Like many cities, Plainfield suffered a decline from the stigma of the riots, and many of the burned and looted businesses remained vacant for over four decades. Several residents decamped for neighboring towns like Edison, Scotch Plains, Watchung, Warren, Westfield and Bridgewater. Many residents abandoned their houses after leaving, as the massive number of people selling their property resulted in people being unable to sell them (or at massively reduced prices). After leaving, since the owners did not want to live there anymore but could not sell, they sometimes let them fall into foreclosure. After a while many of them ended up derelict. Many of the houses were also turned into multi family homes. It remains one of the poorest urban areas in the state with a 16 percent poverty rate including over 7 percent having an income less than 50 percent of poverty level.