Judges as agents of social change: Can the courts break the affordable housing deadlock in metropolitan areas?

Abstract

Nowhere is the chasm between the races more apparent than in the physical division of metropolitan areas between inner‐city poverty and suburban affluence. Thus far, public policy efforts to introduce metropolitan perspectives into local land use regulations have been unsuccessful. The series of New Jersey Mount Laurel decisions lays out a possible path for introducing comprehensive regional planning by deploying the constitutional power of state courts. Relying on the allied professions of economics and city planning, the New Jersey Supreme Court eliminated the legal barriers to affordable housing in the suburbs.

Questions have been raised over courts’ ability to reform local government powers, but many traditional objections to the effectiveness of judicial reform seem to have been overcome in the New Jersey litigations and legislations. State courts can play an indispensable role in solving regional land use problems if they secure the support of community leadership groups.     

AN EVALUATION OF STATE ENTERPRISE ZONE POLICIES

Our analysis looks at the impact of state enterprise zones in six states (California, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) on housing values, occupancy rates, and economic well-being of zone residents. Zones did not lead to increased housing prices or occupancy rates, nor did they positively impact income and employment.     

Can State Review of Local Planning Increase Housing Production?

Abstract

To increase housing production and make the distribution of affordable housing more equitable, several states subject local land use planning to review by state agencies or courts. Focusing an empirical analysis on California, this article considers the potential efficacy of these reviews in contributing to the overall supply of housing. Past studies of other intergovernmental mandates suggest that their institutional design helps determine their success.

A comparison of four states indicates that approaches differ considerably in how they determine local housing needs, evaluate local efforts prospectively or retrospectively, and penalize noncompliance. California's housing element law, which mandates prospective local planning for quantifiable housing goals, gives state staff the power to review local plans for compliance with statutory requirements. However, multivariate analysis indicates that the compliance status of California municipalities in 1994 did not predict the number of single‐family or multifamily housing permits issued from 1994 to 2000.     

Comment on Kerry D. Vandell's “FHA restructuring proposals: Alternatives and implications”

Abstract

New Orleans, a highly segregated city with low homeownership, experienced a tremendous number of housing foreclosures between 1985 and 1990. This study highlights the process and impact of foreclosure in the urban housing market, which contributes to an understanding of their impact on the spatial structure of the city. Two aspects of foreclosure are examined: the differential impacts of foreclosure on low‐income and African‐American householders and changes in socioeconomic conditions (neighborhood change and the spatial structure of the city) resulting from foreclosure.

Conventional wisdom holds that urban neighborhood transformation is driven largely by white flight. The data presented in this article suggest a counterhypoth‐esis. Middle‐income professional whites employed in businesses impacted by recession who had recently bought housing with high loan‐to‐value ratios were forced to sell or have their houses foreclosed upon. The depressed market, in turn, made such housing affordable to middle‐class blacks interested in homeownership. Thus, black economic opportunity, rather than white flight, dramatically transformed the racial composition of many New Orleans East neighborhoods.     

Housing needs and effective policies in high‐tech metropolitan economies

Abstract

What are the most effective ways to provide low‐income housing to those left behind in new economy housing markets? Do winners and losers in high‐tech competition require federal housing strategies geared to metropolitan differences? This article examines 45 large metropolitan areas grouped along a high‐tech spectrum to see who is dis‐advantaged and to deduce effective local low‐income housing strategies from market characteristics.

Finding affordable housing was, on average, more difficult for low‐income renters and owners in high‐tech economies in the 1990s. Nonetheless, high‐tech metropolitan economies, like other local/regional markets, vary greatly. Sharp differences among and within metropolitan markets make it essential that federal strategies allow local policies to respond to local conditions. To most effectively provide low‐income housing to those left behind in all markets, federal policy should target sufficient resources to severe housing needs through many more vouchers and programs that permit and encourage effective local choices.     

Combining historic preservation and income class integration: A case study of the butchers hill neighborhood of Baltimore

Abstract

For the past several decades in the United States, a tension has existed between the goals of historic preservation, the provision of affordable housing, and the creation of mixed‐income neighborhoods. Historic restoration for residential uses has often been associated with gentrification and the displacement of low‐income residents. This article examines the public and private sector support system for combining historic preservation with the creation of affordable and mixed‐income housing and neighborhoods and analyzes the strategies and experiences of the Baltimore neighborhood of Butchers Hill in taking this approach to community re‐vitalization.

Using historic preservation as a catalyst for community revitalization requires a comprehensive approach to prevent displacement of low‐income residents. In Butchers Hill, the mixed‐income community that was created was an outgrowth of conflict between two community‐based organizations. The case eludes simple typologies of gentrification and indicates the need for additional study of the dynamics and benefits of mixed‐income neighborhoods.     

Will empowering developers to challenge exclusionary zoning increase suburban housing choice?

