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

From our March 2015 issue: Distress in the Desert: Neighborhood Disorder, Resident Satisfaction, and Quality of Life During the Las Vegas Foreclosure Crisis

1. Christie D. Batson1
2. Shannon M. Monnat2

1. ¹University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA
2. ²The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

1. Christie D. Batson, Department of Sociology, University of Nevada, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Box 455033, Las Vegas, NV 89154-5033, USA. Email:Christie.batson@unlv.edu

Abstract

Using surveys collected from a sample of households nested within “naturally occurring” neighborhoods in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the 2007–2009 economic recession, this study examines the associations between real and perceived measures of neighborhood distress (foreclosure rate, physical decay, crime) and residents’ reports of neighborhood quality of life and neighborhood satisfaction. Consistent with social disorganization theory, both real and perceived measures of neighborhood disorder were negatively associated with quality of life and neighborhood satisfaction. Residents’ perceptions of neighborliness partially acted as a buffer against the effects of neighborhood distress, including housing foreclosures, on quality of life, and neighborhood satisfaction.

• neighborhoods
 
• foreclosures
 
• quality of life
 
• neighborhood satisfaction
• disorder
• • http://uar.sagepub.com/content/51/2/205.abstract

From our March 2015 issue: Implications of Public School Choice for Residential Location Decisions

1. Todd L. Ely1
2. Paul Teske1

1. ¹University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA

1. Todd L. Ely, School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver, P.O. Box 173364, Campus Box 142, Denver, CO 80217-3364, USA. Email: todd.ely@ucdenver.edu

Abstract

A growing empirical literature demonstrates the effects of introducing public school choice on housing values. The weakening of the connection between home location and school location has implications for urban and suburban communities. In this article, we contribute to the understanding of how public school choice is related to the residential location decisions of parents. Using a nationally-representative sample, we demonstrate that where public school choice is reported to be available, the probability that parents choose a residence based on the assigned schools is 6.5 percentage points lower. Parents are actively incorporating the option to choose schools into the decision of where to live and report relatively high levels of parental satisfaction with those schools. At the same time, roughly, one out of every eight children engaged in school choice attends a school that was not their family’s first choice and report substantially lower levels of school satisfaction. This mismatch between schools and students may limit the likelihood that more families will eschew traditional residential school choice.

• school choice
 
• residential location
 
• parental satisfaction
• • http://uar.sagepub.com/content/51/2/175.abstract

In our March 2015 issue

Table of Contents

March 2015; 51 (2)

Articles

• Select this article
  • Todd L. Ely and
   
  • Paul Teske

  Implications of Public School Choice for Residential Location Decisions

  Urban Affairs Review March 2015 51: 175-204, first published on April 20, 2014doi:10.1177/1078087414529120
  • Abstract
   
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• Select this article
  • Christie D. Batson and
   
  • Shannon M. Monnat

  Distress in the Desert: Neighborhood Disorder, Resident Satisfaction, and Quality of Life During the Las Vegas Foreclosure Crisis

  Urban Affairs Review March 2015 51: 205-238, first published on March 24, 2014doi:10.1177/1078087414527080
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• Select this article
  • Pei-te Lien

  Reassessing Descriptive Representation by Women and Men of Color: New Evidence at the Subnational Level

  Urban Affairs Review March 2015 51: 239-262, first published on April 4, 2014doi:10.1177/1078087414529124
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• Select this article
  • Leland Saito and
   
  • Jonathan Truong

  The L.A. Live Community Benefits Agreement: Evaluating the Agreement Results and Shifting Political Power in the City

  Urban Affairs Review March 2015 51: 263-289, first published on March 25, 2014doi:10.1177/1078087414527064
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Research Note

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  • Daniel S. Scheller

  Neighborhood Governments and Their Role in Property Values

  Urban Affairs Review March 2015 51: 290-309, first published on July 7, 2014doi:10.1177/1078087414542088
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