Meet Stockton, Calif.: The country’s biggest bankrupt city

• $90 million the amount Stockton has had to drastically cut from its budget in the past three years, in an effort to remain solvent
• $26 million the city’s shortfall as of July 1st; the city will be the largest in the country to seek bankruptcy protection; the cuts didn’t work source

» “All that’s left is sadness.”: Stockton’s failure to keep its budget in line is a bit of a lingering effect from the mid-2000s housing boom and later recession. With economic growth built on credit and expensive projects (including a sports arena) built during the stronger times, the city’s fall during the recession — it has the second-highest rate of foreclosures in the country — hit particularly hard. The city has stopped making bond payments, and on Tuesday, the city council voted to file for bankruptcy protection.

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