Comment on Kirk McClure's “Are low-income housing tax credit developments locating where there is a shortage of affordable units?”

Kirk McClure's article makes important contributions to our understanding of the way in which state allocating agencies are using the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). However, one of the premises of his analysis – that allocating agencies should encourage the location housing developments in census tracts with a “surplus” of low-income renters – is mistaken. Census tracts are too small to be considered closed-system housing markets. Additionally, the LIHTC program does not exist in isolation, but instead as part of a combined national rental housing policy that includes both supply-side programs (LIHTC) and demand-side programs (housing vouchers). A final flaw in the notion that LIHTC units should be built in census tracts with a surplus of renter households in the 30% to 60% of AMI range compared with the units affordable to them is that increasing the amount of affordable housing in those tracts could have the effect of further concentrating households by income and race.     

Supporting low-income homeowners: lessons from a program to coordinate weatherization and rehabilitation services

Homeownership is the primary way most families build wealth in this country. Low-income homeowners are less likely to get that benefit because they are more likely to own older houses that are more costly to operate and need more essential maintenance. Rapidly escalating home energy costs are straining the budgets of many low-income homeowners, increasing the likelihood of under maintenance and mortgage default. This paper presents an evaluation of a demonstration program designed to coordinate weatherization and rehabilitation programs in order to assist low-income households, decrease energy costs, and to improve the condition and value of their homes. The experience of 11 local non-profit organizations, funded to develop programs to coordinate weatherization and housing rehabilitation services, were studied over a five-year period. The results of the evaluation indicate that there are many obstacles to coordinating weatherization and rehabilitation programs, but that it can be accomplished under the right conditions. Major gaps exist between program eligibility thresholds and in the types of assistance available to low-income homeowners. Policy recommendations for facilitating coordination are presented.     

Community＇s Benefits From the Tourism Growth and Tourism Site Development in Vang Vieng District of Vientiane Province,Lao PDR

This study attempts to measure benefits of the local residents of Vang Vieng from tourism growth and tourism site development. Here, community benefits involve not only economic benefits but include also social, cultural, and environmental benefits. The data used in this analysis are primary data provided through a questionnaire by the residents of Vang Vieng district, a famous tourist spot in Lao PDR. The results are mixed results. On the negative side, the community faces some risks as a result of tourism development. On the positive side, tourism growth and tourism site development bring about improvements in living conditions and conservations of residents＇ attitudes toward tourism improvement development.     

乡土社会民间法与基层法官解决纠纷的策略

本文从三个方面分析基层人民法院在解决民事纠纷时与乡土民间法的冲突与转化关系。着力阐释乡土社会民间法的作用 ;基层法院法官运用乡土民间法解决纠纷的原因 ;以及乡土民间法在解决纠纷时的实现过程与方式。     

COMMUNITIES,STREET GUNS AND HOMICIDE TRAJECTORIES IN CHICAGO, 1980–1995: MERGING METHODS FOR EXAMINING HOMICIDE TRENDS ACROSS SPACE AND TIME*

We merge Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) and a semi‐parametric, group‐based trajectory procedure (TRAJ) to classify communities in Chicago by violence trajectories across space. Total, street gun and other weapon homicide trajectories are identified across 831 census tracts between 1980 and 1995. We find evidence consistent with a weapon substitution effect in violent neighborhoods that are proximate to one another, a defensive diffusion effect of exclusively street gun‐specific homicide increases in neighborhoods bordering the most violent areas, and a spatial decay effect of temporal homicide trends in which the most violent areas are buffered from the least violent by places experiencing mid‐range levels of lethal violence over time. In merging these two methods of data analysis, we provide a more efficient way to describe both spatial and temporal trends and make significant advances in furthering applications of space‐time methodologies.     

THE ROLE OF ATTENUATED CULTURE IN SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY*

Current criminological research rooted in social disorganization theory has primarily focused on structural disorganization and has largely ignored the role of cultural disorganization. This paper develops the theoretical role of cultural disorganization in the contemporary social disorganization model, integrating aspects of both the systemic model and a cultural attenuation model. This model is empirically examined using structural equation modeling. Survey data from residents in 66 neighborhoods in a Southern state provide the primary data. In part, the findings show that concentrated disadvantage and the level of social ties affect cultural strength, which in turn significantly affects informal social control. These findings demonstrate the relevance of weakened culture in explaining informal social control and call for further theoretical expansion of social disorganization models to include cultural disorganization.     

中国单位体制的演变与城市社会政治控制方式的调整

政治控制是国家政权为了在社会中建立和维持一定的秩序而对社会进行的支配、调节、节制与协调过程 ,是国家实现其意志的基本方式。新中国成立后 ,我国城市社会的政治控制基本是通过单位体制实施的。通过这样的控制方式 ,建立起了与计划经济相适应的经济秩序、社会秩序和政治秩序。但是 ,在改革开放不断深入的过程中 ,我国的单位体制发生了根本性的变化。在这样的情况下 ,传统的政治单位化的政治控制方式已难奏效。因此 ,必须适应社会和单位体制的变化 ,在城市社会中建立一种新型的社会化的政治控制     

以城市社区服务为载体努力发展与培育就业岗位

对城市弱势群体的就业帮扶与援助,应该将注意力转到发展社区服务行业上来,多层面、多角度地开拓、发掘就业岗位,同时,在观念引导、政策倾斜、资金扶助、场地安排、组织管理等方面提供系列援助与扶持,并形成城市两级政府三级管理的帮扶体系和制度安排。     

Sailors' families and the urban institutional framework in early modern Holland

This article points to a largely neglected theme in the maritime history: the important role of sailors' families in urban seafaring communities during the Early Modern Period. At the end of the seventeenth century and during the first decades of the eighteenth century, about 20% of the crewmembers of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) were married. Accordingly, in the towns in Holland where the VOC was present, many women had to run a household by themselves for a long period of time. The sailors' families were often confronted by emotional and financial distress, which to some extent affected the financial expenses of VOC towns as well. Many of these families were however able to cope because they received material support from various urban institutions. The Company created a system that encouraged sailors to send their money home during voyages, while urban poor relief often temporarily complemented the family's budget. Contrary to other married women, wives of sailors could obtain the legal power to engage in financial transactions, or to have access to inheritances. Town councils, civil courts, church councils, charity institutions and the East India Company were all willing to help the seamen's families. Their motives were twofold: while urban communities benefited from financially stable families, and the VOC compensated for their low pay by offering their employees fringe benefits, the attitudes towards seamen's wives also indicate that the urban elites genuinely wanted to provide some assistance to these needy families.     

山东两县合村并居及农村社区建设情况调查

合村并居是近年来多个省份和市地推行农村社区建设过程中的一个新动向。该文梳理和概括了在山东两个县推动合村并居的动因、过程及具体作法,分析了合村并居社区在公共服务方面面临着的诸多问题,提出加大政府财政对农村社区建设的投入,政府公共服务必须延伸并覆盖每个村;创新村民自治,充分利用社区资源开展公共服务;建立健全农村社区工作者队伍等对策。