bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Energy and Urban Form
Authors: Haines Valerie A.
Published: November 2009

Studies of the relationship between urban form and energy use have used scenarios to examine the relative energy efficiency of three spatial configurations of urban systems: centralization, multinucleation, and sprawl. Their results have been contradictory. This article develops a human ecological critique of these studies by examining the events included in each scenario. The results suggest that these contradictions are more apparent than real: Multinucleation is the most energy-efficient urban form. They also suggest that energy may now be a relatively weak determinant of urban form.
The Effect of Economic Dependence on Urban Primacy
Authors: Frey R. Scott , Dietz Thomas , Marte Jane
Published: November 2009

Dependency theorists have become increasingly interested in examining the effects of international economic dependence on such measures of national development as economic growth, income inequality, and overurbanization. Yet limited systematic research exists examining the effect of economic dependence on urban primacy. Panel regression analysis was used to examine the effects of economic dependence and several control variables on urban primacy for a sample of 53 nations. That is, circa 1970 primacy (based on Davis's 4-city index of first-city primacy) was regressed on circa 1955 measures of urban primacy, economic dependence (investment dependence or export dependence on raw materials), gross national product per capita, land area size, and population growth between 1950 and 1970. Results of the analyses indicated that both measures of economic dependence had positive-albeit nonsignificant-effects on urban primacy.
The Determinants of Gentrification in the United States
Authors: London Bruce , Lee Barrett A. , Lipton S. Gregory
Published: November 2009

The literature on gentrification has yielded a number of competing explanations of the phenomenon. These include demographic, ecological, sociocultural, and political-economic interpretations. By linking the results of a survey of the presence and significance of gentrification with data from 48 of the 51 cities in the Permanent Community Sample, we are able to assess why some cities are candidates for gentrification while others are not and to determine the relative usefulness of the competing explanations listed above. We find some support for aspects of each interpretation.
Housing Constraint and Household Complexity in Metropolitan America
Authors: Krivo Laura J. , Mutchler Jan E.
Published: November 2009

The extent to which minority group members live in nuclear family households may be mediated by factors other than choice. Using data from the 1970 Census, we test the relationship between certain aspects of housing constraint/availability and household complexity for the black and Spanish-origin populations in SMSAs in the United States. In particular, we examine the effects of residential segregation, income, new housing, and housing vacancy on a measure of the tendency for adults to live in households in which they are nonnuclear members while controlling for other relevant variables. The results support our hypotheses for both the black and Spanish-origin groups, suggesting that factors determining the availability of housing do have implications for the household structure of these populations.
Informal Social Ties and Political Activity in the Metropolis
Authors: Guest Avery M. , Oropesa R. S.
Published: November 2009

This article focuses on the question of whether localized friendship patterns in the metropolis have much relationship with individual propensity to take action on localized political issues. Scholars of the classical Chicago School claim a close relationship between the two, whereas more contemporary theorists argue that social ties should have little relationship to political activity; rather, rational investments in community such as home ownerships and child rearing should be the clearly dominant correlates of political activity. Overall, our results do not strongly support either perspective. We suggest and find support for a balance perspective: specifically, that the probability of localized political activity is maximized when the individual has significant friendship ties with both the local and extra-local communities. The overall importance of balanced ties does not vary across types of communities, but we find evidence that highly localized friendships do have varying import in communities with strong, as opposed to weak, community organizational structures.
In Defense of Citizen Evaluations as Performance Measures
Authors: Percy Stephen L.
Published: November 2009

Urban scholars have engaged in a debate about whether citizen perceptions of service delivery are accurate and useful in assessing the performance of public agencies. This article examines this debate, presents a model of influences on citizen evaluations of service delivery, and analyzes the model using data on police response time gathered in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Impact of Government Functional Responsibility on Local Expenditure
Authors: Farnham Paul G.
Published: November 2009

This article examines the variation in the number of functions performed by local governments and the impact of these functions on local expenditures in a national sample of communities with populations over 10,000 persons and located both inside and outside the country's Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The findings indicate that control over the least-common governmental functions has a significant effect on local expenditure and that this effect differs by type of community.
Urban Specialization in the World-System
Authors: Rodriguez Nestor P. , Feagin Joe R.
Published: November 2009

