Springfield and Missouri in general are a bit behind the times compared to most larger metropolitan areas, and while poverty has certainly been around it is getting significantly worse and the homeless population is getting bigger and bigger while no one does anything about it here

The reason it's getting worse is partially because rent and cost of living are increasing quickly. The old saying used to be that Springfield was a good place to be because the cost of living is so low. The problem is wages are barely improving and that whole 'rent being cheaper' thing is going out the window. Talk to just about anyone who rents around here and they'll tell you how much the rates have gone up

Is it as bad as downtown Seattle? Not likely. There simply aren't that many people here compared to there but it isn't far off from getting there