During the 1970s and ’80s, America’s poorest citizens lived ever more isolated lives. They were increasingly shunted into ghettoized neighborhoods where basic necessities, like good grocery stores and decent schools, were further and further out of reach.

The 1990s began to change that. The decade-long economic boom – along with welfare reform and other shifts – helped spur some 2.5 million people to leave poor neighborhoods and begin to connect with the economic and social mainstream, a study released Monday finds.

Read the rest in the CSMonitor. But what about the new normal?