A December 2014 paper from City Observatory, Lost in Place, examining changes in the number and characteristics of high-poverty urban neighborhoods (poverty rate of 30% or higher) between 1970 and 2010 has found 66% of the neighborhoods that were high-poverty in 1970 remained high poverty in 2010 and another 25% had poverty rates above 15%. Nine percent (9%) of tracts that were high poverty in 1970 had poverty rates below 15% in 2010. Overall, it reports that the number of high-poverty neighborhoods has almost tripled since 1970 (from 1,100 to 3,100) and that the population more than doubled (most are losing population). Defining urban as tracts within 10 miles of the central business district, it found that the number of high poverty neighborhoods in the Boston area increased from 17 to 54 between 1970 and 2010, as 42 areas became high poverty and five of the original 17 high poverty tracts lost that status.