The municipal zoning process in the United States has come under increasing attack as a tool to create and maintain suburban socioeconomic homogeneity by mandating sprawl‐producing single‐family detached houses at the expense of less costly townhouses, apartments, and mobile homes. Beginning in the 1970s, the Supreme Courts of the neighboring states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey addressed municipal exclusionary zoning in different ways: Pennsylvania empowered residential developers to compel municipalities practicing exclusionary zoning to authorize market‐rate development of all types of housing, while developer empowerment in New Jersey was conditioned upon inclusion of low‐ and moderate‐income units. Using aerial survey and housing census data over a 20‐year period, this article finds that outcomes by housing type over a 20‐year period in Pennsylvania municipalities around Philadelphia were more diverse than those in adjacent New Jersey municipalities. © 2004 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Whose shortage of affordable housing?

Abstract

Shortfalls of low‐rent units are repeatedly cited as the rationale for programs to expand the supply of affordable housing. But the poverty‐level rents studied fall well below those of major supply programs. To reassess whether HOME and the low‐income housing tax credit (LIHTC) address actual shortfalls, this article compares numbers of units with renters by measuring both affordability and incomes with the median‐income‐based metric used for all federal rental programs.

During the 1980s, there were growing surpluses of units affordable to renters with incomes between 50 and 80 percent of their area's median income, a “low‐income” range that includes most HOME and LIHTC rents. By contrast, shortages were severe and growing only at rents affordable to households with incomes below 30 percent of area median. Examination of these shortfalls and the problems they create implies that programs to expand supply are not widely needed.     

Comment on Robert E. Lang,Katrin B. Anacker,and Steven Hornburg's “the new politics of affordable housing”

Abstract

In his thoughtful analysis, Joseph realistically points to what a mixed‐income housing development can and cannot offer its low‐income residents. Observed benefits include greater informal social controls over the development, likely proximal modeling opportunities for youth, and participation in a political‐economic subgroup that can demand more responsive public services. Yet without offering more comprehensive, structured supports to its residents, no form of housing alone can be an antidote to poverty.

However, if we expand Joseph's analysis to include the impact of large‐scale developments on distressed urban neighborhoods, we can see mixed‐income housing catalyzing other benefits for low‐income residents. These benefits include a reduced housing cost burden; more structured supportive services; dramatically improved surroundings; high‐quality housing and community design; faster‐paced complementary investments in public systems and amenities; and strategically restored market functioning that offers more choices, lower prices, new jobs, and additional tax revenues to support service delivery.     

Federal housing policy and preservation: Historical evolution,patterns, and implications

Abstract

This paper considers the evolution and patterns of federal low‐income¹ housing policies and programs over roughly the past half‐century. It begins with an overview of the multifaceted involvement of the federal government in housing — only one aspect of which is its intervention in the low‐income sector. This is followed by an overview of federal low‐income housing policy from the New Deal to today. The underlying assumptions and approaches of these policies are then considered with respect to such considerations as the government's presence and role, its targeting of assistance, and the selection of subsidy levels and vehicles. The paper concludes with a brief review of the implications of the historical record for future policy.     

From confrontation to collaboration? Banks,community groups,and the implementation of community reinvestment agreements

Abstract

Banks and other depository institutions have signed more than 300 community reinvestment agreements valued at $350 billion in the two decades since the passage of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). This article examines the effectiveness of negotiating CRA agreements in Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and New Jersey. After describing the agreements and the procedures by which they are enforced, the article looks at their impact and discusses several factors that could limit implementation of CRA agreements in the future.

The findings suggest that CRA agreements are more effective in some areas than others. They seem most consistently successful in meeting their goals for mortgages, investments in low‐income housing tax credits, grant giving to community‐based organizations, and in opening (and keeping open) inner‐city bank branches. The future of CRA agreements is clouded by several factors, most notably the restructuring and consolidation of the financial service sector.     

Subsidized housing and work among welfare recipients

Abstract

Some studies suggest an inverse relationship between housing assistance and employment. That is, when housing assistance increases, employment decreases. A popular view holds that subsidized housing generates an economic disincentive to work. This article examines the relationship between subsidized housing and the number of hours female recipients of public assistance work. A California survey reveals that residents in Section 8 housing work considerably more than do those renting in the private market or residing in public housing. This finding holds after controlling for observable personal characteristics and accounting for income effects. Additional analysis comparing the two housing programs shows a consistent, robust difference, with those in Section 8 working more.

One explanation is that the finding is a statistical artifact caused by programmatic creaming or self‐selection among applicants. The second, more plausible explanation is that Section 8 housing offers residential choice and mobility that improve opportunities for employment.     

Comment on Jennifer Steffel Johnson and Emily Talen's “affordable housing in New Urbanist Communities: A survey of developers”

Abstract

A long‐time criticism of New Urbanism has been that the housing it provides is affordable only to middle‐ and upper‐income families. Johnson and Talen's survey of New Urbanist developers and developments is intended to see whether this criticism is justified. Although the methodology is limited, the results of this survey would seem to indicate that it is.

Because Johnson and Talen's survey is restricted to New Urbanist developments, it is not possible to compare the results with those for other, more conventional developments to see whether New Urbanist developments may actually contain more affordable units than comparable conventional projects. Also, limiting the definition of affordability to the cost of housing alone prevents the authors from seeing whether the housing New Urbanist communities provide would be considered less expensive if housing and transportation costs were combined.     