In the history of urban sociology in the United States, much of urban-growth theory has been limited to a national level of analysis. From classical-location to uneven-development theories, conceptualization of urban growth has been contained mainly in regional or national frameworks. But in many cases, involvement in the capitalist world-economy has been a source of major urban development. Many major cities grow during certain periods mainly because of a specific function they play in the capital-accumulation circuits of the world-system. That is, some cities grow as the world-system grows because they have specialized in some function of capital accumulation, for example, as producers or as financial markets, and thus fit a specific niche in the world-economy. Taking a world-system perspective as a necessary level of analysis for understanding major urban growth, the discussion in this article elaborates on the concept of urban specialization, offers case studies of urban growth through a specialization niche, and compares the development of specialization from the standpoint of the three stages of capitalist development (mercantile, industrial, and monopoly) in which the cases are situated.
A Political-Ecological Analysis of Income Inequality in the Metropolitan Area
Authors: Bollens Scott A.
Published: November 2009

This empirical analysis updates and broadens the work done by Logan and Schneider on 1960 and 1970 data (Urban Affairs Quarterly, March 1982). In an analysis of 1980 non-central-city/central-city income inequality for 100 SMSAs, it is found in the current study that property tax reliance, annexation history, percentage black, and central-city age are significant factors. The individual parameter estimates of the regression analysis provide empirical support for the political modification of ecological theory put forth in this article, and provide little support for the traditional nonpolitical "ecological" view of residential differentiation. There is partial support for the theory that SMSA municipalities are active agents in influencing residential location patterns, and are not passive reactors to individual economic decisions. Modification of the ecological explanation to include governmental structure and fiscal organization variables will increase the accuracy and policy relevance of research in the field of metropolitan residential differentiation.
Beyond Urban Renewal
Authors: Bennett Larry
Published: November 2009

Chicago's North Loop project is one of the largest downtown redevelopment proposals initiated in the period since the termination of the federal urban renewal program. North Loop planning in advance of substantial project implementation has taken more than a decade, and the political controversies associated with the project reveal important insights in regard to post-urban renewal downtown redevelopment, the momentum of large-scale redevelopment projects, and the new shape of politics in Chicago.
Bureaucratic Responsiveness and Complaint Resolution
Authors: Bachelor Lynn W.
Published: November 2009

The severe fiscal constraints affecting the city of Detroit in the early 1980s, although resulting in reductions in funding and personnel for city departments, had little impact on citizen perceptions of city services, as reflected in levels of complaints received by the city's Ombudsman Office. Analysis also revealed that bureaucratic responses and response times were relatively unaffected by cuts in resources. City agencies generally adhered to standardized procedures in providing services and responding to complaints.
Racial Differences in Housing
Authors: Amin Ruhul , Mariam A. G.
Published: November 2009

Changes and differences in housing quality for blacks and whites in the United States between 1960 and 1978 were examined using data from the Annual Housing Surveys for the years 1974 and 1978, and from the one-in-one-thousand sample Public Use File from the 1960 Census. There were substantial improvements in housing quality between 1960 and 1978. However, racial differences in housing quality, as measured by structural deficiency, crowding, and age of housing unit, persisted over the two decades regardless of socioeconomic status, family composition, and geographic regions. The data do not reveal substantial declines in racial disparity in housing over the two decades.
The Political Incorporation of Newcomers to Racially Changing Neighborhoods
Authors: Henig Jeffrey R. , Gale Dennis E.
Published: November 2009

Gentrification and black suburbanization represent relatively recent population shifts that are at variance with long-standing demographic trends. The political implications of these shifts are considered by exploring the factors that influence the extent to which racial newcomers become politically active. Blacks who bought homes in a suburb of Washington, DC, were considerably less politically active than whites who gentrified the central city, in spite of the fact that both groups were well educated and essentially middle class in character. Personal characteristics such as age, marital status, education, and income proved to be less predictive of participation than dissatisfaction with neighborhood conditions, perception of racial relations, and previous place of residence.
Ideology and Decision Making for American City Managers
Authors: Wirth Clifford J. , Vasu Michael L.
Published: November 2009

The influence that political ideology and demographic and professional factors exert on the propensity of city managers to educate the city council concerning their own positions on distributive urban policy issues is investigated in this article. Political ideology appears to be the strongest influence on the priorities that managers establish for educating the council about distributive community policy issues; political party affiliation, geographic region, education, role orientation (administrative or political), and age show less, but negligible, influence. Finally, several of these factors are associated with the political ideology of city managers and provide a preliminary explanation for the etiology of city managers' political ideology.
The Dependent City
Authors: Kantor Paul
Published: November 2009

