Reversing a trend from the 1990s, poverty has become more concentrated from 2000 to 2005, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution (Christian Science Monitor).

For their study, authors Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube used Census data and Earned Income Tax Credit data from the IRS. They found that the number of poor people living in high poverty communities increased for the majority of metropolitan areas studied.

Citation: Kneebone, E. & Berube, A. (2008). Reversal of Fortune: A New Look at Concentrated Poverty in the 2000s. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.

US housing officials credit a “housing first” policy for a decline in the nation’s homeless population from 2005-2007 (New York Times).

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development report to Congress (PDF) is available online.

America’s big industrial cities are shrinking as people move to the South and West and to the suburbs, according to new Census estimates released today (AP via Centre Daily Times). Phoenix is now the country’s fifth-largest city, surpassing Philadelphia.

State of World Population 2007: Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth and a youth supplement, Growing Up Urban, are available online from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The report predicts that more than half of the world’s population will live in towns and cities by next year, and urban growth will be particularly fast in Africa and Asia (New York Times).

Cities are enlarging street signs, widening sidewalks, and making other adjustments to prepare for an expected surge in the elderly population by 2030 (USA Today).

The Nation reports on increasing levels of suburban poverty in the US.

The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) has annouced the release of wave 3 (2000-2002) of their data. Click here for more information on PHDCN.

PRI Affiliates may request these data from the Data Archivist.

Diversitydata.org, a project of the Harvard School of Public Health, provides access to indicators of well-being for US metropolitan areas and racial and ethnic populations.

This resource has been added to the PRI Library Reference Links page, a list of online resources for population researchers.

A study published online last week by the American Journal of Public Health found that too many preschoolers are obese, and a greater percentage of Hispanic children are obese by age 3. The study looked at a national sample of children from low-income families. (CNN.com)

Urban Agglomerations 2005 and Urban and Rural Areas 2005 are now available from the United Nations Population Division.