Virtual banks that choose not to locate in lower-income areas could adopt a specific lower-income community from which their responsibilities would flow.

The problems were particularly acute in lower-income communities and in boroughs other than Manhattan.

This process is under way, as sports like golf, sailing, lacrosse and squash have been introduced to a growing number of lower-income communities.

The T Rider's Union focuses on transit in lower-income communities and its primary goal is to further the cause of environmental justice.

Where courts have found a pattern of racially motivated segregation, it usually has involved lower-income white communities bordering on lower-income black neighborhoods.

"We were looking for innovative responses to the lack of an adequate home improvement industry for the lower-income communities," he said.

"There are a good number of families scrambling for slots in some of the lower-income communities," Ms. Williams said.

Further, lower-income communities also suffer from tobacco-related illnesses at a disproportionately higher rater than their higher-income counterparts.

Changes in actual market values have made the assessments obsolete, causing many disparities that often favor wealthier areas and hurt lower-income communities.

Also, a lack of capacity available for coping with environmental change is experienced in lower-income communities.