Placed within a larger politico-economic order, city governments are captives of many slowly changing forces that shape and limit community choices. This article seeks to conceptualize some of these dependency relationships and evaluate their historic impact on the politics of urban economic development. The central argument is that the major components of the liberal-democratic political economy have interacted during American history to precipitate three major eras of urban development politics; in each, the prevailing strategies for promoting urban development and the political arena for determining policy has differed. Changing obstacles to popular control of economic development policy have limited the opportunities for community choice and democratic governance.
Developmental Politics Reconsidered
Authors: Sanders Heywood T. , Stone Clarence N.
Published: November 2009

This essay is a critique of Paul Peterson's treatment of developmental politics in City Limits. In contrast with Peterson's view of the city as a utility-maximizing entity with a unitary interest in development around which consensus can be built and public action organized, we argue that conflict and the pursuit of particular interests are characteristic of the developmental arena in city politics. The consequences of development projects are often uncertain, and, as policy moves from general concept to operational reality, coalition building and conflict management become essential. Policy reflects these processes. With regard to the specifics of Peterson's argument, once a distinction is made between the politics of announcement and the politics of execution, Peterson's characterization of New Haven's Mayor Richard Lee as "able servant" of the city's unitary interest in development appears questionable. Similarly, on close examination, Peterson's depiction of Oakland's council-manager government as "inefficient slave" of that city's business-backed redevelopment program can also be challenged. The New Haven/Oakland comparison suggests that developmental policies are influenced by the political character of a community's governing coalition.
City Employment Change in the Republic of Korea, 1960-1970
Authors: Meyer David R. , Min Kyonghee
Published: November 2009

Changes in the employment characteristics of Korean cities during the 1960s, a period of polarized development and rapid industrialization, are examined. The expectation of modernization and world-system/dependency theorists that the national metropolis, Seoul, increased its dominance in many key sectors is supported. Other cities, however, also grew rapidly, specialized in different economic sectors, and changed their economic structures. Polarized development, therefore, need not imply atrophy of noncore cities. Both modernization and world-system/dependency theorists need to apply more complex conceptualizations of systems of cities in developing nations.
The Citizenships
Authors: Long Norton E.
Published: November 2009

The contemporary city is regarded as an almost trivial affair, a weak and subordinate polity with an open economy. Though recognized as a tragic site of important events, it is esteemed to have little power to affect the lives of its inhabitants for good or ill. Its leaders are largely reduced to seeking handouts from superior governments. This low estate for the city is of long standing, commencing with the Greek city-state's loss of independence. Yet the city of the Hellenistic monarchies and the Roman Empire played a vital role. As Max Weber (1962) maintained, the modern nation-state battered down the walls of the city. But society cannot do without cities and their civilizing mission. If one agrees with Aristotle that the informing principle of the polity is its conception of the good life, that conception will be found most truly embodied in the city, which alone enables its inhabitants to live a full life.
Economic Development Incentives
Authors: Rubin Irene S. , Rubin Herbert J.
Published: November 2009

After establishing a way of classifying economic development incentives, this article examines four different explanations of why cities differ in their willingness to provide such incentives to encourage business growth. In order of explanatory power the explanations are citizen need, administrative capacity, fiscal stress, and the process of growth. Specific types of cities are more willing to use some incentives than others. Some underlying rules are suggested to explain why city officials make the decisions they do about economic development issues. It is the symbolic value of the actions rather than their concrete consequences that motivate much of local economic development activity.
Insurance Redlining and the Transformation of an Urban Metropolis
Authors: Squires Gregory D. , Velez William
Published: November 2009

Financial institutions play a critical role in determining the viability of urban communities. As is the case with the geographic distribution of mortgage and business loans, insurance redlining constitutes a major force in fueling the uneven development of metropolitan areas. This article examines the racial effects of insurance underwriting activity in a large midwestern metropolitan area. In analyzing the distribution of homeowners insurance policies, a strong bias in favor of suburban and white neighborhoods and against inner-city and minority communities was found. These patterns reflect both discriminatory nonrational economic behavior on the part of insurers and the logic of rational market processes. Policy recommendations are offered to address the problems inner-city neighborhoods confront in efforts to secure adequate insurance and other financial resources.
Tiebout's Sorting Hypothesis
Authors: Stein Robert M.
Published: November 2009

The sorting of residential populations among metropolitan area communities and its impact on municipal service bundles is studied across 216 metropolitan areas. There is strong empiricial support for the policy implications of Tiebout's model. The service bundles of metropolitan communities are significantly differentiated. Support for the homogeneous sorting of residential populations is not confirmed, nor is there a significant relationship between the sorting of residential populations and the content of municipal service bundles. State-local relations are examined as a potential constraint on the operation of this aspect of Tiebout's model.
William Carlos Williams's Paterson
Authors: Klink William R.
Published: November 2009

