From our March 2015 issue: Neighborhood Governments and Their Role in Property Values

1. Daniel S. Scheller1

1. ¹University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA

1. Daniel S. Scheller, Master of Public Administration Program, University of Texas at El Paso, Kelly Hall, Room 407, 500 W. University Avenue, El Paso, TX 79968, USA. Email: dsscheller@utep.edu

Abstract

More U.S. citizens live in neighborhoods governed by homeowners (HOAs) or neighborhood associations (NAs) than in any period of American history. Property values are typical association goals. Research fails to consider all types of associations in the examination of the effects of neighborhood governance on property values. In this article, I study the effects of HOAs and NAs on property values. I find that HOAs increase property values, while NAs exert no influence on property values.

• homeowners associations
 
• neighborhood associations
 
• property values
• house sales
• • http://uar.sagepub.com/content/51/2/290.abstract

From our March 2015 issue: The L.A. Live Community Benefits Agreement: Evaluating the Agreement Results and Shifting Political Power in the City

1. Leland Saito1
2. Jonathan Truong2

1. ¹University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2. ²Vinh University, Vietnam

1. Leland Saito, Department of Sociology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA. Email: lsaito@usc.edu

Abstract

A community coalition negotiated a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with a developer in 2001 for the L.A. Live sports and entertainment district, the largest project in contemporary downtown Los Angeles. The CBA included provisions for affordable housing, local hiring, and living wage jobs. It is a major change in the history of large development projects that result in the destruction of neighborhoods and displacement of residents, with few, if any, benefits going to the residents experiencing the negative effects of these projects. The L.A. Live CBA is significant because it is recognized as the nation’s first comprehensive CBA and has served as a model for CBAs across the country. This is the first study to provide an in-depth examination of the results of the CBA’s major provisions regarding affordable housing and local hiring. To explain why CBAs emerged in Los Angeles at this time, we use regime theory’s emphasis on shifts in the relative strength and interests of groups influencing development policies. We suggest that the fragmentation of growth interests in the 1990s, and the growing influence of unions, community organizations, and the Latino population, created a political opportunity for the establishment of the L.A. Live CBA.

• Community Benefits Agreement
 
• urban development
 
• unions
 
• growth interests
• regime theory
• • http://uar.sagepub.com/content/51/2/263.abstract

From our March 2015 issue: Reassessing Descriptive Representation by Women and Men of Color: New Evidence at the Subnational Level

1. Pei-te Lien1

1. ¹University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

1. Pei-te Lien, Department of Political Science, University of California, Santa Barbara, MC9420, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9420, USA. Email: plien@polsci.ucsb.edu

Abstract

This research uses the concept of intersectionality to help improve understanding of the relationship between race and gender as it pertains to the jurisdictional context of elective offices held by Blacks, Latinos, Asian-Americans, and American-Indians at the subnational level. Utilizing an enhanced version of a comprehensive data set associated with the Gender and Multicultural Leadership Project, we document more substantial evidence of ethnoracial descriptive representation in state and local offices than previously known as well as important variations by race, gender, level/type of office, and their intersections. To help disentangle the paradoxical position of political women of color, we discuss with three scenarios implications of jurisdictional context on building electoral coalitions across race or gender by women of color.

• descriptive representation
 
• intersectionality
 
• women of color
• state and local officials
 

• jurisdictional context
• • http://uar.sagepub.com/content/51/2/239.abstract