Poverty is a pervasive reality for over 43 million Americans. Thoughts of poverty often bring to mind images of blight in cities, but it is also common in rural communities throughout the country. Mom-and-pop stores that once lined Main Streets in small towns are closing. Schools are being consolidated and asked to do more with… Read more »
In rural Cortland County, only 24% of third graders are testing proficiently on New York State English Language Arts exams. This is especially important because third grade marks a turning point in early education: at that time, children typically are expected to stop learning to read and begin reading to learn other subjects. To keep… Read more »
Each week during the school year, children aged 10 to 14 gather at Syracuse Academy of Science High School to take part in Saturday Academy, an innovative program run by the 100 Black Men of Syracuse. The students receive lessons and take part in fun activities designed to help them do better in school, learn leadership… Read more »
Syracuse is no exception to the consequences of the past. The city ranks number one in the nation for concentrated poverty among Blacks and Latinos; and Onondaga County is the ninth most segregated county in America. 41,000 people in the city of Syracuse lived below the poverty line in 2016. The neighborhoods where this poverty… Read more »
Housing evictions are not just products, but catalysts of poverty, according to the Community Benchmarks report, “Final Notice: An Analysis of Evictions and Housing Instability in Syracuse, New York.” The city of Syracuse faces high rates of evictions. Estimates from demographically similar cities, court data, and the Onondaga Volunteer Lawyers Project (OnVLP) find that approximately… Read more »
Joining many municipalities across the country, the City of Syracuse recently launched DataCuse, an open data portal. DataCuse takes a proactive approach to keeping constituents informed by presenting important and unique information for the city’s constituents. The site hosts information about housing, lead risks and neighborhoods; it also shows street closings in real time by… Read more »
A new municipal violations bureau was signed into law in July 2017 by Governor Andrew Cuomo to help address a large backlog of housing code violations. According to Syracuse.com, the bureau will free up the city’s legal resources to focus on major violations instead of minor violations like trash in a yard. Former Mayor Stephanie… Read more »
Central New York offers low housing costs, convenient commute times and plenty of attractions within driving distance. It is also plagued with higher than average unemployment and a record poverty rate that threatens the region’s health. These are just some of the findings of recent national reports done by outside groups that use data to… Read more »
