San Bernardino 2nd most poverty-stricken city in nation

Through a broken window, Henry Carrillo, 64, looks at the vacant trailer where he used to live. Below, Carrillo opens the door to his converted room in Muscoy, for which he pays $100 per month. Carrillo, who receives $515 from his monthly Social Security check, hopes to move into a low-income senior-housing complex in San Bernardino. (Al Cuizon/Staff Photographer)
SAN BERNARDINO - The city is one of the most poverty-stricken in the United States, but Henry Carrillo has a dream to move here.
"It would be like hitting the lottery," Carrillo said Friday.

The 64-year-old retired housekeeper from Muscoy must soon move out of the ramshackle room he rents for $100 a month, because the house has gone into foreclosure.

If he moves to San Bernardino, he will join the estimated 34.6 percent of the city's residents who live below the poverty level, ranking it first in the state among those with a population of 200,000 or more and second nationally behind Detroit, according to findings by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The White House's Office of Management and Budget set the poverty


Henry Carrillo opens the door to his converted room in San Bernardino. (Al Cuizon/Staff Photographer)
line in 2010 as $22,314 for a family of four and $11,139 for an individual.
Carrillo lives off the $515 a month he receives in Social Security. He's on a waiting list to live in one of the new low-income senior-housing facilities in San Bernardino.

He said it could cost around $300 a month to rent, but as one who has lived on the streets and in a field, he will figure out a way to survive on the money left over.

"I have it better than some other people," Carrillo said. "I'll find a way to eat."

And that's the plight of many residents who struggle to make ends meet in a city that slid into deep levels of poverty over the course of more than two decades.

Kent Paxton, the director of the Mayor's Office of Community Safety and Violence Prevention, said the poverty level started to pick up when big-time companies packed their bags.

"A lot of major employers who employ what would be blue-collar employees left the area," Paxton said.

He cited the closure of Norton Air Force Base here in 1994 and the 1984 closure of Kaiser Steel Mill in Fontana as examples of when decent-paying jobs disappear, leaving the area poorer for it.

At the same time, many of the jobs remaining


Henry Carrillo walks through the backyard to a vandalized trailer that he once lived in. (Al Cuizon/Staff Photographer)
in the city don't require much education, which has helped create a work force that doesn't have the skills or knowledge to advance, Mayor Pat Morris said.
"The employee base has always been blue collar with no opportunities that require higher education," he said.

He didn't dispute the Census Bureau's poverty statistics.

"You can take it at face value because quite clearly we are (in) the poverty zone of Southern California," Morris said.

But officials say there are other contributing factors to the high level of poverty, besides lost jobs and the poorly educated work force.

Among them is the housing stock. It's old, cheap and available, drawing folks who already are struggling to stay afloat.

In many ways, they are like Carrillo, looking for a place to call home, at least home for now.

"Families, as they come to us, are living on the margin," Morris said.

He and Paxton both agreed that partnering with businesses and schools to better educate the work force is the key to lowering the poverty rate.

But an educated employee base can't work here if businesses don't want to come.

Paxton said turning the city back into a transportation hub through rail, San Bernardino International Airport and the proposed SBX rapid-transit bus project - which just broke ground - could be instrumental in that effort.

Morris suggested that creating a more business-friendly environment that welcomes

Poverty problems

San Bernardino is the poorest city in the state among those with a population of 200,000 or more, with 34.6 percent of households below the federal poverty level. The federal poverty level is defined as a family of four earning less than $22,314 in 2010.

Cities in poverty

San Bernardino 34.6%

Fresno 30.2%

Stockton 23.0%

Oakland 22.3%

Los Angeles 21.6%

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau/2010 American community survey

entrepreneurs with cheap land and buildings will also provide some relief.
Businesses around the airport, including distribution centers like Kohl's and Pep Boys, are good examples, he said.

Paxton said in the meantime the city will need to continue to partner with nonprofit groups and churches to address poverty.

But even churches are feeling the economic pinch.

Mike Mathias, an associate pastor at Victory Outreach San Bernardino, said one of the most common prayer requests from people at the church is that they would find a job.

He described the situation as a season of God testing many people's faith.

"Even though we live in this world, we don't operate under the world's economy," he said. "We operate under God's economy. We put our faith in him ... he gives us everything we need and that's all he ever promised us in the (Bible)."

There certainly are no promises in City Hall.

Morris and Paxton agreed that the road out of poverty here is a long one.

"There's no silver bullet in this thing," Morris said



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jesus christ...2nd only to Detroit?

I think the criteria for scale is based on how many people are living below the poverty line in a given population. Cleveland, Miami, and a few others should be around the same in that regard.

even though San Berdo is said to be poor, there's still a ton of places not on the map where people are worse off than living in SB. I hear places like Toledo Ohio are nothing but a dump, so too Gary Indiana. Then you got whole regions like Apalachia that are bone hick poor. SB, count your blessings, you are located in Southern California, and by comparison with many other places, you are a rich town to live at.

wolfman wrote:even though San Berdo is said to be poor, there's still a ton of places not on the map where people are worse off than living in SB. I hear places like Toledo Ohio are nothing but a dump, so too Gary Indiana. Then you got whole regions like Apalachia that are bone hick poor. SB, count your blessings, you are located in Southern California, and by comparison with many other places, you are a rich town to live at.

