HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo released a report - Now Is The Time: Places Left Behind In The New Economy- during an address to the National Press Club on April 28. The Secretary spoke to an overflow audience at a noon luncheon that included Fort Wayne Mayor and former President of the Conference of Mayors Paul Helmke. Mayor Helmke and former Laredo Mayor Saul Ramirez, now HUD Deputy Secretary, were Secretary Cuomo's guests for the event.

"This is a fascinating time in Washington", Secretary Cuomo said to the audience, as he highlighted the current economic story of the nation: 18 million new jobs, crime and welfare down, highest homeownership rate in history at 66.7%. "Now is the time to take the great economy and make it work for everybody", he added.

This must be done because some of America remains in the shadows. From studies of unemployment , population loss and poverty of all 539 central cities in the United States, HUD found that there is a new urban challenge which can be described in four findings as reported in the department's press statement:

Finding # 1- UNACCEPTABLY HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT REMAINS IN ONE OF SIX CENTRAL CITIES. High unemployment (50 percent or more above the national rate) affects 17 percent of central cities. This amounts to 95 central cities in 25 states and the District of Columbia with unemployment rates of 6.75 percent or higher in 1998. Even in cities with low unemployment overall, there are pockets of high joblessness. While unemployment has fallen over the past six years even in the cities with the highest rates, the decline has not kept pace with "the lowest peacetime unemployment in over 40 years" that the nation enjoys.

Finding #2-STEADY POPULATION LOSS AFFECTS ONE IN FIVE CENTRAL CITIES. In 22 percent of central cities, populations fell 5 percent or more between 1980 and 1996 - even though the nation's population rose 17 percent during the period. This amounts to 116 central cities in 28 states and the District of Columbia. These population losses deprive cities of workers and consumers, leading businesses to leave as well. In addition, the losses remove middle-class and wealthier residents from cities, creating a wider income gap between cities and suburbs. In 1989 the median household income in suburbs was 58 percent higher then the comparable figure in central cities, but rose to 67 percent higher than the city rate in 1996. The exodus of residents and the smaller incomes of those left behind lowers city tax revenues, causing a deterioration of city services and causing more residents to move out.

Finding #3 - PERSISTENTLY HIGH POVERTY PLAGUES ONE IN THREE CENTRAL CITIES. Poverty rates of 20 percent or more were found in 32 percent of central cities in 1995 (most recent figure available). This amounts to 170 central cities in 34 states and the District of Columbia. The report says "evidence from the most recent HUD estimates, and from school district data on student eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch, strongly suggests that extraordinary high poverty rates persist today in the most distressed cities."

Finding #4 - ONE IN SEVEN CITIES FACES "DOUBLE TROUBLE." A combination of high unemployment plus either significant long-term population loss or persistently high poverty rates-or all three- affects 14 percent of central cities. This amounts to 74 cities in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Sixty-six percent of cities that face "double trouble" are small or mid-size - with populations of 100,000 or less.