WBEZ Chicago Public Radio interviewed P.S. Sriraj, research associate professor in the Urban Transportation Center, on the movement of low-income populations from Chicago to the suburbs and collar counties. Sriraj says the reasons typically are proximity to jobs, quality of education, and crime rates.
He says in the past, people of low income populated in the city center, like Chicago. Now, that population is moving out to the suburbs and collar counties.
“Those reasons are typically tied to employment—proximity to employment. Could also be tied to crime, crime rate in the city versus the suburbs. And it’s also a direct correlation to quality of education,” he said.
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“If you look at the pattern of immigrants coming to the country, their first stop has always been the larger city,” Sriraj said. “Once they acclimatize to the culture and surroundings, they find a foothold in suburban locations. That’s typical.”
He says those international arrivals could eventually be part of that exodus to the collar counties.