The statistics were tallied according to amount of people living below the federal poverty line, and not according to how run down the place is. Even so, for California standards, SB definitely stands out like a sore thumb and looks worse than most cities in the state in terms of decay, especially when one considers it's size and population, but certainly not as decayed as other places like Detroit, Cleveland, Newark or various parts of Miami.

you are located in Southern California, and by comparison with many other places, you are a rich town to live at.

Not many other places in the country, at least not according to the federal government. Places like the Waterman Gardens, and the old Guthrie's, just to give an example, are two extremely low income neighborhoods in which most families average a combined yearly income o $4,000 -$5,000. In the United States, this is considered extreme poverty.

Remember, this is based off of the per capita income that families within a given city generate. Less than 25k a year for a family of five is considered poverty. Nearly 35% of San Bernardino's population lives below the poverty line, only second to Detroit in the list of cities with populations above 200,000.

Weird,I know someone that just moved from Sb to Toledo Ohio... From what it sounds like that place is pretty shitty. Yeah, one of the good things SB has going for it is that its in Southern California. How about freezing to death in Ohio?

you know, i'm not making excuses or anything, but statistics can be manipulated.. now if your standard for poverty is based on the rich man's numbers, then of course a whole mess of people are considered poor.. but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are poor in all sense.. because for instance, a person living in some projects might be classified in the books as being poor, nevertheless, that would only truly apply to those pj residents who play honest, because as we all know, there's tons of people who live in the pjs who are not all entirely that poor.. they just don't declare someone in their household who earns some money, and/or, they don't declare all they money they make because they don't want to lose out of the benefit of paying low rent.. so it is the same in SB, where i see some many with a back yard, and even though the yard is neglected and filled maybe with some junk, they're still rich in comparison with those living in an apartment with no yard and no privacy.. so, what i'm trying to say is that you just can't measure poverty in terms of a numbers bracket.. hence the reason why i say 'count your blessings SB'

The real problem with SB is that little kids get shot to death while playing outside. I promise if I ever have kids they will not be living in SB. I've had enough..I know a lot of people that stay in SB because its easier to find a cheap place to live. Measuring poverty IS tricky. But overall, its cheap to live in Sb when compared to most of the neighboring towns. So it lures people in...I say if your single with no family, go for it. But if you want to raise a family and allow your kids to play outside or even inside, stay out of SB even if it costs a little more to go somewhere else. It's not worth it.

i don't see SB being any different than NELA or many other places in terms of people getting shot at all the time, and NELA is by no measure anywhere near as poor as most of SB.. in essence, i don't think that it is poverty that hikes up the violence in any given place.. i think it has to do more with the mentality of the people that reside in a town/neighborhood.. if you permit city officials and law enforcement agencies to victimize your city, then you end up with whatever you allowed it to cultivate in your town/neighborhood.. and if you teach your youngsters that it is alright to get high and shoot at people because that's the way it is, then i'd say that has more to do with "values" and not necessarily "poverty".. so in essence, you can move your kids to beverly hills, but if you don't raise them right and stay alert, then they just might grow up to be some type of crook or gangster.. maybe not in immediate danger like in the SB streets, but lost souls nevertheless.. menendez brothers type if you would.. poverty is not measured entirely in terms of money, but in what resides in a heart.. what kind of soul do you have? a gangster soul? a stoner soul? an artist soul? religious soul, cool soul, hater soul, happy soul, angry soul, an educated soul, or an ignorant soul? a dark soul? or an enlightened soul? soul is what makes a town/city/neighborhood /family rich or poor

Well I agree that poverty in of itself doesn't make a place more dangerous all the time. But my main point is that SB isn't a place that I'd want to live to raise a family. People aren't poor because they live in SB, people live in SB because they are poor.
people get shot at in all kinds of places...and innocent bystanders are killed everywhere..I'm not comparing SB to all places, ill just say it happens much too often in SB...people get shot at and shot, and killed in all the neighboring towns all the time -Rialto-Fontana-Bloomington-Colton- but for whatever reason, its more deadly in SB, more wreckless....more tragedies and more often. That's nothing to be happy or grateful for. So I'm not interested in what the poverty rate is, I know how people live....I know them...I'm just thinking, now as I get older, about the bad stuff that ends up happening there.

San Bernardino has its areas that are very nice still. And there are alot of working class people here as well. As far as raising your kids here...I wouldn't suggest it only because of the schools. Other than that, any bad area of town no matter what city is a dangerous place to raise your kids. It is crazy out here though. I was buying a sack near 15th and Sierra way and saw this car full of negroes chasing this dude on foot and the dude running thru peoples houses he don't even know...just on a random stop to get some damn weed.

Yeah their is nice areas, especially those spots north of Highland and up by Calstate... But even in the nice areas, you're only a few blocks away from some real bad spots. And like you mentioned,you still end up sending your kids to those same schools. Every city has its bad spots but I'm just thinking about the odds overall, and I'd say SB is more dangerous.

Well, I drove through San Berdo city yestereday looking for a business oportunity to expand my current business. All I can say is that its been a while since i've driven through the city. I saw what appeared to be a little "Detroit," abondoned businesses, houses, and shopping centers whithout tenants. Kind of reminded me of what watts and south central Los used to look like in the late 80's and 90's before the "Rodney King riots." You can still see the foundation of what a vibrant city San Berdo used to be, but what happened? Alot of the so called experts atribute this to the main job sources leaving the area. I dont think so, Cities of similar size that are also located withing the I.E. dont have this issue (Riverside, Ontario, Fontana, Moreno Valley, Corona, Rancho Cucamonga). On a less serious side note, I did see alot of urban zombies walking around once it got dark, lol.