Inner cities are actually thriving, and Donald Trump probably knows it

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 11 October 2016

At debates and rallies, Donald Trump has painted a picture of America in chaos, claiming "inner cities" are "a disaster education-wise, job-wise, safety-wise, in every possible way" and claiming "you walk down the street, you get shot." Trump, of course, offers himself as the solution — the person who can make America great again.

But according to the numbers, he's flat out wrong. So-called "inner cities" are actually flourishing and Trump probably knows it:

In reality, the central neighborhoods of many major American cities are thriving. A recent analysis by researchers at the Federal Housing Finance Agency found that home values have risen faster in the heart of big cities than anywhere else in the country over the last 25 years, a sign of their turnaround and a trend Mr. Trump, as a real estate developer, is likely to be aware of [...] Today, more of metropolitan America's poor live in the suburbs than in cities. Chicago, frequently mentioned by Mr. Trump, lost 17 percent of its black population between 2000 and 2010 alone. Nationwide, a majority of blacks in large metropolitan areas now live in the suburbs, a huge demographic shift, particularly among the black middle class. And as they have moved out, in some gentrifying neighborhoods, the rich have been moving in. [The New York Times]

But when it comes to talking to voters, it doesn't matter that what Trump is saying is inaccurate, historian N. D.B. Connolly pointed out. "What it does is it conjures a narrative about what happened in America during and after the 1960s,” Connolly told The New York Times. "The inner city is the place that burned when King was assassinated. It was Watts. It was the place Ronald Reagan had to try to conduct the war on drugs." And it is just one more place to make great again.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.