Online First: Emergency Management 2.0 This Time, It’s Financial

Emergency Management 2.0

This Time, It’s Financial

1. David Oliver Kasdan1

1. ¹Incheon National University, Korea

1. David Oliver Kasdan, Department of Public Administration, Incheon National University, 119 Academy-ro, Yeonsu-Gu, Incheon 406-772, South Korea. Email:dokasdan@gmail.com

Abstract

There are more causes of fiscal distress than remedies. A nascent field is emerging built on the practices utilized to confront fiscal distress. The usual method follows a federal structure in that the state has ultimate responsibility when local governments fail, leaving communities to live in a “new normal” of austere oversight. As more urban areas contend with extended economic downturns, political paralysis, and social apathy in the face of unsustainable governance, there is a need for a strategic approach to the administrative side of fiscal distress management. Although cutbacks, consolidations, and service reductions are the tactical tools of the trade, emergency financial management also requires a guiding strategy that protects the fundamental purpose and character of the local government. This article uses ideas from disaster management and the fiscal crises in Michigan to develop four key elements in a strategic approach to emergency financial management.

• fiscal distress
 
• financial emergency
 
• strategic management

Online First: The Impact of Advocacy Organizations on Low-Income Housing Policy in U.S. Cities

The Impact of Advocacy Organizations on Low-Income Housing Policy in U.S. Cities

1. Anaid Yerena1

1. ¹University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA

1. Anaid Yerena, Planning, Policy, and Design, University of California, Irvine, 300 Social Ecology I, Irvine, CA 92697-7075, USA. Email: anaid.y@uci.edu

Abstract

Financial support for affordable housing competes with many other municipal priorities. This work seeks to explain the variation in support for affordable housing among U.S. cities with populations of 100,000 or more. Using multivariate statistical analysis, this research investigates political explanations for the level of city expenditures on housing and community with a particular interest in the influence of housing advocacy organizations (AOs). Data for the model were gathered from secondary sources, including the U.S. Census and the National Center for Charitable Statistics. Among other results, the analysis indicates that, on average, the political maturity of AOs has a statistically significant, positive effect on local housing and community development expenditures.

• affordable housing
 
• advocacy organizations
 
• municipal expenditures

Online First: From Breaking Down Barriers to Breaking Up Communities The Expanding Spatial Strategies of Fair Housing Advocacy

From Breaking Down Barriers to Breaking Up Communities

The Expanding Spatial Strategies of Fair Housing Advocacy

1. Edward G. Goetz1

1. ¹University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

1. Edward G. Goetz, University of Minnesota, 301, 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Email: egoetz@umn.edu

Abstract

This article offers a critique of developments within fair housing thought in the United States that have brought it into conflict with community development approaches to high-poverty, segregated urban neighborhoods. I argue that the spatial strategies of Fair Housing have expanded from an initial orientation toward opening up the suburbs to nonwhite occupancy to efforts aimed at breaking up communities of color in central areas. The shifting gaze of Fair Housing toward neighborhoods of concentrated poverty has manifest itself in both a criticism of and opposition to affordable housing programs in central areas and support for what Chicago Fair Housing Attorney Alexander Polikoff calls the “radical surgery” of displacement and demolition of existing communities of color.

• housing
 
• segregation
 
• fair housing

Online First: The African-American Entrepreneur–Crime Drop Relationship Growing African-American Business Ownership and Declining Youth Violence

The African-American Entrepreneur–Crime Drop Relationship

Growing African-American Business Ownership and Declining Youth Violence

1. Karen F. Parker1

1. ¹University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

1. Karen F. Parker, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, 334 Smith Hall, Newark, DE 19716, USA. Email: kparker@udel.edu

Abstract

Although much of the urban violence literature focuses on the link between urban disadvantage and crime rates, in this article we explore the relationship between African-American entrepreneurship and rates of juvenile violence, net of the effects associated with labor market shifts and the concentration of disadvantage within these areas. That is, Black-owned businesses have increased considerably over time but have largely been neglected in the criminological literature. After generating two distinct measures of Black entrepreneurship, we test to see if Black-owned businesses were significant to the documented decline in juvenile violence in larger U.S. cities from 1990 to 2000. We find an inverse relationship between entrepreneurship and juvenile arrests involving violence across multiple cities in 1990 and 2000. Furthermore, when estimating a pooled cross-sectional time-series design, the growing presence of African-American businesses is a significant contributor to the change (decline) in Black youth violence during the period of the 1990 crime drop, while the rate of paid employees in Black firms remained unrelated to Black youth violence. In changing economic times, we discuss the importance of exploring ways to capture the presence of African-Americans in the urban economy.