This article traces the importance of the locale of Paterson, New Jersey, to William Carlos Williams's famous poem Paterson. Change over the past 40 years to each of the main symbolic sites of the poem—the Passaic River, the mill area of Paterson, and Garret Mountain-is examined. The river differs little, and the mill area is now a tourist site, whereas Garret Mountain has been degraded by lack of maintenance and by private development. In part, the poem's reputation led to the change in the mill area. Now the poem has become part of the city's urban culture, and change to the city has deepened the meaning of the poem.
The Politics of Growth-Oriented Urban Alliances
Authors: Fleischmann Arnold , Feagin Joe R.
Published: November 2009

This article applies major propositions about local growth politics to two types of cities and to an extended time frame normally absent in previous studies. Houston typifies the "new," or Sunbelt, city, and Milwaukee represents the "old" manufacturing centers of the North. Findings indicate that both cities historically have relied heavily on public-private partnerships to promote emerging sectors of the economy. However, the composition and strategies of their growth-oriented alliances varied significantly over time. The data also suggest revising assumptions about federal programs, finance capital, political entrepreneurs, and the links between public agencies and private business in the prevailing model of growth-oriented elites.
Voting on Citywide Propositions
Authors: Sharp Elaine B.
Published: November 2009

Existing research on urban referendum voting offers several different explanations of local voting patterns, but these usually are not tested against one another in a way that can demonstrate the relative importance of each. This research analyzes the response by voters in Kansas City, Missouri, to two tax-and-spending-type propositions and a fluoridation proposal by using predictor variables representative of the "socioeconomic status" explanation, the surge model of alienated voting, the "taxpayer-revolt" explanation, and "community cleavage" explanations. The results highlight the explanatory importance of racial cleavage, provide a contingency perspective on the significance of the socioeconomic status explanation, and call into question both the taxpayer-revolt explanation and any simplified surge model of alienated voting.
Residential Segregation and Ethnic Identification among Hispanics in Texas
Authors: Hwang Sean-Shong , Murdock Steve H.
Published: November 2009

The hypothesis that racial or ethnic minority groups that are residentially segregated from the majority group in a racially or ethnically mixed society are less likely to be assimilated than those who are residentially integrated is empirically assessed. Data are used from the 1980 census of population for 139 Texas cities with large Hispanic populations. The results do not provide support for the hypothesis; rather, they suggest that other ecological context factors and social structural factors are the key determinants of ethnic identification.
Community Mobilization and Participation in the Zoning Process
Authors: Hutcheson John D. , Prather James E.
Published: November 2009

Models used to explain levels of community participation often incorporate demographic and contextual factors. Among empirical findings, the most consistent have been that participation rates are negatively associated with community affluence, and that a sense of community identity increases participation. This article examines community participation and influence in zoning decisions before and after implementation of a neighborhood planning system that facilitated community identification and information dissemination. Findings suggest that relatively innocuous changes in city governments' decision-making processes can increase equity in both community access and influence.
Capital Investment and the Decline of Mass Transit in New York City, 1945-1981
Authors: Cohen James K.
Published: November 2009

Most published research suggests that the decline of urban mass transportation after World War II resulted from the growth of private automobile use, which diverted ridership and financial resources from transit systems. This interpretation is challenged by findings from a case study of the New York City subway system, which shows a significant relationship between the amount and composition of capital investment and service outcomes. The study demonstrates that efficient and effective mass transit service is possible within metropolitan transportation markets, even when private automobile use is more prevalent.
Minority Representation and the Drawing of City Council Districts
Authors: Lyons W. E. , Jewell Malcolm E.
Published: November 2009

Despite advances in understanding the impacts of at-large versus district systems of representation at the local level, little is known about how local governments deal with minority populations while drawing the boundaries of local council districts. This question is examined using data drawn from American cities of 50,000 to 1,000,000 population in which some or all council members are elected from single-member wards or districts. The findings suggest that considerable attention was given to minority interests in the redrawing of council districts following the 1980 Census, and that those interests received more attention in southern cities operating under a pre- Bolden interpretation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Domination through Democratic Means
Authors: Fraga Luis Ricardo
Published: November 2009

