Jamestown (NY) Post-Journal, November 17, 1994.45.
        The Post-Journal website:  http://post-journal.com/

Jamestown listed among poor cities
Ranked 15th in report on white poverty levels
By Hap Hazard
Chautauqua Correspondent

    JAMESTOWN - An article in the Oct. 17 edition of the U.S. News and World Report identifies Jamestown as one of the top 15 cities in the nation where non-Hispanic whites live below the poverty level.

    The magazine, in a special report on "The White Underclass," said white slums are concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast, usually in areas of manufacturing decline.

    Jamestown, with a 1990 population of 34,000, was 15th on the magazine's list.  Heading the list was Boston, followed by Portland, Maine; Newport, Ky.; Minneapolis; Duluth, Minn.; Flint, Mich.; Waterloo, Iowa; Baltimore; Rockford, Ill.; Jackson, Mich.; Detroit; Syracuse; Columbus, Ohio; and Toledo, Ohio.

    "Relatively speaking, we are a poor county," said Edwin J. Miner, Chautauqua County social services commissioner.  "Our economic problems are reflected in the numbers of individuals receiving assistance."

    Miner said Chautauqua County is in the top four or five counties in New York State in the percentage of people on welfare.

    "We are very high in terms of children in the county living below the poverty line," he said.

    To locate white underclass neighborhoods, U.S. News looked for urban areas of at least two adjoining census tracts where a majority of the residents were non-Hispanic whites, at least 40 percent of the residents live in poverty, and more than 300 white, female-headed families with children resided.

    In Jamestown, the magazine identified the Chadakoin River industrial area and the Monroe Street-Murray Avenue area.  It identified 306 white female-headed families with children.

    "The majority of jobs created in Chautauqua County are in the service sector," Miner said.  "They are relatively low-paying jobs.  they are not adequate to support a family."

    Miner called the county's economic condition "ironic."  "This is a wonderful place to live," Miner said, "and the people are fantastic."  But he said the economic distress is not going away.

    "It is a serious problem," he said.  "We live with it every day because we see people lined up in our waiting rooms for assistance."

    Citing efforts by local Chambers of Commerce, the county Industrial Development Agency and others to find solutions, Miner stressed there are no quick fixes.  "We would look for any opportunity to place individuals in higher paying jobs," he said, "but they are simply not here."

12/23/2003