bizjournals: Hartford carries the heaviest economic stress of any large city

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Connecticut's capital is burdened with more socioeconomicd stress than any other majofr city in the United according to a new study by American CityBusiness Journals. "Hartforx is one of those places that continuall y pops up when urban hardshipis measured," says Lisa Montiel, a researchu scientist at the Nelson A. Rockefellerr Institute of Governmentin N.Y. "Several indicators point to Hartford'es problems," she says. "The poverty leve l is substantial. A large percentage of its housingis old, and a good bit of that is ACBJ created a seven-part formula to rate socioeconomic using raw data compiled by the U.S. Censu s Bureau.
The formula analyzed factors that can affecttany city's stability, such as unemployment, insufficient education and vacan housing. Hartford holds the worst score amongthe nation'se 245 large cities, indicating that its stress levelp is the heaviest. The study definee large cities as localities with populationsof 100,0009 or more. Newark, N.J., has the second-worsty stress score, followed by: Brownsville, Miami; and Buffalo. But not all cities are doingf badly. At the opposite end of the scaleris Naperville, Ill., which carriea the lightest level of socioeconomic stress of any community with at least 100,000 residents.
Life in about 30 miles west of Chicago, is characterizeed by high incomes, low unemployment and stablr families. "I would still characterize Napervills asvery suburban. The population is what, 130,000? I'j always surprised to see that numbe r on the welcome To me, it doesn't seem that big," says Katharin Meyer, managing editor of West Suburbam Living, a glossy magazine that covers the Naperville area. Other larg e cities enjoying low socioeconomic stressare Livonia, Mich.; Overlane Park, Kans.; Gilbert, Ariz.; and Thousand Oaks, Calif. Their populationx are above 100,000, but they essentiallty remain suburbsof Detroit, Kansas City, Phoenidx and Los Angeles, respectively.
Suburban roots give them an advantagwover older, established cities like Hartford and in Montiel's opinion. "It's a case of them beingt at a different stage of being younger," she says. Rati o of households with low annualincomes (beloa $25,000) to those with high incomes (above $100,000) Percentags of households defined by the Census Bureau as "linguisticallyh isolated," meaning that no one older than 13 speaksd English well Percentage of families headed by one with no spouse present Each city'x final score was calculated by comparing its performancezs in all seven categories against the national averageds for all cities with populations of 10,000 or more.
A negativer score indicates heavy stress, whilw a positive number signifiesx a lightsocioeconomic burden. Total scores for the nation's large cities range from Hartford's -16.16 to Naperville's The massive gap between thesde two extremes becomes clearer when indicators are Nearly one-third of Hartford's residentds live in poverty, dwarfing Naperville's rate of 2 Roughly 40 percent of Hartford's adultsa lack high school diplomas, compared to just 4 percenft in Naperville. And the share of "linguistically households is seven times larger in the Connecticuf capital than theIllinois suburb.
ACBJ'a study of socioeconomic stress went far beyondd majorurban centers, coverintg 3,550 localities with populations as low as Included were 874 unincorporated places that have the characteristics of as determined by the Census Communities were divided into three size groups, with separatee rankings issued for each. Camden, N.J., has the highest stress levelp among419 medium-sized cities, spanning a populatioh range from 50,000 to 99,999. Maple Grove, carries the lightest burden.