Nonpartisan slating groups are organizations that recruit, nominate, finance, and campaign on behalf of a slate of candidates in a system of effective nonpartisanship. This article analyzes the interests of those who established and operated these slating groups. Examining the origins, success, and bases of electoral support of these groups revealed that in contemporary city politics, they long served to institutionalize further the upper and middle class, and white ethnic and racial biases of the Municipal Reform Movement of the Progressive Era. As such, slating-group domination of city electoral politics worked to the systematic disadvantage of disfavored minorities.
Speculation and Housing Prices
Authors: Skaburskis Andrejs
Published: November 2009

The effect of short-term speculation on the stability of house prices is examined in this article. It describes speculative activity in the 1979-1981 Vancouver housing market. A series of regressions show that short-term speculators diminished rather than amplified price fluctuations. The dramatic swing in Vancouver's housing prices during the study period is explained by speculation on the part of all home buyers.
People or Place
Authors: Haeberle Steven H.
Published: November 2009

Urban policy is often premised on the assumption that neighborhoods are viable units for decision making. However, policymakers and community activists may not agree on the subjective definition of "neighborhood," which may stress either its physical setting or the characteristics of its residents or some combination of both. A set of neighborhood association presidents were asked to describe their communities. Their answers revealed much diversity; the choice of physical rather than human referents to define the neighborhood varied systematically with the sex, race, age, socioeconomic status, and length of community service of each individual. Their disagreement suggests that priorities for community improvements vary with perceptions of neighborhood definition.
Coping with Fiscal Stress
Authors: Morgan David R. , Pammer William J.
Published: November 2009

The process by which large cities respond to fiscal stress is analyzed in light of the "garbage-can model" of organizational decision making. The model is informed by the assumption that choices are often ill-defined and ambiguous, resulting in a decision process that is poorly structured. When applied to the fiscal retrenchment process, the expectation is that the selection of various financial management strategies may be difficult to explain. To the extent that coherence exists, it is likely that the process will be executive-dominated. These expectations are generally confined when the retrenchment behavior of a large group of cities is tested within a multivariate framework.
Is it the Busing or the Blacks?
Authors: Rossell Christine H.
Published: November 2009

This study compares racial factors and the policy costs of school desegregation in influencing white student withdrawal in two large school districts-Los Angeles, California, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Mandatory reassignments produce predictably large school-loss rates that can be used to estimate the interracial exposure of proposed alternative desegregation plans. On average, 55% of the white students reassigned to schools above 90% minority will not enroll. The results of multiple regression analysis indicate, however, that the real costs of school desegregation-reassignment, the busing distance, a decline in average achievement and social class-are at least as important as the percentage minority of the student body in predicting white withdrawal.
Three Ways to Build
Authors: Molotch Harvey , Vicari Serena
Published: November 2009

We contrast three societies in terms of the way property development is socially organized by real estate entrepreneurs, political parties, governments, and corporations. Whereas local growth coalitions dominate in the United States, this is less true of Japan and Italy. National government, linked to conglomerate firms, plays a significant role in Japanese development. In Italy, the national political party system (as opposed to government) is prominent in setting the conditions of local development. Although large corporations are a critical force in all three societies, the manner in which they impact locality differs substantially with divergent consequences for urban morphology and citizens' daily lives.
Urban Unemployment Drives Urban Crime
Authors: Kohfeld Carol W. , Sprague John
Published: November 2009

Burglary and robbery rates in St. Louis, Missouri, are investigated as functions of census unemployment levels taken in 1970 and 1980 for twelve yearly cross sections of crime rates, with all rates aggregated to the level of census tracts for analyses. The relationship of burglary and robbery rates to unemployment is found to be positive, and the interactive (logged) model is found to be the one most consistent with theory as well as the best predictive model. The magnitude of unemployment effects is large, and the policy implication is that urban areas fighting crime would benefit substantially from successfully targeted employment programs.
Evaluating Urban Financial Conditions
Authors: Farnham Paul G.
Published: November 2009

The three-variable urban conditions index developed by Nathan and Fossett as a measurement of urban fiscal conditions is compared with the general obligation municipal bond ratings provided by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. for the largest cities in the United States and for 890 communities with populations over 10,000. Although communities considered to be less distressed by the index tend to have higher bond ratings, the relationship between the two measurements is not perfect. This outcome appears to result from differences in the weights attached to the urban conditions index variables and from the additional information in the larger set of variables included in bond-rating analysis. The implications of these differences for policy research are discussed.
Tax-Base Composition and Long-Run Growth in City Taxes
Authors: Adams Charles F.
Published: November 2009

