Residential Location of the Service-Dependent Poor∗

The pattern of human service facilities in Philadelphia affects and is affected by the distribution of poor, nonworking households who use those facilities. Spatial linkages arise because clients need to be close to support facilities. Service providers seek to locate facilities in areas most accessible to potential users. Minimal cash incomes of service-dependent households and budget limitations of service agencies constrain service-dependents and facilities to Philadelphia's oldest and most deteriorated neighborhoods. Ghettoization of the non-working poor and their support services in the inner city is most likely detrimental to the service-dependent themselves, and in addition acts as a barrier to urban revitalization.