The Washington Post reports on a new trend for middle class white families with children to live in cities.The fourth sentence tells us that: "In the national imagination, it [Manhattan] was a place of artists, musicians, socialites, Wall Street bankers -- or of hustlers, runaways, addicts, murderers. But it was not on the radar of the typical white, middle-class couple as a place to raise children. Those who read a bit further will find that the median income for a white family with children living in Manhattan was $280,000 in 2005, roughly $300,000 in today's dollars. That's enough to place this family well up into the top 2 percent of the country's income distribution. That's not middle class by the usual meaning of the term. There may be more rich white people with children living in Manhattan today than a decade ago, but this article, which includes discussions of private school admissions advisers ($15,000 fee), 3000 square foot luxury condos, and nannies who specialize in twins, is not talking about middle class people.
--Dean Baker
