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It turns my stomach to say this, but I think the reason why these ideas aren't implemented is the people in the "poor" neighborhoods are of a lower social class than the people running the cities in question.

I very much doubt a legislator or city council could muster money from Us to spend on places where Those People live, even if it makes financial sense. I would love to be wrong about this.

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To be fair, in my city (Montevideo, Uruguay), government has made a strong effort to spend on poorer areas.

The problem is, most of the money (a staggering 80%) goes to pay salaries !!! They aren't helping the poor or the rich, they're helping themselves.

That's not just a problem in your location but a lot of other places. Many municipalities and some states in the US made unsustainable promises to their employees in forms future salaries (pensions). Except instead of doing 80% today, they are doing 80% in the future.

I spent the last decade living in a struggling city, and I was actively involved in city government. In my city, it was a case of limited resources more than anything else. There were something like 300 miles of roadway, but only enough money in the budget to pave three miles a year.

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