Alternet, from what I can tell, is an Internet-based news site about fifteen steps to the left of Eugene Debs. Most of the articles read like they were written by a privileged white kid who just went to college, grew dreadlocks for the first time, and discovered that poor people exist. Serious glassy-eyed liberalism, even by my standards.

Nonetheless, there’s an interesting article on there that I stumbled across yesterday. The basic premise is simple — as urban living in denser, walkable communities becomes more popular among empty-nesters and young professionals, the urban poor that have been living in these neighborhoods are being forced out by gentrification. As a result, inner-ring suburbs are starting to become the next generation of slums.

I can’t argue with the premise; it makes sense. While Buffalo is still a poor city, downtown in particular is experiencing a serious housing construction boom. Luxury apartments are going up in waterfront neighborhoods that used to be nothing but housing project towers and grain elevators. As people with money move in, the bodegas and wig shops are moving out and gourmet grocers and upscale flower shops are moving in. It’s a complete turnover in the character of the neighborhood, and it stands to reason that the people who can’t afford to live there any more have to go somewhere.

I can’t argue with the conclusion, either. The inner-ring suburbs of Buffalo — Cheektowaga, Amherst, and Tonawanda — are starting to have “city-like” problems. Dropout rates are climbing, as is crime, and abandoned houses are becoming more and more of a problem. Unfortunately, most of the programs designed to help lower-income families are city-based, and the suburbs are pretty unfriendly to public transport.

It will be interesting to see where this leads in the next twenty years or so. I wouldn’t be surprised to see most cities develop a “poverty belt” in their oldest suburbs surrounding the city, as some people move back to the urban core and others are carried to the exurbs by white flight.

As the unemployment rate here in Erie County creeps up toward ten percent, the Buffalo News is doing their best to keep people from panicking. An article in the Sunday edition pointed out that there are indeed jobs available for people with the proper qualifications. Check out this table, which accompanied the article:

So, three different kinds of teachers and police officers are all listed as desirable, available occupations. That’s great. But considering those are all state jobs, don’t you think it would be helpful if there were people paying into the tax rolls as well?

No wonder the economy in this state is such a wreck. The only jobs available are being paid for by a state government in a 17 billion dollar hole.

Apparently, a bicycle was stolen recently from the grounds of Hutch Tech, a high school here in Buffalo. The Buffalo Public Schools, with their usual wisdom, decided that the best way to keep this from happening was to ban students from bringing their bikes to school. There are no bike racks, and anything locked to a gate or a flagpole or another piece of school property will be cut free and shipped downtown — presumably to end up in the sad little bike auction that Kevin and I went to last year.

Well, that’s certainly not a completely insane overreaction. You’re telling me that a district that spends $24k per year per student can’t swing a couple hundred bucks for a bike rack?

Oh, and the outlawing of bikes ought to do wonders for that whole child obesity thing we’ve got going on around here. Grape soda, pork rinds, and an hour on a bus; now that’s Heart Smart(tm)!

In the grand tradition of school boards and other unaccountable entities, several villages here in Erie County chose to have their elections this week. Why March? Because that depresses voter turnout, which is a huge aid to the incumbent candidate.

Results are here.

This prompts two questions from me. One, why are villages like Sloan and Depew (population ~3,500 and ~15,000, respectively) supporting their own governments? There’s really not enough people to merit it, especially since both of these villages are contained in the town of Cheektowaga. It’s just another layer of taxes and administration for no benefit. Two, why is it that everyone complains about the government in their town and then goes out and reelects the incumbents? What does that accomplish?

I’m really starting to think that we deserve the miserably dysfunctional government we’ve got. If we didn’t, we’d stop pulling the lever for the bastards.