New book

clipped from www.npr.org Gentrification of the Nation: How the Rich Rule I didn't live in any ghettoes when I worked on Nickel and Dimed — a trailer park, yes, but no ghetto — and — my average wage of $7 an hour, or about $14,400 a year, I wasn't in the market for furniture, a house, or a car. But the high cost of poverty was brought home to me within a few days of my entry into the low-wage life, when, slipping into social worker mode, I chastised a coworker for living in a motel room when it would be so much cheaper to rent an apartment. Her response: Where would she get the first month's rent and security deposit it takes to pin down an apartment? The lack of that amount of capital — probably well over $1,000 — condemned her to paying $40 a night at the Day's Inn. If you're rich, you might want to stay that way. It's a whole lot cheaper than being poor.