Majority of Buffalo's Poor Live in Suburbs

Becker and Ray point to the loss of high-paying manufacturing jobs and the economic slump as the main causes for the increase in suburban poverty:

"The shift of poverty to the suburbs also is a reflection of the general trend of people leaving cities, experts said."

"But while suburban living may provide the poor with access to safer neighborhoods, better schools and proximity to a job, it also puts them farther from social services, nonprofits and philanthropies that are experts in helping the poor."