Growth in per-capita taxes between 1970 and 1980 is analyzed for a group of 28 large cities. Investigating the effect of tax-base composition on long-run growth reveals higher rates of tax growth for low-property-tax cities, which is partly explained by recession-induced tax increases. Such increases are not rescinded during subsequent periods of economic expansion, and the net effect is a ratcheting phenomenon in local tax growth similar to that observed for state governments. Policy considerations support the need for better financial management practice, further consideration of a countercyclical revenue sharing program, and more careful attention to variations in local tax structures in modeling local government fiscal behavior.
Urban Government under Thatcher and Reagan
Authors: Hambleton Robin
Published: November 2009

Recent developments affecting urban government in Britain and the United States are examined in this article. The socioeconomic trends affecting cities are similar, and central government financial support to city government has been reduced in both countries. The Thatcher government, however, combines economic liberalism with a sweeping commitment to political centralization, which would be unthinkable in the United States. The result is that British urban government, in contrast to American experience, has become highly politicized and conflictual.
Citizen Support for Regional Government in the New Suburbia
Authors: Baldassare Mark
Published: November 2009

Political fragmentation, in the form of many small municipalities charting their own destinies, is a fundamental attribute of suburban regions. Scholars are divided about the need for addressing fragmentation through new regional-level governments. In Orange County, California, which is a multimunicipality suburban region stricken with growth and traffic problems, a representative survey of 1,008 residents indicates two-to-one opposition to merging county and city governments into one countywide authority. Several factors are associated with strong opposition to merging local governments; most significant are the desire to maintain city power and the belief that the county will become a worse place to live in the future. In sum, public opinion is a serious obstacle to regional-level authority in suburbia.
The Emerging Suburban Service Economy
Authors: Schneider Mark , Fernandez Fabio
Published: November 2009

The growing service economy has been documented at the national level and for central cities. We examine the expansion of service jobs among suburban municipalities. We compare absolute growth in jobs in the consumer service sector with the stagnation of the manufacturing sector. We then define four types of suburbs-booming, declining, transformation, and production-based- and using probit analyses, we identify the factors associated with the distribution of communities across these. Regional patterns of economic change dominate local factors in determining membership in each category. We conclude that suburban communities are influenced by economic change generated in national and international markets.
Urban Black Neighborhood Environment and Homicide
Authors: McClain Paula D.
Published: November 2009

The influence of urban black neighborhood characteristics on the level of homicide victimization in four American cities is examined for 1970 and 1980. Changes in the impact of the environment on homicide risk that may have occurred during the decade are identified. Demographic and socioeconomic information was gathered on all census tracts with majority-black populations. Homicide data for both years were collected from the cities' public health departments. Analysis indicates that the relationship between environmental factors and homicide risk for black neighborhoods in the four cities does not exhibit a consistent pattern.
Metropolitan Population Size and Economic Well-Being
Authors: Galster George C.
Published: November 2009

A multi-equation recursive model is specified wherein the level and inequality of income in metropolitan areas are functions of population, labor force characteristics, industrial structure, and occupational structure. Parameters are estimated for a 1980 sample of 120 standard metropolitan statistical areas representative of all population sizes. These parameters suggest that metropolitan areas of 1.9 million population demonstrate on average the greatest inequality, ceteris paribus. Population proved not to be strongly correlated with per capita income, either directly or indirectly.
The Growth Machine versus the Antigrowth Coalition
Authors: Vogel Ronald K. , Swanson Bert E.
Published: November 2009

In 1987, in their book Urban Fortune: The Political Economy of Place, Logan and Molotch argued that growth is not usually in the community interest. They proposed a strategy to alter the ability of business to force cities to compete for capital. This strategy depends upon the antigrowth coalition winning its struggle against the growth machine in individual communities. But the issue of growth is more complex than suggested by a growth/no growth dichotomy. The real issue facing localities is how to attract, direct, or repel growth to serve the community interest. In this article, we consider (1) whether growth management can resolve the power struggle between pro- and antigrowth forces and (2) whether growth management can encourage communities to undertake a search for the public interest.
Deconcentration of Public Housing
Authors: Burby Raymond J. , Rohe William M.
Published: November 2009

Dispersal of public housing from inner-city areas has been advocated widely since passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Using data from a comparative study of eight public-housing developments (four located in inner-city areas and four located outside of the inner city), we provide evidence that deconcentration of public housing provides some benefits for low-income, single-parent households. Compared with inner-city residents, those living in deconcentrated developments were more satisfied with their living environments and less fearful of crime. Deconcentration did not result in social isolation, but it did isolate residents from employment opportunities.
Gentrification and Crime
Authors: Covington Jeanette , Taylor Ralph B.
Published: November 2009

