Eduardo Medina is reporting for the Times Union the city of Albany is of the worst in America for people of color, according to a report released by the Urban Institute. The nonprofit research group measured 274 cities nationwide for how effective they were at including low-income and minority residents in the city's economic prosperity. Albany placed near the bottom at 234. The study found that although Albany’s racial diversity has greatly increased since the 1980s, it clearly shows that in nearly every metric of inclusion, Albany fares worse than the national average. While the city’s racial poverty gap was 17 percent; the 274 cities averaged at 11 percent. Albany ranked fifth on the institute's list of 10 cities that experienced the most drastic drop in inclusion ranking. “People have repeatedly pointed out to our local government officials that we’re a deeply unequal city,” said Alice Green, executive director of The Center for Law and Justice. “They say, ‘This is going on all around the country.’ But the study shows it’s very severe here.” The Urban Institute’s dashboard was updated on September 15 with statistics largely taken from U.S. Census data, and racial segregation research done by Brown University. The rankings looked at income and racial segregation; the percentage of people of color; working-poor families; rent-burdened residents; high school dropouts, and the gap between poverty, education and homeownership rates of minority versus white non-Hispanic residents. Read the full story in the Times Union.