For the past three decades, the federal government has targeted the poorest areas of American cities with a succession of antipoverty initiatives, yet these urban neighborhoods continue to decline.
According to David Rusk, focusing on programs aimed at improving inner-city neighborhoods--playing the ' inside game' --is a losing strategy. Achieving real improvement requires matching the ' inside game' with a strong ' outside game' of regional strategies to overcome growing fiscal disparities, concentrated poverty, and urban sprawl.