We expect gentrification to be associated with increasing larceny and robbery rates based on human ecological theory and gentrification research. In Baltimore, gentrifying neighborhoods, as compared to other appreciating neighborhoods, experienced significant unexpected increases in robbery and did not decline as much in larceny. The ecological characteristics of gentrifying neighborhoods partially explain this linkage. Results confirm but also question human ecological theory, underscoring the detrimental effects of rapid neighborhood change but also indicating, contrary to expectations, that human ecological processes of invasion-succession have not, and may not, reach completion in gentrifying neighborhoods. If the invasion-succession cycle remains "stalled," the locations may remain vulnerable to continuing high levels of disorder.
The Racial Dimension in Urban Political Economy
Authors: Fainstein Susan S. , Fainstein Norman I.
Published: November 2009

Race continues to play a critical independent role in determining urban outcomes for black Americans. Blacks remain segregated and economically disadvantaged. Their economic condition has deteriorated, with differences between races far more important than stratification among blacks. But the spatial and political containment of blacks during the last decade has reduced the effect of black populations on the economic fortunes of cities. As a result, political strategies for black advancement face severe obstacles at the present time.
Community Mobilization
Authors: Fisher Robert , Kling Joseph
Published: November 2009

In this brief essay, we seek to add to the discussion on the prospects of community mobilization by offering four major points. The impact of human agency, not only structural conditions, must be considered. Currently, there are distinct signs of grass-roots mobilization and a returning activist consciousness. These trends and events must be seen, however, against the broad restructuring of cities, which has dramatically altered the context for organizers and presented new, formidable barriers. Lastly, the sharpening of ideological cleavage is fundamental to mobilize constituencies and bridge the community/class dichotomy that continues to limit most efforts.
Investigating Public Housing Segregation
Authors: Goering John M. , Coulibably Modibo
Published: November 2009

We investigate the concepts and evidence needed to understand the extent of racial segregation in the federal public housing program operating in metropolitan areas throughout the United States. Over one million units of public housing in urban areas constitute an important, but poorly understood, component of overall housing market segregation. Using data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, we describe the degree, distribution, and segregation of minorities in HUD-assisted family and elderly housing. We attempt to explain the level and variation of public housing segregation through examining legislative, programmatic, and regional factors, though differences appear at relatively low levels of statistical significance.
Maybe on my Street
Authors: Currie Raymond F. , Trute Barry , Tefft Bruce , Segall Alexander
Published: November 2009

The increasing deinstitutionalization of the mentally disabled has instigated research on neighborhood receptivity to this group. Using a random household sample from a midwestern Canadian city, we investigate the contribution of neighborhood types and individual characteristics in predicting the likelihood of supportive or opposing political responses from residents. Overall, twice as many respondents consider the placement of community mental health facilities in their neighborhood as desirable compared to those considering such facilities undesirable. Neighborhood types, however, are not particularly good predictors of attitudes or intended political actions. Supporters of such facilities consistently are more likely than those opposed to report a willingness to take political action consistent with their viewpoint.
Infrastructure Policy
Authors: Kaplan Marshall
Published: November 2009

Studies assessing the nation's infrastructure needs have been unanimous in their conclusion: America's system of public works is wearing out. The short-term outlook for major new national policy initiatives is not good. More demonstration efforts, marginal changes in programs, and increased public/private partnerships are likely.
The TOADS
Authors: Greenberg Michael R. , Popper Frank J. , West Bernadette M.
Published: November 2009

This article is an exploratory study of Temporarily Obsolete Abandoned Derelict Sites (TOADS)-that is, deserted industrial sites and housing projects. Interviews with city planning departments and/or health departments in 14 of the 15 largest cities in the United States led to an analysis of how city governments experience and respond to TOADS. TOADS produce not only obvious economic problems but also less well-documented social problems: makeshift housing for the homeless, drug havens, fire-safety hazards, and toxic waste sites. A TOADS epidemic is taking place in American cities, large and small. Additional research and policy approaches for dealing with this TOADS epidemic are suggested.
The Carrot or the Stick for School Desegregation Policy?
Authors: Rossell Christine H.
Published: November 2009

The relevance of the public-choice model of decision making for school desegregation is tested by comparing the desegregation effectiveness of voluntary plans, which depend on parents choosing magnet schools, to mandatory reassignment plans, which "force" parents to send their children to desegregated schools. A desegregation plan based primarily on voluntary transfers to magnet schools will produce greater long-term interracial exposure than a mandatory reassignment plan with magnet components, in part because of the greater white flight from the mandatory plans. In short, the public-choice model of decision making is more successful in producing interracial exposure than the command-and-control model.
Mayors and Mayoral Careers
Authors: Wolman Harold , Page Edward , Reavley Martha
Published: November 2009

