This article is a bit stale, but it's true. Anyone who has lived near section 8 housing will tell you the same.
For every family that wants to escape, there are a thousand who are mad that their check is late, and scream racism at their neighbors when told to pick up their own trash.
I actually used to live in section 8 housing growing up. Once I was old enough, the path seemed so clear on how to get far removed from that environment. I'm not sure why others don't see it and continue to accept their situation as unchangeable.
It seems to me that it is unchangeable in the aggregate. A certain level of unemployment is simply part of our system; the workers are literally incapable of changing the economic variables which create that level. Moreover, a large proportion of the employed are poorly-paid retail workers or laborers; again, it is not possible for the actions of this group to change the size of the different segments of the job market. As such it is a game of musical chairs as to who ends up with the shit jobs, who ends up without a job. The fact that an individual can escape by outdoing his peers only masks the fundamental hopelessness of the situation.
This is likely the other way around. Keep in mind that the one who screams racism or complains about their check being late is liable to make a much stronger impression on you than the many who simply lead quiet lives in poverty. And even in a crime-ridden neighborhood, the statistics show that most of the crime is attributable to a small fraction of the population.
For every family that wants to escape, there are a thousand who are mad that their check is late, and scream racism at their neighbors when told to pick up their own trash.