Distressed Cities
What is the most economically distressed city in the U.S.?
How accurate was your prediction?
How surprised are you by this information?
Which of the seven factors used in the chart to reflect root causes of distress do you think is the most significant?
How do you think your city or the city nearest you rates on its distress score?
What geographical patterns does this information reveal?
Many of the cities listed above were once wealthy and prosperous places. Detroit, for example, was at one time the nation's fastest growing and most economically vibrant city. What are some factors that caused these cities to become so distressed?
If you lived in one of these distressed cities do you think you would move?
What do you think the schools are like in these most distressed cities?
We live in a federal system that binds all the cities and states of our country together. Do you think that people in Vermont or Wyoming, or a prosperous city like Raleigh, NC have a responsibility to help out our fellow Americans (particularly the children who did not choose where they were born) who live in distressed cities?
In the comments section, explain whether these distressed cities will have low or high voter turnout and who they will tend to vote for in the 2016 presidential election:
