 7% free and reduced lunch rate with 40% of students taking AP classes (Great Schools). In contrast, the latter has a 32% free and reduced lunch rate with only 19% of students taking AP classes (Great Schools). Being at the school with the greater free and reduced lunch rate, I have experienced incredible diversity and a robust sense of community. This rapid growth has allowed for the creation of multiple unique communities within the larger community of Cary, each with their own distinct culture and demographics. Our community has become increasingly educated, developed, and recognized. However, it still remains important to remember the people suffering to make ends meet in our own community. This growing need has paved way for various organizations that I’ve enjoyed volunteering with such as Dorcas and Brown Bag Ministry. I feel so lucky to spend each night warm and safe and each morning fed and loved. Yet, there are so many children, less than a mile away, who aren’t afforded these luxuries. As Cary expands and becomes a nationally recognized town, we must not forget to care for those who call
The Town of Chapel Hill is a vibrant mix of college-aged students and younger families within the area. The demographics of the town provide to the town’s financial health, along with the region’s fiscal economy. With a major hospital and one of the best public schools in the state and country, much of the growth within the town can be attributed to employment opportunities, medical research, and the diversity in students that the university attracts. The town has seen strong population growth over the past 20 years, growing over 40% with 25% between 1990 and 2000, and 12.4% between 2000 and 2010 (Chapel Hill Community Overview, 2014).
From its geographic location, socio-economic background, and cultural expressions, this little neighborhood expresses the “mellow” aspect of surf, shopping, and living in the shadow of American culture. The Christmas parades and other various events held annually, along with the many shops that describe commercial success perfectly encircles both history of Belmont Shore and very well represents what it takes to be an outstanding American
To appreciate a row house neighborhood, one must first look at the plan as a whole before looking at the individual blocks and houses. The city’s goal to build a neighborhood that can be seen as a singular unit is made clear in plan, at both a larger scale (the entire urban plan) and a smaller scale (the scheme of the individual houses). Around 1850, the city began to carve out blocks and streets, with the idea of orienting them around squares and small residential parks. This Victorian style plan organized rectangular blocks around rounded gardens and squares that separated the row houses from major streets. The emphasis on public spaces and gardens to provide relief from the ene...
As the lease of my apartment is coming to an end it had me thinking of achieving my own American Dream of home ownership but as I do my research I find the dream is far from coming true. I am sure that the issue of housing prices and rent rates are what most of us Bay Area residents talk about and debate. It is an issue that needs to be addressed by the officials of the area, city mayors, affordable housing committees, social justice activists,lawmakers, and even employers. Skyrocketing prices, low inventory, and investors’ bidding wars are not only pushing the middle and lower classes out of San Francisco and the Bay Area out but will completely eliminate them.
Gentrification is the keystone for the progression of the basic standards of living in urban environments. A prerequisite for the advancement of urban areas is an improvement of housing, dining, and general social services. One of the most revered and illustrious examples of gentrification in an urban setting is New York City. New York City’s gentrification projects are seen as a model for gentrification for not only America, but also the rest of the world. Gentrification in an urban setting is much more complex and has deeper ramifications than seen at face value. With changes in housing, modifications to the quality of life in the surrounding area must be considered as well. Constant lifestyle changes in a community can push out life-time
“Fremont High School” an essay written by Jonathan Kozol presents a high school in need of transformation and support with educational advancement. Kozol writes about the limited educational opportunities available to the students that attend this lower class institution. Kozol addresses the overcrowding of this institution and lack of consistent staffing. The purpose of Kozol 's essay is to illustrate that lack of opportunity based on social class is an active crisis in the United States educational system, whereas addressing this crisis in the essay, Kozol would hope to achieve equal opportunities available to all socioeconomic class institutions.
Furthermore, both articles “Gentrification: A Positive Good For Communities” and. “The Deeper Problems We Miss When We Attack ‘Gentrification’” exhibit their opinion on the positives of gentrification and the potential of “revitalization” in low-income urban communities. Badger argues that gentrification brings nothing more than further opportunities for urban communities while integrating citizens of different social classes. Furthermore, she continues to question if gentrification is in fact the monster that brings the prior expressions against gentrification where she says “If poor neighborhoods have historically suffered from dire disinvestment, how can the remedy to that evil — outside money finally flowing in — be the problem, too?”(Badger) Stating that the funds generated from sources external that are brought into these communities can’t be problematic.
