Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Well my safety is not a concern. Um, I'm not worried about getting robbed.
I'm driving a Hyundai you know, no one is going to rifle through my Hyundai
[laughs]. I do feel safe. I don't feel like I'm going to get shot. All of those basic
safetyconcernsandsafetyneedsaretherewhichisawesome.Um,forme,Idon't
feel like [pauses] I don't feel like, I feel really safe and I think that is important
because I've slept under bridges before. That wasn't there for me.…
I don't feel scared when I walk out of my house at 9 o'clock at night. I can go
to the store and I can do things and not worry about my physical safety. I'm not
worried about being attacked. That is lovely.
Like several women interviewed for this study, Becca had a history of domestic vi-
olence and had endured abuse in her relationship with the father of her daughter. As a
result of her history of domestic violence and homelessness, Becca perceived safety as
a precious resource and did not take it for granted.
For many white welfare mothers, ensuring that their children had access to quality
public school systems meant moving to middle- and upper middle-class, white suburbs.
Becca'sdaughter,Taylor,wasdiagnosedwithageneralizedanxietydisorderandaglobal
development delay, placing her academically three years behind grade level. In order to
support her daughter's special needs, Becca sought out communities with exceptional
public school systems. She states,
I knew my daughter had extraordinary needs. So I told myself I need to get my-
self into a community that has what she needs. Newton, right now, has what she
needs. Um, I know I don't pay taxes but my landlord does and you know? I'm
going to take advantage of it. I'm going to get those services for her. So she has,
you know, has access to more services, more scholarships. If I need to get her
intoatutoringprogram,Ihaveascholarshipforthat….TheonlyreasonwhyI'm
here is for that outside placement. If I don't get the outside placement, I'm out
of here. I don't like it here. I'm here for the school system. It's the best school
system in the country. I will exploit it. Absolutely.…
I got a tutoring scholarship for somewhere in Needham, which is also another
community that's affluent. Being around affluence sort of helps you access more
things when there's not so many hands in the pot. You know, that expanded ac-
cess is really important to me. They have funds for my priorities: special needs
education. That's important to me.
Affluentsuburbanneighborhoodsprovidehighqualitypubliceducationandaccessto
additional educational services such as tutoring, that welfare dependent children resid-
ing in low-income, urban neighborhoods often do not. For instance, in the Newton pub-
