Urban Affairs Review recent issues

Annexation, Local Government Spending, and the Complicating Role of Density

Edwards, M. M., Yu Xiao, — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:49:46 PDT

Annexation is often touted as a strategy to improve the overall fiscal environment of a municipality. The empirical literature on the role of annexation in municipal finance, however, has yielded inconsistent results. This article examines annexation in nearly 1,000 municipalities for its effects on local government spending. Results show that spending is influenced by annexation, but the effects on spending are complicated by accompanying changes in municipal density levels. If annexation is accompanied by higher densities, the local government will certainly experience lower increases in per-capita spending levels. However, if annexation is accompanied by lower densities, the local government may or may not experience lower increases in per-capita spending levels, depending on changes in land area relative to changes in density.

From "Blighted" to "Historic": Race, Economic Development, and Historic Preservation in San Diego, California

Saito, L. T. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:49:46 PDT

Using the example of three buildings in San Diego, the author examines the negotiations between city officials and local residents over competing images of race and history. He shows how the outcomes of these negotiations are used to support and legitimate economic development and historic preservation policies. His main point is that although policies are depicted as race neutral, the results are often racialized. This happens because of the tendency of routine, institutional processes to recognize the history of White communities rather than those of racial minorities, contributing to whiteness. As part of the process of racial formation, activists counter labels of minority neighborhoods as "blighted" and "slums" with the view that they are attractive centers of business, culture, and tourism.

The Distinct Patterns of Organized and Elected Representation of Racial and Ethnic Groups

Reckhow, S. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:49:46 PDT

Studies of minority political incorporation have demonstrated that advocacy organizations are critical for advancing minority electoral success and policy change. Drawing on an original data set of 30 midsized U.S. cities, the author evaluates the extent of organized representation of racial and ethnic groups and the effect of organized representation on elected representation. Latinos and Asian-Americans both have greater numbers of local advocacy organizations as the groups’ proportion of the population increases. Yet many cities with sizable African-American populations have a lower density of advocacy organizations than cities with fewer African-Americans. A smaller field of organizations increases elected representation for African-Americans but not for Latinos.

Local Political Institutions and Smart Growth: An Empirical Study of the Politics of Compact Development

Ramirez de la Cruz, E. E. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:49:46 PDT

Using Florida survey data from 2002 and 2007, this article seeks to determine the characteristics of local governments that make them more or less inclined to engage in smart growth-related land-use regulations. The study draws on a range of theoretical traditions to motivate an empirical model of policy adoption, emphasizing the interaction between interest group politics and local political institutions as the primary explanatory factors. In addition, the article differentiates between types of smart growth regulations designed to promote a key smart growth principle—compact development—in terms of their redistributive consequences. The study finds some support for the notion that the adoption of smart growth practices is affected by the activism of interest groups and their interaction with local political institutions.

What Does Sustainability Mean to City Officials?

Zeemering, E. S. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:49:46 PDT

Sustainability has become a popular concept influencing the work of community and economic development officials in city governments. However, the term sustainability lacks conceptual clarity, and a variety of programs could advance sustainability goals. Given this problem, this study asks, What does sustainability mean to city economic development officials? Q-methodology is used to identify which aspects of sustainability are most important to a sample of city officials in the San Francisco Bay Area. Three patterns of importance were identified, exhibiting emphases on urban design, traditional economic development, and civic engagement. Understanding the multiple meanings of sustainability for local government officials will be critical as city officials seek to advance this new priority for local governments and as scholars evaluate the implementation of urban sustainability programs.

Revisiting Black Incorporation and Local Political Participation

Spence, L. K., McClerking, H. K., Brown, R. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:49:46 PDT

Testing the proposition that electing black mayors has a positive effect on black political participation, scholars found that black incorporation historically lead to increased black political engagement. However, the research that examines whether length of mayoral tenure influences black political participation is limited. We test this proposition using the 1993—1994 National Black Politics Study. Our findings suggest long-term political incorporation decreases local black political participation while it increases voting for President. However, as the black population percentage of a city rises, local black political participation increases. These findings extend the research on the effect of political incorporation on participation by considering political and demographic context and by engaging in intraracial rather than interracial comparisons.