Utilizing data from a survey of cities with populations of 100,000 or more, we examine the background characteristics and political careers of large-city mayors. The background characteristics of this elite group are substantially different from the mass public's but are similar to elected officials' at other levels of government. At the mayoral level electoral turnover is frequent, and partisan change is not uncommon. However, most of the turnover results from voluntary retirement rather than from electoral defeat. Thus the argument that nonrepresentativeness resulting from background and attitudinal differences between the elite and mass public is mitigated through electorally induced responsiveness is suspect.
A Test of Political Bias in Scholars' Preference for Measuring Fiscal Strain
Authors: Bingham Richard D. , Hawkins Brett W.
Published: November 2009

We hypothesized that specialists' preference for measuring fiscal strain by using environmental/socioeconomic indicators would correlate with liberal political attitudes, and preference for governmental/fiscal indicators would correlate with conservative political attitudes. Reasons for the hypothesis are offered. Data are analyzed from a survey of authors of journal articles about fiscal strain, but no such correlations emerge. This evidence that specialists' preferences for measuring fiscal strain are not grounded in political attitudes provides a measure of reassurance about social scientists studying fiscal strain.
National Urban Policy and the Local State
Authors: Warren Robert
Published: November 2009

There has been a failure in the mainstream discussion of national urban policy to recognize that policy ends and means are derived from political choices (not economic laws); that federal policy has been contradictory in rhetoric and effect but consistent in favoring capital over place and people; and that proposed national solutions tend to be top-down and limited, particularly in relation to class and race. To confront these issues, the terms of discourse must be reconstituted to reflect the social, economic, and political value of place and the legitimacy of community-level democratic participation in the local state and control of production.
Urban Policies and Urban Impacts after Reagan
Authors: Barnes William R.
Published: November 2009

Urban policy is unlikely to be a major concern of the Bush administration in the near future. Some of the reasons for this outlook are offered in this article, including the nature of Bush's electoral support and the benefits those constituencies receive from the allegedly natural workings of the "invisible hand" and the "invisible foot." Some countervailing tendencies are noted. A broader view of urban concerns is called for, a view that would lead toward a domestic policy with an urban consciousness.
The Effect of Residential Mobility and Household Composition on Housing Quality
Authors: Spain Daphne
Published: November 2009

Annual Housing Survey data are used to examine whether recent movers improve their housing quality through a local move and whether the process differs by household composition. Residential mobility tends to improve housing quality, while differences by sex of household are mediated through higher rates of involuntary mobility, lower incomes, and a higher likelihood of being black among female householders. Implications for future housing policy for different types of female householders are reviewed.
Diminishing Utility
Authors: Anglin Roland
Published: November 2009

In public-choice theories of local growth and development, political elites, business elites, and citizens are all believed to demand growth. Local governments are assumed to maximize self-interest by pursuing high-income individuals and firms. The view that public opinion regarding growth and development is always positive and consensual is challenged in this article. The findings of this study indicate that citizen attitudes are conditioned by the perceived level of growth in the respondent's community.
Localautonomy as a Meaningful Analytic Concept
Authors: Wolman Harold , Goldsmith Michael
Published: November 2009

Local autonomy is a common term in urban politics, but it has a variety of meanings, some quite ambiguous. A conceptually meaningful definition of local autonomy is constructed and then used to compare local government systems in the United States and the United Kingdom. Local autonomy is the ability of local governments to have an independent impact on the well-being of their citizens. We examine the nonlocal government determinants of well-being in both countries and ask what scope remains for local governments to have an impact. We also examine the constraints on local governments that limit their potential for affecting well-being and discuss the extent of local government autonomy in each country.
Constituencies for Limitation and Regionalism
Authors: Bollens Scott A.
Published: November 2009

Citizen responses to two successful growth-management referenda on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, are analyzed. A development moratorium and the creation of a regional land-use management agency represented contrasting strategies for managing growth problems; differences in support between the two approaches are examined. Individuals with direct links to the local economy provided the least support for a moratorium. Regionalism was supported by individuals with strong provincial attitudes because they were aware of the extra local impacts of development and anticipated tangible benefits from regional land-use planning. A two-tier approach was supported by a majority of the respondents, but generally, regionalism was given greater support than was the moratorium.