Stimulus Funds Cluster in Cities, Bypass Latino Communities

STIMULUS FUNDS -- March 10, 2010 at 6:23 PM EDT

Stimulus Funds Cluster in Cities, Bypass Latino Communities

President Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus package a little more than a year ago to spur job creation during the economic downturn. Through the end of January, $283 billion had been allocated, according to a new analysis by ProPublica, a nonprofit public-interest news organization.

But not every community type across the United States got the same chunk of change: A breakdown by Patchwork Nation's 12 community types found big disparities. Per capita, the Industrial Metropolis counties came out ahead with $1,176, followed by Minority Central counties at $1,068 and the Monied 'Burbs at $1,060.

"When you look at the way the stimulus is spent, you really need to ask what the stimulus was for. Was the stimulus for helping people in trouble? Was it for getting the old economy going again, or was it for doing something else?" said Patchwork Nation Project Director Dante Chinni. "When you look at the way the money was spent, it looks like it's for all of those things, it's spread across a lot of things." Watch our latest discussion with Chinni:

At the low end of the spectrum, the Evangelical Epicenters have been awarded $772 per capita, the Immigration Nation counties $770 and the Emptying Nests have seen the least at only $535 per capita.

Read more about the stimulus spending and see a community type breakdown in Chinni's Christian Science Monitor post.

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