Equity Audit: American Dream And American Reality In Elizabeth And Westfield, NJ
Amani S. Abdellah
08 May 2012
We were all shooting for the stars, and they just wanted to get out of town…You can’t help being born into poverty. We were all born in a rich town. It really made me grateful for being born with all these privileges.
Brett Robertshaw, a Westfield student
What is the ‘American Dream’? When asked that question, many may envision houses with white picket fences coupled with children, hardworking parents and let us not forget the dog. A quite modest picture is painted, however the question and its subsequent answer that will have the most consequence for the future of America revolves around who and not what. Who is able to achieve the ‘American Dream’? Is everyone afforded the same opportunity to achieve the ever so coveted ‘American Dream’? As we perform an equity analysis on cities and suburbs around the nation, we begin to realize that the ‘American Dream’ may not be as easily attained as some may suggest. In fact, in our analysis we begin to see that the ‘American Dream’ was and continues to be severely flawed. As Professor Troutt of Rutgers Newark Law suggests “[t]here are flaws in the American Dream, structural flaws . . . we treat them as unrelated at our extreme risk. And failing to address those related flaws at the same time, like people with blinders on, is what we seem compelled to repeat.” He goes on to say “However, if the issue is the vitality of the American Dream, then the risk of collectively repeating bad mistakes could result in more than the loss of that dream for millions. It could push the quality of life here down an irreversible course”. In order to assess the possibility of the ‘American Dream’ we must first asses the American reality.
This paper will perform an equity analysis on two New Jersey towns, Elizabeth and Westfield, both located in Union County. I have chosen these two towns because they are the epitome of the American dichotomy. Elizabeth and Westfield are approximately eight miles apart and on different ends of the same main road, Westfield Avenue. However, in Westfield 2.3% of the population lives below the poverty level, while in Elizabeth 16.7% of the population lives under the poverty level (the percentage for New Jersey is 9.1%). The median household income in Westfield is $127,799 which is about twice as much as the state median. The median household income in Elizabeth is just $43,770. Furthermore and even more telling, the percentage of persons, age 25 or higher with a bachelor’s degree or higher for Westfield and Elizabeth is 66.2% and 11.7% respectively. This is the American dichotomy at its best (or worst), the fact that two places can be so close in proximity yet so far apart in opportunity.
In order to paint the best picture of the “health” of a particular area we must balance the revenue picture with cost picture. The cost picture is directly related to the ratio of population to actual space. Higher densities often translate to increased urbanization and hence increased urban costs for services. In fact, the State Planning Commission, in 1992, named eight municipalities as “urban centers”, with Elizabeth being one of them. The Commission defined “urban centers” as “larger cities that historically and to some degree still, provide a focus for the region’s economy, transportation and government functions.” Urban centers are supposed to anchor growth and their influence reaches not only its residential constituents but also the state of New Jersey as a whole and in some instances internationally. They are supposed to be compact in comparison to their surrounding communities, hence the relationship between Elizabeth and Westfield. However, if we assume that population growth translates into that particular place being attractive to new residents then we must also understand that the increase in needs of services should increase proportionally to the new revenue which is raised by the new residents. However, this is not always the case as we can determine from the fact that New Jersey is seeing an erosion in population, tax and employment base of towns and cities.
Hence, because of Elizabeth’s strategic importance to the economic prosperity of New Jersey, as well as to its surrounding communities like Westfield, this equity analysis becomes increasingly important. As noted by the Commission, “[t]he revitalization of the state’s urban centers is necessary if all New Jersey’s citizens are to benefit from growth and economic prosperity.” The State Planning Act, Section 52:18A-196 (g) notes that “[a]n increasing concentration of the poor and minorities in older urban areas jeopardizes the future well-being of this State, and a sound and comprehensive planning process will facilitate the provision of equal social and economic opportunity so that all of New Jersey’s citizens can benefit from growth, development and redevelopment.” Therefore, this paper moves forward on the premise that there is a direct relation between on the one hand actual space, the number of people who occupy that particular space, and the “color” of the people who occupy that space and on the other hand opportunity, or lack thereof, as an outcome of equity indicators such as cost of living and median income, residential segregation, home ownership and affordable housing, crime, education and fiscal capacity.
Continue reading this article in its entirety below:
The American Dichotomy: The American Dream and American Reality