Book Review: Bureaus of Efficiency: Reforming Local Government in the Progressive Era by Mordecai Lee. (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2008), 292 pgs., $30.00 (paperback)

Scavo, C. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:49:46 PDT

Book Review: Wilbur C. Rich, David Dinkins and New York City Politics: Race, Images, and the Media, by Wilbur C. Rich. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006. 239 pp. $35.00 (cloth)

Kaufmann, K. M. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:49:46 PDT

Book Review: Revisiting Rental Housing: Policies, Programs, and Priorities by Nicholas P. Retsinas and Eric S. Belsky (Eds.). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2008. 370 pp. $29.95 (paper)

Varady, D. P. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:49:46 PDT

Book Review: Cities in a Time of Terror: Space, Territory, and Local Resilience, by H. V. Savitch. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2007. 296 pp. $89.95 (cloth); $34.95 (paper)

Gupta, D. K. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:49:46 PDT

Statement of Editorial Policy

Clarke, S. E., Pagano, M. A. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:49:46 PDT

Civic Organizations as Political Actors: Mapping and Predicting the Involvement of Civic Organizations in Neighborhood Problem-Solving and Coproduction

Lelieveldt, H., Dekker, K., Volker, B., Torenvlied, R. — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:05:16 PDT

Despite the scholarly consensus on the importance of civic organizations for the livability of neighborhoods, there are relatively few empirical studies examining to what extent these organizations engage in various forms of political participation to contribute to the quality of the neighborhood. The authors argue that to get a better overview of neighborhood-oriented forms of participation, it is necessary to look beyond those organizations with an explicit focus on the neighborhood and to include newer forms of participation such as coproduction, government-initiated plans that seek to address neighborhood issues through extensive cooperation with organizations. The authors argue that three groups of factors determine organizational participation: resources, engagement, and network position. An empirical analysis of survey data collected in 2007 from 400 organizations in eight neighborhoods in two Dutch cities shows that the impact of resources is virtually absent, whereas concern about the neighborhood and relations to pivotal organizations are positively related to participation.

Quantifying Separate and Unequal: Racial-Ethnic Distributions of Neighborhood Poverty in Metropolitan America

Osypuk, T. L., Galea, S., McArdle, N., Acevedo-Garcia, D. — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:05:16 PDT

Researchers measuring racial inequality of neighborhood environment across metropolitan areas have traditionally used segregation measures; yet such measures are limited for incorporating a third axis of information, including neighborhood opportunity. Using Census 2000 tract-level data for the largest U.S. metropolitan areas, the authors introduce the interquartile-range overlap statistic to summarize the substantial separation of entire distributions of neighborhood environments between racial groups. They find that neighborhood poverty distributions for minorities overlap only 27%, compared to the distributions for Whites. Furthermore, the separation of racial groups into neighborhoods of differing poverty rates is strongly correlated with racial residential segregation. The overlap statistic provides a straightforward, policy-relevant metric for monitoring progress toward achieving more equal environments of neighborhood opportunity space.

Not Getting Their Money's Worth: African-American Disadvantages in Converting Income, Wealth, and Education into Residential Quality

Woldoff, R. A., Ovadia, S. — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:05:16 PDT

Previous research has established that racial/ethnic residential inequalities in the United States are due to a combination of resource disadvantage and discrimination. This article builds upon past work by using a new dependent variable (census tract median housing value), examining the effects of wealth, and including interactions between race/ethnicity and resources. The authors find that the Black—White gap in neighborhood quality is explained by the combination of Blacks’ relative disadvantage in resources and the smaller benefits they gain from having those resources. In contrast, Latinos who are not recent immigrants are similar to Whites in both neighborhood quality and their ability to translate resources into residential quality.

