Ideas on easing poverty reflect a sense of its burden on Phila.

Poverty had to be an issue in Philadelphia's election year: One-fourth of the city's residents live in poverty. That's the worst rate among the nation's 10 biggest cities.

The citizens worried about this statistic aren't just the 350,000 or so Philadelphians stuck below the official poverty line ($20,444 for a family of four). At Great Expectations forums this year, working people, students and retirees showed that they grasp the links between poverty and front-page issues such as crime, schools and illegal drugs.

Voters' comments on poverty seemed to blend sympathy for the people trapped in it with a fear of violent crime - and a sense of what a relentless burden, fiscal, practical and spiritual, poverty has become for their city.

Many of their ideas fit under themes featured in recent antipoverty agendas from New York to San Jose. Let's group them under four headings:

Philadelphians frequently said that it should be much easier to find out about government benefits and services. One repeated suggestion: neighborhood-based ombudsmen and service directories.

The need for user-friendly info and help is particularly urgent for low-income people who don't know they are eligible for safety-net benefits.

About 325,000 Philadelphians get food stamps; if national averages hold true here, at least 100,000 more are eligible but haven't applied.

More than 493,000 city residents get free health insurance through Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program, but tens of thousands more are eligible.

More than 160,000 Philadelphians successfully filed last year for the valuable federal tax credit for low-income workers. But roughly 20,000 more could probably get the credit.

Government and grassroots allies are trying to repair this problem. The number of Philadelphia tax filers getting the working-poor tax credit has increased by more than 9,000 since 2002 - and much of the credit goes to the Campaign for Working Families (http:// go.philly.com/cwf).

Here's another way the poor get trapped in poverty: The "free market" sometimes forces them to pay premium prices for goods and services that may not even be good for them, e.g., predatory loans; junk-food-laden corner markets, instead of supermarkets with fresh produce; check-cashing stands, instead of credit unions.

Options for enabling markets to better serve poor people include tougher legal limits on short-term lending, education in financial savvy, and incentives for personal savings. For example, do you know that low-income Pennsylvanians can gradually invest up to $2,000 in a Family Savings Account - with the state matching it dollar for dollar? Check it out at http:// go.philly.com/fsa.

Well-paid jobs for dropouts just aren't there anymore. Philadelphians know it. But this city has found its transition to a post-industrial economy especially difficult: The one-time "Workshop to the World" lags badly in education for 21st-century jobs.

One out of every four Philadelphians over 25 lacks a high school diploma. Only one in seven adult Philadelphians has a degree beyond high school. That ranks the city 92d out of the nation's 100 largest cities.

So from citizens to educators to think-tankers, the mantra is to get Philadelphians through high school, and then into college or decent job training.

Great Expectations participants urged more internships, summer jobs, and mentoring, which organizations such as the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the Philadelphia Youth Network have mobilized to provide. So far, their earnest efforts still fall short of the need.

Many citizens cite the barriers ex-prisoners face in finding and holding jobs. City Council is considering a policy backed by Democratic candidate Michael Nutter: a tax credit to businesses that hire and retain former prisoners.

Citizens stressed the value of developing more social connection and civic capacity inside struggling neighborhoods. Their suggestions included "exchange program" visits between neighborhoods, and more sharing of tips and expertise from well-established neighborhood associations.

An emphasis on neighborhood-based, block-by-block efforts to uplift poor people has enthusiastic support from experts at policy shops such as the Brookings Institution and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. That foundation's "Making Connections" plan aims to strengthen families by shattering the social isolation that exacerbates their poverty. In cities such as Indianapolis and Denver, this strategy is being put to the test. Baltimore has a neighborhood revitalization plan that requires a community to demonstrate unity even to be included.

Philadelphia's neighborhood-based antipoverty successes include state Rep. Dwight Evans' work with the Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corp. in West Oak Lane.

In the Democratic primary in May, the one mayoral candidate who based his campaign on a big-budget, antipoverty agenda - Rep. Chaka Fattah - failed to win, place or show.

But that does not mean that poverty is off the radar for Nutter, the likely next mayor. He says he's focused on poverty, but thinks tax cuts to attract jobs and investment in schools may prove to be a better fix for poverty than a bunch of new programs that have the word in their names.

What's clear is that many Philadelphians, while skeptical of grand schemes, want their city to work harder and smarter to help poor adults and their kids to better lives. A "Next Great City" can't be content to let 350,000 of its citizens live in chaotic circumstances and constant need.