How Concentrated Poverty Matters for the "Digital Divide": Motivation, Social Networks, and Resources.

This study builds on the prior national research by using a random-sample telephone survey conducted in three Northeast Ohio communities in 2005: East Cleveland, which is majority African-American and characterized by concentrated poverty throughout the city; Youngstown, which is a larger, poor, and racially-mixed city; and Shaker Heights, which is an affluent Cleveland suburb that is racially diverse. This sample allows us to explore race and other community characteristics for their influence on respondent attitudes and behavior, including residents' perceptions and use of public institutions. By focusing on the community level, we can explore various contextual factors for each individual - including distance to the neighborhood library, and socio-economic and demographic factors within a half-mile radius of each respondent.We find that individuals in majority African-American neighborhoods who lack Internet access at home or at work are more likely than other respondents without access to go online - at schools, at libraries, and the homes of friends or relatives. Segregated areas of concentrated poverty are different in this regard from other low-income neighborhoods. There is clear effort and motivation to go online on the part of these individuals, but the infrequent use that results may be a barrier to gaining familiarity and skill with technology. The availability of public access is therefore an institutional element that is critical in these communities. Drawing on our survey and interviews with library officials, we also present some evidence on the availability of technology and2support services libraries and schools in these three communities. The educational attainment of a community has an even greater influence on technology use than the racial composition of a neighborhood, and poor communities are clearly still at a disadvantage, despite some of the optimistic results we discover. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]