Pine Bluff was once the cultural and economic center of the Arkansas Delta before the departure of its manufacturing base in the 1980s. Over a century ago, the city had the fourth highest rate of Black wealth in urban America behind Charleston, South Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; and New York City.
In 2021, Pine Bluff was designated America’s “fasting shrinking city,” according to U.S. Census data, having experienced a 16% population decline in the previous two years.
One solution to reversing course in this historically vibrant Arkansas city is to strategically invest in repairing neighborhoods.
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