The city of Richmond hopes to slash its poverty rate by 40 percent in the next 15 years, but success in the city won’t solve the growing problem of poverty in the surrounding suburban counties.
From 2000 to 2014, census data show poverty grew 59 percent in Chesterfield County and 73 percent in Henrico County, with more people now living in poverty in the suburban counties than inside the city limits, said John Moeser, a professor at the University of Richmond who studies local poverty trends.
“This is the reason we can’t stop with an anti-poverty campaign within just the city. It won’t work that way,” Moeser said Tuesday during an “Unpacking the Census” forum held at the Richmond Times-Dispatch offices in downtown Richmond.