• urban violence
 
• Black-owned businesses
 
• crime drop debate
• longtidunal models
 
• youth crime

Online First: The Social Construction of a Gentrifying Neighborhood Reifying and Redefining Identity and Boundaries in Inequality

The Social Construction of a Gentrifying Neighborhood

Reifying and Redefining Identity and Boundaries in Inequality

1. Jackelyn Hwang1

1. ¹Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

1. Jackelyn Hwang, Department of Sociology, Harvard University, William James Hall, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Email: jihwang@fas.harvard.edu

Abstract

This study draws upon cognitive maps and interviews with 56 residents living in a gentrifying area to examine how residents socially construct neighborhoods. Most minority respondents, regardless of socioeconomic status and years of residency, defined their neighborhood as a large and inclusive spatial area, using a single name and conventional boundaries, invoking the area’s black cultural history, and often directly responding to the alternative way residents defined their neighborhoods. Both long-term and newer white respondents defined their neighborhood as smaller spatial areas and used a variety of names and unconventional boundaries that excluded areas that they perceived to have lower socioeconomic status and more crime. The large and inclusive socially constructed neighborhood was eventually displaced. These findings shed light on how the internal narratives of neighborhood identity and boundaries are meaningfully tied to a broader structure of inequality and shape how neighborhood identities and boundaries change or remain.

• neighborhoods
 
• gentrification
 
• racial inequality
 
• boundaries
 
• mapping
• Philadelphia

Online First: Reconceiving Military Base Redevelopment Land Use on Mothballed U.S. Bases

Reconceiving Military Base Redevelopment

Land Use on Mothballed U.S. Bases

1. Amanda Johnson Ashley1
2. Michael Touchton1

1. ¹Boise State University, Boise, ID, USA

1. Amanda Johnson Ashley, Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, ID 83725-1935, USA. Email: amandaashley@boisestate.edu

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Defense has closed 128 domestic bases over the last 30 years through the Base Realignment and Closure Process. Current scholarship describes this process and provides snapshots of transition, yet there is very little systematic knowledge of what follows base closure. We introduce an original data set chronicling military base redevelopment and present evidence suggesting that the variation in the built environment on former military bases stems from considerations somewhat unique to military redevelopment, particularly the presence of federal funding, contamination of redevelopment parcels, and economic output in the surrounding county. Our arguments offer new directions for redevelopment scholarship and a first step for developing best practices to help cities redevelop mothballed bases.

• defense conversion
 
• military base redevelopment
 
• urban revitalization
• base closures
 
• land use

Online First: Pushing the City Limits Policy Responsiveness in Municipal Government

Pushing the City Limits

Policy Responsiveness in Municipal Government

1. Katherine Levine Einstein1
2. Vladimir Kogan2

1. ¹Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
2. ²Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

1. Katherine Levine Einstein, Department of Political Science, Boston University, 232 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215, USA. Email: kleinst@bu.edu

Abstract

Are city governments capable of responding to the preferences of their constituents? Or is the menu of policy options determined by forces beyond their direct control? We answer these questions using a comprehensive cross-sectional database linking voter preferences to local policy outcomes in more than 2,000 midsize cities and a new panel covering cities in two states. Overall, our analysis paints an encouraging picture of democracy in the city: We document substantial variation in local fiscal policy outcomes and provide evidence that voter preferences help explain why cities adopt different policies. As they become more Democratic, cities increase their spending across a number of service areas. In addition, voter sentiment shapes the other side of the ledger, determining the level and precise mix of revenues on which cities rely. In short, we show that cities respond both to competitive pressures and the needs and wants of their constituents.

• city politics
 
• budgetary politics
 
• partisanship
 
• redistribution

Online First: Community-Level Engagement in Public Housing Redevelopment

Community-Level Engagement in Public Housing Redevelopment

1. Laurie A. Walker1

1. ¹University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA

1. Laurie A. Walker, School of Social Work, University of Montana, Jeannette Rankin Hall 004, 32 Campus Dr., Missoula, MT 59812, USA. Email: laurie.walker@umontana.edu

Abstract

Community-level engagement of public housing residents and their neighbors may help prepare them for the redevelopment of their neighborhood. The mixed-methods design included a resident survey (n = 386) and in-depth resident interviews (n = 25). Readiness for transit-oriented mixed-income redevelopment (TOMIR) was predicted by neighbor cohesion, organizational collective efficacy, and possessing a transition and/or relocation plan. Resident involvement in local neighborhood organizations was predicted by awareness of neighborhood problems and involvement in activism. As involvement in neighborhood organizations goes up, readiness for TOMIR also goes up. The study structural equation model had adequate model fit (comparative fit index [CFI] = .90, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .02, Tucker–Lewis index [TLI] = .90). The study developed three new measures that can be used in TOMIR contexts with existing community engagement measures. The study adds to the evidence base for community-level interventions preparing public housing residents for the redevelopment.

• community change
 
• housing
 
• transit
 
• planning process

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Rankings based on citations to online articles from HighWire-hosted articles.

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