Fresno has been the butt of jokes for decades—for a recent example, see Monsters vs. Aliens’ swipe at America’s 55th largest television market—but the teasing touches on some grim realities about the city. Despite years of attempted interventions, Fresno still faces intense poverty and crime. Its rates of homelessness are among the nation’s worst, and its levels of unemployment and “brain drain” are similarly dismal.

Sadly, Fresno isn’t alone in this struggle. From Rochester, New York, to Brownsville, Texas, numerous medium-sized cities across America are trying to find ways to deal with hard economic times. Without the exposure and resources of the country’s largest metropolitan areas, how do these cities dig themselves out of their holes?

In advance of the Zócalo/The California Wellness Foundation event Can Fresno Win the War on Poverty?, we asked experts in California and beyond: What programs, projects, and policies are helping midsize cities like Fresno fight poverty?

The post There Isn’t One Answer to Ending Poverty appeared first on Zócalo Public Square.