Is Open-Space Preservation a Form of Exclusionary Zoning?: The Evolution of Municipal Open-Space Policies in New Jersey

Schmidt, S., Paulsen, K. — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:05:16 PDT

This article examines the evolving policy context of municipal open-space acquisition in New Jersey. The authors hypothesize that voters’ interest in open-space protection is sensitive to changes in state policy and that municipal acquisition may have exclusionary effects. The authors examine local acquisition practices using three different approaches: voting behavior, municipal acquisition, and parcel-level characteristics of acquired lands. They find that support for preservation is responsive to growth pressures and changing state policy environments. They also present evidence that municipalities are targeting land able to accommodate higher-density development in their preservation efforts and that municipalities that preserve open space are also active in transferring away their affordable housing obligations.

Housing Choice Vouchers, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, and the Federal Poverty Deconcentration Goal

Williamson, A. R., Smith, M. T., Strambi-Kramer, M. — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:05:16 PDT

Poverty deconcentration has gained prominence as a federal housing policy goal during the past decade. The authors address the issue of whether the interaction between the two dominant programs aimed at housing for low-income persons in the United States—the Housing Choice Voucher and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)—tends to support this goal by examining three questions: How extensively are vouchers used in LIHTC developments? Does the pattern of usage vary across counties and metropolitan areas? Does the use of vouchers in LIHTC units result in concentrations of voucher holders in poverty areas, contrary to poverty deconcentration goals? The authors find that LIHTC units are important sources of housing opportunity for voucher holders in some areas. However, they also find evidence that LIHTC location patterns in economically distressed areas known as Qualified Census Tracts may reinforce existing poverty concentrations.

Book Reviews: Race Rules: Electoral Politics in New Orleans, 1965--2006, by Baodong Liu and James M. Vanderleeuw. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2007. 165 pp. $24.95 (paperback)

Burns, P. F. — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:05:16 PDT

Book Reviews: Race, Space and Riots in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles by Janet Abu-Lughod. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. 344 pp. $35.00 (cloth)

Herman, M. — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:05:16 PDT

Book Reviews: The Other Philadelphia Story: How Local Congregations Support the Quality of Urban America by Ram A. Cnaan. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006. 334 pp. $69.95 (cloth)

Hula, R. — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:05:16 PDT

Statement of Editorial Policy

Clarke, S. E., Pagano, M. A. — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:05:16 PDT

The Effect of Density Zoning on Racial Segregation in U.S. Urban Areas

Rothwell, J., Massey, D. S. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:42:58 PDT

The authors argue that anti-density zoning increases Black residential segregation in U.S. metropolitan areas by reducing the quantity of affordable housing in White jurisdictions. Drawing on census data and local regulatory indicators compiled by Pendall, the authors estimate a series of regression models to measure the effect of maximum density zoning on Black segregation. Results estimated using ordinary least squares indicate a strong and significant cross-sectional relationship between low-density zoning and racial segregation, even after controlling for other zoning policies and a variety of metropolitan characteristics, a relationship that persists under two-stage least squares estimation. Both estimation strategies also suggest that anti-density zoning inhibits desegregation over time.

Shifting and Shirking: Political Appointments for Contracting Out Services in Israeli Local Government

Bresler-Gonen, R., Dowding, K. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:42:58 PDT

Principal—agent models in public administration concentrate upon policy drift—when agencies allow policy to drift away from the bliss point of executive politicians. We distinguish two types of policy drift: policy shifting and agent shirking. The first occurs when agents' political bliss points are located differently from those of their principals. The second occurs when agents do not competently carry out their principals' wishes. One response to policy shift is to appoint agents who share the bliss point of the principal, allowing the reduction of costly monitoring. Through 10 cases in three Israeli cities where political appointments were made to push through structural changes to contract out services, we show that political appointees are less effective than career bureaucrats, so that solving shifting often increases shirking, especially when monitoring is reduced. The agency problems thus created were only solved by increasing monitoring and returning to career civil servants.

