Saturday, February 05, 2005
Grants help poor get to work in Portland
Shirley Cromwell lives in Southeast Portland, fifteen miles from her work in North Portland. By car it takes her 30 minutes, but when her car broke down, the trip by transit required two hours. Now a new Ways to Work program is helping low-income people buy or maintain their cars.
Kerri Sullivan, a Portland State University researcher (now working for the city of Wenatchee, Washington), found that someone without a high school degree was 80 percent more likely to have a job if they owned a car than if they relied on transit. They also earned an average of $1,100 more per month. "A car has more of an influence (on whether or not someone has a job) than a GED" (high school equivalency), says the researcher. Sullivan's research paper was published by Harvard University.
Not surprisingly, some people in "transit-minded" Portland think that helping low-income people get and keep their jobs is a bad idea. (I guess Portland is "transit minded" because a whopping 7.7 percent of its residents usually take transit to work.) "It doesn't solve the problem," says Rex Burkholder, a member of Metro's council. He thinks Portland needs "more affordable housing closer to jobs."
But people don't choose their home location solely based on their job location. Housing is less expensive in North Portland than Southeast Portland. But Shirley Cromwell chooses to live in Southeast Portland, probably because schools are better there. (Note to Burkholder: Forget about affordable housing, which you've already destroyed with your urban-growth boundary, and get the Portland Public School board to fix Jefferson and Roosevelt high schools, whose performances on standard tests are a disgrace.)
The Ways to Work program started in Wisconsin and is now available in 23 states. We can only hope that transit advocates don't kill it before it helps more people out of poverty.
Kerri Sullivan, a Portland State University researcher (now working for the city of Wenatchee, Washington), found that someone without a high school degree was 80 percent more likely to have a job if they owned a car than if they relied on transit. They also earned an average of $1,100 more per month. "A car has more of an influence (on whether or not someone has a job) than a GED" (high school equivalency), says the researcher. Sullivan's research paper was published by Harvard University.
Not surprisingly, some people in "transit-minded" Portland think that helping low-income people get and keep their jobs is a bad idea. (I guess Portland is "transit minded" because a whopping 7.7 percent of its residents usually take transit to work.) "It doesn't solve the problem," says Rex Burkholder, a member of Metro's council. He thinks Portland needs "more affordable housing closer to jobs."
But people don't choose their home location solely based on their job location. Housing is less expensive in North Portland than Southeast Portland. But Shirley Cromwell chooses to live in Southeast Portland, probably because schools are better there. (Note to Burkholder: Forget about affordable housing, which you've already destroyed with your urban-growth boundary, and get the Portland Public School board to fix Jefferson and Roosevelt high schools, whose performances on standard tests are a disgrace.)
The Ways to Work program started in Wisconsin and is now available in 23 states. We can only hope that transit advocates don't kill it before it helps more people out of poverty.
Comments:
Simply a sign of how bad transit is in America. Does the same sort of relationship hold in New York City, for example? Or Toronto, where transit IS a viable alternative for a large number of people? I seriously doubt it. What about in Europe, where transit is orders of magnitude better than in your average American urban area?
O'Toole, if you're intellectually honest, you'd address these points. But I'm not holding my breath.
Anon E. Mouse
O'Toole, if you're intellectually honest, you'd address these points. But I'm not holding my breath.
Anon E. Mouse
>>>>>>The program, administered locally by Metropolitan Family Service, offers low-interest loans for car purchases or repairs, backed by studies that suggest car ownership has a greater positive influence on a low-income person's employment status than a high school diploma. <<<<<<<
The reason Shirley Cromwell does not have money to repair her car is because the vehicle is bleading her dry of all her money! Face the fact. The poor cannot afford cars and Cromwell is the classic example of someone who is digging a hole by trying to live a lifestyle she cannot afford.
The trip by transit required only two hours? Cry me a river! Most people in cities like Los Angeles and New York City take two hours or more each day. I live in New Jersey and commute into Manhattan and wish my commute took 2 hours. As far as I'm concerned, her commute is NOT long and reasonable.
I was in Cromwell's position several years ago. I was a low income wage earner making about 25K a year and driving a car. The motor vehicle drained every dime I had between paying for gas, tolls, tickets, insurance, repairs and maintenance. In the end, I had a tow truck take the vehicle at a total loss.
Unlike Cromwell, I did something about it other than waiting for loans. In fact, Cromwell is going to be even poorer when she's loaded with all this debt from having to pay for a new car and take out full coverage! How's Cromwell going to pay for this new car if she can't even afford repairs on her old vehicle?
I went back to school and now make 110% more than I did before. I also moved to another town that had trains which run constantly leaving me car free! I'm now in the process of saving for a new home and it's because I have no vehicle. I'm not rich but in 4 years, I'll be living the American dream but I won't have a car to load me down with loans that's for sure.
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The reason Shirley Cromwell does not have money to repair her car is because the vehicle is bleading her dry of all her money! Face the fact. The poor cannot afford cars and Cromwell is the classic example of someone who is digging a hole by trying to live a lifestyle she cannot afford.
The trip by transit required only two hours? Cry me a river! Most people in cities like Los Angeles and New York City take two hours or more each day. I live in New Jersey and commute into Manhattan and wish my commute took 2 hours. As far as I'm concerned, her commute is NOT long and reasonable.
I was in Cromwell's position several years ago. I was a low income wage earner making about 25K a year and driving a car. The motor vehicle drained every dime I had between paying for gas, tolls, tickets, insurance, repairs and maintenance. In the end, I had a tow truck take the vehicle at a total loss.
Unlike Cromwell, I did something about it other than waiting for loans. In fact, Cromwell is going to be even poorer when she's loaded with all this debt from having to pay for a new car and take out full coverage! How's Cromwell going to pay for this new car if she can't even afford repairs on her old vehicle?
I went back to school and now make 110% more than I did before. I also moved to another town that had trains which run constantly leaving me car free! I'm now in the process of saving for a new home and it's because I have no vehicle. I'm not rich but in 4 years, I'll be living the American dream but I won't have a car to load me down with loans that's for sure.
