1. Poverty in the United States is often reported in broad general terms. Poughkeepsie, “The Queen City of the Hudson”, once a bastion of shipping and an industrial powerhouse in the Hudson River Valley has long been in decline. As of 2009 the percentage of people living below the poverty line in Poughkeepsie was What is perhaps more intriguing is that Dutchess County, home to Poughkeepsie has seen a increase in medium income. The income gap is an unfortunate reality of current America. 26.8% 26.8% 25.6%

2. This BBC report discusses how the 2010 census data will reveal the already known realities in places like Poughkeepsie, NY- that the amount of poor people is on the rise.

3. For decades, places like Poughkeepsie have seen more and more boarded up businesses. These companies have moved elsewhere to places like China and countries in South East Asia where low skilled labor is cheaper An abandoned building in Poughkeepsie

4. Businesses like Kem Playing Cards , which had once hired people from Poughkeepsie for low skilled labor have long since moved away causing a huge surge in unemployed especially among people without college degrees.

5. This was once a parking lot in a strip mall. Since the store in front in boarded up, the owners have decided to let nature take over it

6. In the same strip mall an entire “Walmart” sized store space remains vacant since the financial collapse in 2007

7. But while the poverty level has dramatically increased especially among these low-skilled workers who can't find jobs, the median income level has gone up mainly due to an influx of people from New York City looking for a higher standard of living in a cheaper area. Many of these old manufacturing centers are being taken over by housing developments and new money. This is a housing development for Marist College students across street from the Marist College campus. Many old manufacturing plants were demolished to make way for this development

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