Community Organizations and Local Governance in a Metropolitan Region

Fontan, J.-M., Hamel, P., Morin, R., Shragge, E. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:42:58 PDT

In a context of globalization, municipalities and metropolitan regions are involved in international competition to support economic growth. This leads to new forms of collaboration between public authorities and businesses, giving birth to new forms of urban and metropolitan governances. Moreover, many old neighborhoods of the central city and some districts of the old suburbs face growth in unemployment and poverty. In these local territories, community organizations put forward local development practices that aim to improve living conditions. These organizations cooperate with other community organizations, public institutions and private agencies. Thus, they are embedded in a kind of governance: a local governance. This article, based on the case of the metropolitan region of Montreal, highlights the conception of local development of these community organizations, the local governance in which they participate, and the link between this local governance with the urban and metropolitan ones.

Police Relations with Black and White Youths in Different Urban Neighborhoods

Brunson, R. K., Weitzer, R. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:42:58 PDT

Much of the research on police—citizen relations has focused on adults, not youth. Given that adolescents and particularly young males are more likely than adults to have involuntary and adversarial contacts with police officers, it is especially important to investigate their experiences with and perceptions of the police. This article examines the accounts of young Black and White males who reside in one of three disadvantaged St. Louis, Missouri, neighborhoods— one predominantly Black, one predominantly White, and the other racially mixed. In-depth interviews were conducted with the youths, and the authors' analysis centers on the ways in which both race and neighborhood context influence young males' orientations toward the police.

A Duration Model for the Estimation of the Contracting Out of Urban Water Management in Southern Spain

Gonzalez-Gomez, F., Guardiola, J. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:42:58 PDT

Research that tries to explain the decisions of local government in the contracting out of certain services frequently disregards the temporal dimension. In this article, the authors take time into account in the analysis, proposing a duration model as an alternative to discrete choice models. The objective is to analyze the explanatory factors in the contracting out of municipal services. This methodology is applied to the water services of 744 municipalities in southern Spain during the period from 1985 to 2006. From the results, the authors conclude that complexity in the environment, economies of scale, financial restrictions, and stability of the local government are determinants in the decision.

Book Review: Electoral Politics Is Not Enough: Racial and Ethnic Minorities and Urban Politics, by Peter F. Burns. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006. 192 pp. $21.95 (paper)

Rich, W. C. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:42:58 PDT

Book Review: Citizen Lobbyists: Local Efforts to Influence Public Policy, by Brian E. Adams. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2007. 248 pp. $71.50 (cloth); $25.95 (paper)

Pecorella, R. F. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:42:58 PDT

Book Review: School Reform, Corporate Style, Chicago, 1880--2000 by Dorothy Shipps. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2006. 294 pp. $40.00 (cloth); $19.95 (paper)

Grimshaw, W. J. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:42:58 PDT

An Expression of Appreciation

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:42:58 PDT

Statement of Editorial Policy

Clarke, S. E., Pagano, M. A. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:42:58 PDT

In Memoriam: Gary L. Gaile (1945--2009)

Pagano, M. A. — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:15:45 PDT

Mad Cows, Regional Governance, and Urban Sprawl: Path Dependence and Unintended Consequences in the Calgary Region

Ghitter, G., Smart, A. — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:15:45 PDT

History matters. Inspired by evolutionary approaches in economics and, more recently, economic geography, the authors present, through the lens of a slaughterhouse development on the city's fringe, a historical model of urban development in the metropolitan region of Calgary, Canada. Their analysis shows how an unanticipated system shock conditioned by strong historical differences in the political and economic aspirations of adjacent urban and rural jurisdictions manifested at multiple temporal and spatial scales. Their narrative explores the intertwined evolutionary trajectories of five key system elements whose pathways converged in 2004, resulting in unintended, and from a regional environmental perspective, undesirable, consequences.

Race, Retrospective Voting, and Disasters: The Re-Election of C. Ray Nagin after Hurricane Katrina

Lay, J. C. — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:15:45 PDT

The 2006 New Orleans mayoral election provides a unique opportunity to examine the influence of a natural disaster on voting behavior. Theories of retrospective voting presume that voters will punish incumbents whose performance they deem unacceptable. To many Americans, Ray Nagin had done a poor job in handling Katrina. Theories of racial conflict and accommodation, however, contend that voters in urban elections base their choice primarily on racial group interests. This study shows that racial identity was a critical factor in vote choice. Although judgments of Nagin's performance were important, many voters placed greater responsibility on the federal government for the response.

