..."This document is designed to help us break away from old myths about why poverty exists and the capacities of the poor. It attempts to explore with a fresh eye the various ways in which poverty is experienced by different communities, and reaches across these differences toward a common agenda for action." ; "The Strategy Development Group [of the Boston Persistent Poverty Project], the majority of whose members experienced poverty first-hand, began with an examination of the question of whether poverty must so often be persistent - a legacy passed on from one generation to the next. The Group sought to examine the underlying causes of persistent poverty in an advanced technological society; to explore the impact of poverty on different population groups and racial/ethnic communities in Boston; and to develop a new framework for public debate and action."...