The American dream was owning a house with a white picket fence. Now this dream is impossible. Individuals and families find it more difficult to find a decent home to rent in a suitable living area. According to Huffington Post, the hourly wage needed to afford a two bedroom apartment in California is at least $26 an hour. This is more than triple the minimum wage. Eviction, relocation, and inflation are the common keywords that associate with affordable housing. I 'm hoping to persuade you to support affordable housing for all. Today, I will be discussing, one, inflation of the housing market that needs to decrease, two, eviction from homes, three having to move to communities far from their work site.
This school districts have cut back on their funding for drama clubs and family and consumer science programs and either reduced the number of afterschool sports offered or put a hefty price tag on participation. The end result is that an increasing number of low-income students find themselves left on the sidelines. High minority and low-income students’ population in this school system have become increasingly disengaged and disconnected, their participation rates are
Over the past two decades, California has been experiencing a shortage of affordable housing due to population growth, strict city planning, and zoning regulations. These factors contributed to a low market supply of available housing that resulted in an increase of housing prices in the state's major coastal communities, which have high population density.1 On average, housing prices are 2.5 times the median income, which forces many low-income families to spend more than half of their income on housing costs in the least expensive areas in the state.2 Housing affordability is a significant public policy issue because as housing costs rise, people experience higher levels of financial burdens that result in long-term economic instability and socially inequitable outcomes. There are three feasible alternatives to address the issue:
America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems of schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement. Even when low-income schools manage to find adequate funding, the money doesn’t solve all the school’s problems. Most important, money cannot influence student, parent, teacher, and administrator perceptions of class and race. Nor can money improve test scores and make education relevant and practical in the lives of minority students.
Regions around the world are urbanizing faster than ever. In the United States, urban growth will be most prominent in the Sun Belt region, which spans from Los Angeles to Miami. Unlike most regions in the world however, the majority of America’s “urban population” live in distant suburbs. This is especially true for metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, where just 10% of the region’s 6 million people actually live in the city. During the 1970s, much of Atlanta’s white population moved outward into nearby suburbs as the city’s population gained more black citizens. By 1990, Atlanta’s white population had deflated to 31% of the city’s population compared to 48% in 1970. The effects of white flight have contributed heavily to the overall suburbanization of the Atlanta region, which has proved to be problematic. White flight in Atlanta during the 1970s has created numerous problems for the region as it fueled much of the urban sprawl in Atlanta, which has negatively impacted numerous fields including the environment and landscape of former rural areas, the socioeconomics of neighborhoods, and the health of people living in these newly formed suburbs.
The solutions to residential segregation could be classified according to the basis which include place, people and indirect approaches (Bouston, 2013). The main aim of policies based on place is to improve the amenities and housing stocks in black dominated neighborhoods as a means of encouraging the white to settle in these areas or alternatively creation of affordable options for housing in the whites’ neighborhood to encourage the white settling in such places. However the challenges to this approach is that research conducted showed that the white households still had a negative mentality towards the black neighborhoods and no matter the improvement to these neighborhoods, they still won’t move. Another challenge with the policy is that improvements to neighborhoods will consequently lead to rise in house prices making it unaffordable even to those currently living
Parents rely on teachers to educate their children and help build a future, which allow the child to continue to grow as a person. Teachers must understand a student ethnic and racial background and how difficult it is to be raised in poverty. The most important thing the teachers must know is how to meet the student needs regardless of the students’ academic abilities. The racial composition of a school neighborhood plays an important role in determining the schools choice for families. Decision making for scholars has more to do with the schools prestige than the educational outcomes. Private schools enrollment are about being equal, influenced by the racial composition of local schools (Hastings, Kane and Staiger 2005) and that race-based choices contribute to racial segregation across school districts (Reardon and Yun 2004,2004) at the district level. White students who
Howard, Barbara J. “Do What You Can for a Homeless Child.” Pediatric News June 2008: 16. Academic OneFile. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.