Urban sprawl isn't just taking a toll on the environment or on quality of life by keeping Americans stuck in their cars. It's also making it harder for low-income people to get and keep jobs, which are increasingly located
outside of commuting distance:
A Brookings Institution report out Tuesday finds the number of jobs within typical commuting range dropped 7 percent between 2000 and 2012 in major U.S. metropolitan areas.
Metro jobs near poor people, many of whom cannot afford cars, fell 17 percent, versus a 6 percent drop for those who weren't poor. Jobs near Hispanics fell 17 percent, and those near blacks dropped 14 percent. [...]
Increasing sprawl means that nearby jobs can fall even when overall jobs increase. Jobs in Phoenix and its suburbs, for example, grew almost 11 percent from 2000 to 2012. But jobs within the typical commuting range fell nearly 17 percent over the same period.
In many metro areas, public transportation options are limited—especially in the suburbs where many jobs are—and the costs can really take a bite out of an $8.50 an hour, part-time paycheck. And of course, "the suburbs" aren't just one place. Living in "the suburbs" doesn't help you get to your job if it's two towns over, even if they're all suburbs. All this can mean long commutes, expensive commutes, physically exhausting commutes. In short, James Robertson, the Detroit man who became famous for walking
21 miles a day to and from work, is not alone.
Let's not forget that we're seeing several pieces of the Republican agenda here: low wages, scarce jobs, inadequate public transportation, all combining to make life brutally hard for many low-income people. Which, however it's achieved, is probably the capstone of the Republican agenda.