Suburban Poverty

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Who are the poor in the Twin Cities suburbs?

By Jean Hopfensperger, Star Tribune
Last update: December 6, 2007 - 10:24 PM

When Maria Lafreniere goes shopping near her home in Woodbury, it's with a calculator in hand to precisely add up her purchases.

"I'm trying to figure out whether I can afford to spend $10 on a set of baby bottles, and I see other new moms loading up their carts with all sorts of things for their babies," said Lafreniere, who says she was in the same position as those moms a few years ago.

"I drive by McMansions all the time, by beautiful town homes all the time. But for now, a home is an unattainable goal," she said. "It's hard."

Lafreniere, 29, doesn't usually talk about such private matters to strangers. But on Thursday, she was among about 100 low-income Twin Cities suburbanites who told legislators their stories during a daylong "listening tour" by the Legislative Commission to End Poverty.

Lawmakers talked to unemployed workers in Blaine, immigrant families in Brooklyn Center, young folks in Burnsville and homeless mothers in Eagan, and lunched with Head Start parents in Coon Rapids.

"I'm hoping legislators learn that poverty is clearly in the suburbs ... and [about] the psychological effects it has on parents trying to keep up with the Jones," said JoAnn Tesar, a tour coordinator for Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington counties.

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Poverty is hitting the suburbs with more sting

Bastions of the middle class, Twin Cities suburbs are seeing financial pain spreading quietly among their residents. They now have more poor people than the core cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

By MARY JANE SMETANKA, Star Tribune
Last update: March 6, 2010 - 10:03 PM

In a startling shift, Twin Cities suburbs now have more poor people than the core cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Job losses, foreclosures and disappearing insurance coverage have pushed requests for food stamps, medical assistance and emergency housing aid to record levels. Homeless numbers are rising. Food shelves are scrambling to meet demand.

It's a trend mirrored in suburbs across the nation, where a recent study found that suburban poverty has grown five times faster than it has in big cities.

Worst hit are single moms and unskilled workers whose finances were shaky before the economy dipped. But financial stress reaches well into the middle class.