Brownfield redevelopment and affordable housing: A case study of New Jersey

Abstract

A total of 779 New Jersey residents were surveyed to determine the number of people who during the next five years would be willing to move to housing built on brownfield sites that have been remediated to the extent that they pose no plausible brownfield‐related health risk to residents.

Fourteen percent of the respondents said they would be willing to move to and live in housing built on cleaned‐up brownfields. These respondents were disproportionately relatively poor and young and resided in apartments and cities, especially cities where the city government was actively promoting brownfields. These respondents also did not like their current neighborhoods, did not feel threatened by the idea of living on a cleaned‐up brownfield site, and trusted experts to advise them on the health risks involved.     

Affordable housing in New Urbanist Communities: A survey of developers

Abstract

Despite the unequivocal goal of income diversity as expressed in the Charter of the Congress for the New Urbanism, one of the more significant challenges facing the movement has been the creation of socially diverse neighborhoods, especially ones that include a mix of incomes. Although recent reports show that most New Urbanist developments are being built for upper‐middle‐class residents, some projects have managed to support income diversity. This article takes a closer look at those projects, reporting on the results of a nationwide survey of New Urbanist developers.

We found that many developers have used complex, creative schemes to make affordable housing possible within the New Urbanist context. Developers created affordable opportunities by combining available government programs, partnerships with nonprofits, and innovative design solutions. These efforts have provided important sources of affordable housing within the context of walkable communities—serving as examples that should be emulated by future developers.     

Political ecology of industrial tree plantations and large dams

Ricardo Carrere and Larry Lohman: Pulping the South: Industrial Tree Plantations and the World Paper Economy. London and New Jersey: Zed Books, 1996.

Patrick McCully: Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and the Politics of Large Dams. London and New Jersey: Zed Books, 1996.     

On Sugar,Capitalism, and Socialism

Elinor G. K. Melville: A Plague of Sheep: Environmental Consequences of the Conquest of Mexico . New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994

Douglas Murray: Cultivating Crisis: The Human Cost of Pesticides in Latin America ,Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994

Wes Jackson: Becoming Native to this Place . Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1994.

Jeremy Brecher and Tim Costello: Global Village or Global Pillage: Economic Reconstruction From Ground Up .Boston: South End Press, 1994.

Wolfgang Sachs, editor: Global Ecology: A New Arena of Political Conflict . London and New Jersey: Zed Books and Halifax, Nova Scotia: Fernwood Publishing, 1993.

John Walton: Western Times and Water Wars: State, Culture, and Rebellion in California . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1992.

Brendan Prendiville: Environmental Politics in France . Boulder, Co.: Westview Press, 1994.     

Comment on Roberto G. Quercia and George C. Galster's “The challenges facing public housing authorities in a brave new world”

Abstract

We find Quercia and Galster's article on reforming public housing an intriguing academic exercise that contains some key insights useful to practitioners. However, the article fails to consider several key elements in the provision of assisted housing that make their “constrained quadrilemma” much less problematic than they assume.

The article ignores the tenant‐based certificate/voucher approach to meeting the housing needs of low‐income and very low income persons and households. This is a significant oversight, in that many public housing authorities (PHAs) manage a larger portfolio of certificates than of PHA‐owned housing. If the litmus test of the success of public housing's “reinvention” is the extent to which it is able to maximize both the number of low‐income households served and their social and geographic integration, then public housing's extensive use of certificate/voucher programs demonstrates a road out of the quadrilemma.     

Should the housing voucher program become a state‐administered block grant?

Abstract

The Bush administration has proposed that the current national Housing Choice Voucher Program, which has an essentially uniform program design and is administered largely by local public housing authorities, become a block grant administered by the states. This article examines the potential benefits and hazards of such a change.

While this article does not support or analyze directly the administration's proposal, it concludes that state administration is fundamentally a good idea. However, the choice‐based nature of the voucher program should be preserved, and the early stages of implementation should permit changes to the program's subsidy structure and housing quality inspection only in selected states and with careful evaluation. The law enacting the new program should include clearly articulated goals and mandated reporting requirements. Also, the program should be funded and monitored to maintain the national commitment to meeting the housing needs of low‐income renters.     

Comment on Sandra J. Newman and Ann B. Schnare's “'… And a suitable living environment’: The failure of housing programs to deliver on neighborhood quality”

Abstract

Newman and Schnare provide a useful portrait of where housing assistance ends up geographically. The evidence that certificate and voucher holders are less likely than public housing residents to live in the poorest neighborhoods is encouraging, as well as important for policy decisions. Unresolved in the article, and unresolvable with the data, as the authors themselves note, is the matter of how neighborhood quality is affected by housing assistance. The least popular housing developments have long been relegated to neighborhoods of least political resistance, a fact that constrains most local efforts to deconcentrate poverty. Futhermore, through the tax code, America spends about three times as much on housing assistance for middle‐ and upper‐income households as it does on assistance to low‐ and moderate‐income households. Thus far, we have not applied “fair share” principles either to the location of housing assistance or to its allocation across the income spectrum.