Pittsburgh Suburbs Suffering Poverty At High Rate

Locator map of the Greater Pittsburgh metro area in the western part of the of . Red denotes the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, and yellow denotes the New Castle Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Pittsburgh-New Castle CSA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Poverty is growing at a faster rate in the suburbs than in the cities, and the Pittsburgh area is ahead of the curve — but not in a good way.

Nationally, about 55 percent of the population living in poverty is outside of cities, but in Allegheny County, 61 percent of people living in poverty are in the suburbs, and the number rises to 79 percent when the Pittsburgh metropolitan statistical area is measured. That area includes Allegheny and its six surrounding counties.

Those numbers come from Elizabeth Kneebone, a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and co-author of “Confronting Suburban Poverty in America.”

Ms. Kneebone said suburban poverty has been growing since 2000 and became more significant than urban poverty even before the economic meltdown of 2008 and 2009. The recession exacerbated it.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2013/11/18/Suburbs-suffering-at-high-rate/stories/201311180136#ixzz2l1MynVBs

Lancaster Police Shoot, Kill Homeless Man On North Queen Street

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lancaster city police said an officer shot and killed a homeless man who lunged at an officer Monday morning with a knife after they questioned him about urinating and exposing himself in public.

Police said they attempted to stun the man, who has not been identified, with a Taser but the charge had no effect on him.  After the man refused to drop his knife, an officer fired three shots at him and struck him once.

The man died a couple of hours later at Lancaster General Hospital.

District Attorney Craig Stedman, who reviewed video footage of the incident, said the shooting appeared to be “entirely justified” but that he had not reached a final conclusion.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/859735_Lancaster-police-shoot–kill-homeless-man-on-North-Queen-Street.html#ixzz2Vpd3pBUx

Property Taxes Are Killing Pottstown

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  This is a well-written opinion piece from the Fishwrap that was sent to Governor Corbett and other state and local officials.  Sums up the state of Pottstown pretty well.

An open letter sent to Gov. Corbett and copied to state Rep. Thomas Quigley and Pottstown Mayor Bonnie Heath.

Gov. Corbett:

There’s a lovely stone house for sale on High Street in Pottstown.  Yes, it’s our house.  It’s reasonably priced and has piqued the curiosity of many prospective buyers but one item makes them turn and run.  “What is so frightening?” you ask.  It’s the property taxes!  Over $7,500 per year on a house assessed at $150,000.  That’s outrageous!  We have friends in other Montgomery County communities such as Springfield Township, Abington and Upper Dublin.  Their houses are assessed higher than ours but, in some cases, they pay less than half our taxes.  There is something drastically wrong with this scenario.  Pottstown ranks seventh in school taxes out of 500 Pennsylvania districts.  We also rank at the top for producing underachieving students.  We have 13.4 percent of our residents over 65, an inordinate number of Section 8 and transient residents in this blue-collar town, and high unemployment.  Property values are spiraling downward, creating a dismal sinking into the quicksand of urban destruction.

Our delusional council and school board keep raising taxes as though we were a booming town but we’ve lost our industrial base that employed hundreds at Bethlehem Steel, Firestone, Mrs. Smith’s Pies and other long-gone businesses.  Sadly, we’ve also had to say good-bye to our wonderful Pottstown Symphony.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120928/OPINION02/120929459/property-taxes-are-killing-pottstown

Montgomery County HEARTH Act Community Forum

Montgomery County Office of Housing and Community Development is Seeking Your Participation!!

In 2009 Congress passed the HEARTH Act, the first new federal legislation governing homeless programs since 1987.  The Act provides for increased local flexibility in developing and prioritizing local strategies and may substantially change the way housing and services will be delivered to homeless families and individuals in Montgomery County. 

The Montgomery County Collaborative is partnering with the Montgomery County Office of Housing and Community Development to provide the community with current information on the HEARTH Act and the Montgomery County Housing Blueprint as well as to solicit your ideas and suggestions about how the County can best prevent and end homelessness and improve housing stability for all families and individuals.

You are invited.

You are invited to any of our community forums to learn about current affordable housing and homelessness in the County and to share your experiences and ideas about:

• Priorities for addressing different homeless subpopulations

• The performance of current local homeless programs

• Gaps and unmet needs in homeless housing and services

• Suggestions for program improvements

• Future strategies, including allocation/reallocation of resources.

Thursday, March 8, 9am – 11am

Salvation Army of Pottstown

137 King St. Pottstown, PA 19464

Hosted by the TCN Homeless Services Committee 

Please RSVP to Natina Parker at 610.705.3301 x 2 or by email to nparker@tcnetwork.org

TriCounty Community Network Hosts Rethink Homelessness Community Forum

TriCounty Community Network’s (TCN) Homeless Services Program, consisting of 40 local organizations, is hosting a Rethink Homelessness Community Forum on Thursday, February 9.  The goal of the forum is to provide an opportunity for discussion about homelessness, how we define homelessness, and how we are addressing homelessness as a community. 

The keynote speaker will be Will O’Brien, Special Projects Coordinator at Project H.O.M.E., a non-profit providing housing and services to chronically homeless men and women in Philadelphia and empowering them to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty.  He will be introduced by Rev. Marvin Marsh of Pottstown First Baptist Church.  The program will also include stories from homeless individuals and volunteers, as well as educational information and a Q&A session.       

TCN is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, membership-based organization that partners with nonprofits, businesses and community members to improve health, social and environmental conditions.  Serving Western Montgomery, Northern Chester and Eastern Berks counties in Pennsylvania, TCN offers seven key programs: Build Up Youth, C.A.R.E. (Caring in Alternative Residential Environments), Environmental Awareness, Family Literacy, Homeless Services, SAFE (Supporting Abuse Free Environments), and Workforce Development.  For more information on TCN, visit www.tcnetwork.org. 

Thursday, February 9, 2012

6:00 – 8:00 PM

Montgomery County Community College– West Campus

Community Room

101 College Drive

Pottstown,PA

This event is free.  A lite dinner will be provided.

Members of the media should RSVP to Karen Higgins, A&E Communications, at khiggins@aandecomm.com or 610-831-5723.  Others interested in attending should contact TCN at 610-705-3301 ext. 2.  Registration is recommended but not required.