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<br />OJJGQ3 <br /> <br />i.e., the wealthy estate and industrial <br />enclaves and the upper, middle and lower <br />income bedroom communities. While the <br />sprawling and subdivided metropolitan <br />area still has a central or 'core' city, <br />typically it is becoming smaller, poorer <br />and l;lacker when compared to t....~ ".-r,",O"1n- <br />ing economy of white suburbia. <br /> <br />The political leadership of the old <br />'balanced' municipality was under constant <br />pressure to blur and moderate the conflict- <br />ing demands of the urban rich, poor and <br />middle class. In contrast, the leaders of <br />the new 'lopsided' municipalities are vir- <br />tually forced by their narrow-gauged con- <br />stituencies to sharpen and reinforce the <br />divisive elements within our uptight urban <br />society. <br /> <br />The findings of a recent Advisory Com- <br />mission study of metropolitan fiscal dis- <br />parities clearly substantiate the wide- <br />spread belief that most of our major cities <br />are now in a desparate situation. <br /> <br />1. The central cities, particularly those <br />located in the industrial Northeast <br />and Midwest, are in the throes of a <br />deepening fiscal crisis. On the one <br />hand, they are confronted with the need <br />to satisfy rapidly growing expenditure <br />requirements triggered by the rising <br />number of 'high cost' citizens. On the <br />other hand, their tax resources are <br />increasing at a decreasing rate (and <br />in some cases actually declining), a <br />reflection of the exodus of middle and <br />high income families and of business <br />firms from the central city to subur- <br />bia. <br /> <br />2. The concentration of high cost citi- <br />zens in the central city is dramatical- <br />ly underscored by public welfare sta- <br />tistics. For example, 27 percent of <br />Maryland's population is located in <br />Baltimore, yet 72 percent of Maryland's <br />AFDC expenditures is to be found in <br /> <br />-10- <br /> <br />