Mapping Poverty in Alachua County, Florida

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Mapping Poverty in Alachua County, Florida
Team 3 John Boyle, Brad Roberts, Kelly Smith,
Stephen Ulman, and Tracey Watson
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Poverty

• The state of being without the necessities of
  daily living, often associated with need,
  hardship and lack of resources across a wide
  range of circumstances.
• -Wikipedia.org
• If a familys total income is less than the
  familys threshold, then that family and every
  individual in it is considered in poverty.  The
  official poverty thresholds do not vary
  geographically, but they are updated for
  inflation using Consumer Price Index. The
  official poverty definition uses money income
  before taxes and does not include capital gains
  or noncash benefits (such as public housing,
  Medicaid, and food stamps).
• -US Census Bureau

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US Census Bureau Poverty Threshold for 2000
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Main Goal

• Locate Poverty within Alachua County based on
• Economic Indicators
• Socio Demographic Indicators
• Vulnerability Indicators

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Problem Statement

• Determine which indicators have the greatest
  influence on poverty in Alachua County.

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Poverty Statistics in Alachua(2000-2001)

• 22.8 of the population is below poverty line
• 70.9 of those are between the ages of 18-65
• Single mother households have the highest rate of
  poverty at 24
• Although overall poverty is down for the total
  population in Alachua County, poverty has
  increased by over 1 for the working force group
  (ages 18-64).

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Unemployment vs. Underemployment

• Unemploymentinvoluntary idleness of workers
• Underemployment--the condition in which people in
  a labor force are employed at less than full-time
  or at jobs inadequate with respect to their
  training or economic needs

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Unemployment

• Alachua Countys unemployment rate remains low
• Current Unemployment numbers
• National- 5.2
• Florida- 4.3
• Alachua County- 3.2

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Underemployment

• Difficult to measure
• Gainesville has the highest rate of population
  with at least a bachelors degree in Florida
• 40.1 of population 25 or older holding a
  bachelors degree6th in the nation according to
  Forbes
• Limited number of jobs
• for these qualifications

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Underemployment Continued

• Top 10 Occupations Gaining New Jobs in Alachua
  County
• Nurses
• Salespersons
• Waiters
• Heath specialty teachers
• Cashiers
• Construction laborers
• Elementary school teachers
• Customer service reps
• Teachers assistants
• Receptionists
• -- denotes jobs typically requiring a bachelors
  degree

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• Alachua County has 29,533 Students in their
  Public School system.
• Elementary school students with reduced lunch
  receive a 77 discount.
• Secondary school students with reduced lunch
  receive an 80 discount.
• The program also offers breakfast at reduced
  prices.

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• The stability of the county economy is
  attributable mainly to the University of Florida
  and other governmental employers in the area.
• Government agencies employ
• 36 of Alachua Countys work force.
• Service and Trade work
• obtain 27 and 21 respectively
• Agriculture utilizes only 11
• Manufacturing employs only 4

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• Dwelling units that have deficiencies which,
  through continued neglect, may lead to total
  deterioration of the structure.
• Deficiencies may include
• Structural deterioration of roof, foundation and
  porch.
• Exterior walls that are in need of new paint and
  repair.
• Exterior doors and windows that are structurally
  unsound.

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• 163,000 Tons of waste are processed annually in
  Alachua County
• 60 is generated by the city of Gainesville.

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Conclusion

• We believe that Alachua Countys poverty
• is most concentrated in East Gainesville
• and on the outskirts of the county
• We believe that Gainesvilles poverty is due to
  low
• income employment and an insufficient job market
• Students of the near by university take many
  jobs from local citizens and are willing to work
  for less
• The poverty on the outskirts of the county can be
  due to
• little to no access to the job market and the low
  income of
• the agriculture industry

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Most Influential Indicators

• We believe that income
• was the most prevalent
• Economic Indicator
• We believe that access
• to the Labor Market is the
• most important
• Vulnerability Indicator

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However

• Alachua Countys population drops
• from 217,955 to 187,570 when off-campus UF
  students are excluded
• 26,085 of those students meet poverty guidelines
  (that is 86!)
• That drops the county poverty percentage from
  22.8 to 13.9
• The National Average is 12.5

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Alachua County by Zip Code

• http//redlandsarcweb.esri.com/services/servlet/EB
  IS_Reports?serviceNameFreeZiperrorURLhttp3A2F
  2Fbao.esri.com2Fesribis3Fcommand3Dzipcodelooku
  p26from3Dbishpzipcode32611
• http//redlandsarcweb.esri.com/services/servlet/EB
  IS_Reports?serviceNameFreeZiperrorURLhttp3A2F
  2Fbao.esri.com2Fesribis3Fcommand3Dzipcodelooku
  p26from3Dbishpzipcode32641

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???Questions???

• Should college students be considered in poverty?
• Is there a better way to measure student
  situation?
• Why does East Gainesville struggle while
  predominantly student neighborhoods do not?

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References

• Map 1 http//www.florida-music-network.com/maps/Al
  achua.gif
• Poverty stats
• www.answers.com/topic/alachua-county-florida
• www.censusscope.org
• U.S. Census Bureau, 2001 Supplementary Survey
• Substandard Housing info
• http//www.habitat.org/build/21st/define_substanda
  rd.aspx
• Waste Disposal info
• http//countymanager.alachua.fl.us/documents/budge
  t_message_fy06/
• Underemployment http//www.gainesville.com/apps/p
  bcs.dll/article?AID/20050417/ALMANAC/204170325/-1
  /living
• http//www.clerk-alachua-fl.org/clerk/faa/ftmr98/i
  nd06.htm
• http//www.forbes.com/forbes/2002/0527/bestplaces_
  2.html