Mobilization on the Waterfront: The Ideological/Cultural Roots of Potential Regime Change in Philadelphia

McGovern, S. J. — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:15:45 PDT

This article examines the roots of regime dissolution and reconstruction through a case study of waterfront development in Philadelphia. The impetus for political change has been the progressive ideas, values, beliefs, and practices of a grassroots movement composed of middle-class residents and two prominent institutions that had previously supported the city's progrowth regime. That movement has coincided with and contributed to other political initiatives, including the election of a progressive mayor in 2007, all of which may foreshadow the rise of a new governing coalition. The study has implications for regime theory, which emphasizes the role of material resources and institutions in explaining regime change while neglecting ideological and cultural factors.

Look Back in Anger?: Voter Opinions of Mexican Immigrants in the Aftermath of the 2006 Immigration Demonstrations

Cohen-Marks, M., Nuno, S. A., Sanchez, G. R. — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:15:45 PDT

In the spring of 2006, an unprecedented mobilization of undocumented immigrants and their advocates sent shockwaves across the U.S. political landscape. Whether the demonstrations did more to advance the interests of undocumented residents and other immigrants or to harden nativist sentiments remains an open question. Examining data culled from a three-county exit poll of more than 4,300 voters in three urbanized western counties, we employ multivariate analysis to examine how the immigration rallies impacted voters' perceptions of Mexican immigrants. Our results indicate that the demonstrators failed to win the hearts and minds of American voters, most of whom reported that the rallies tended to negatively impact their perceptions of Mexican immigrants. The depth of this negative reaction varied across the sociopolitical contexts represented by the three counties as well as voters' individual attributes including party identification, ethnicity, nativity, and other characteristics.

Latino Mobilization in New Immigrant Destinations: The Anti--H.R. 4437 Protest in Nebraska's Cities

Benjamin-Alvarado, J., DeSipio, L., Montoya, C. — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:15:45 PDT

We use the 2006 immigrant-rights protests as a point of departure to test whether political opportunity structures aligned to spur widespread immigrant mobilization in new immigrant destinations. The existing immigrant mobilization scholarship would predict the absence of protest in areas of new migration because of their low levels of immigrant civic infrastructure. Through a detailed study of the immigrant-rights protests and their aftermath in Nebraska, we find that the unifying effect of the anti-immigrant legislation on immigrant-ethnic communities nationally allowed immigrants and their leaders to seize the opportunities presented by shifting local politics, new communications technologies, and the growing migrant civil societies in new destinations to spur widespread, if short-lived, mobilization.

Mobilization, Participation, and Solidaridad: Latino Participation in the 2006 Immigration Protest Rallies

Barreto, M. A., Manzano, S., Ramirez, R., Rim, K. — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:15:45 PDT

This article tests multiple hypotheses regarding participation in the 2006 immigration rallies in American cities. Specifically, the authors test whether the movement was widespread among Latinos or limited to Mexican immigrants, as speculated by the media, or whether group solidarity can be credited with mobilizing participation and support of Latino citizens for a largely immigrant cause. The consistent findings using both qualitative and quantitative approaches provide robust support for the conclusion that Latino support for the protests was strong across the population as a strong sense of solidarity unified the population around the immigration issue.

Book Review: Camden After the Fall: Decline and Renewal in a Post-Industrial City, by Howard Gillette, Jr. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. 320 pp, $39.95 (cloth), $22.50 (paper)

Ferman, B. — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:15:45 PDT

Book Review: Boomburbs: The Rise of America's Accidental Cities, by Robert E. Lang and Jennifer B. LeFurgy. Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2007. 212 pp., $26.95 (hardcover)

Gainsborough, J. — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:15:45 PDT

Book Review: The Education Mayor: Improving America's Schools, by Kenneth K. Wong, Francis X. Shen, Dorothea Anagnostopolous, and Stacey Rutledge. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2007. 233 pp. $26.95 (paper)

Henig, J. R. — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:15:45 PDT

Statement of Editorial Policy

Clarke, S. E., Pagano, M. A. — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:15:45 PDT