bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Economic and Policy Implications of Hosting Sports Franchises
Authors: Johnson Arthur T.
Published: November 2009

The acquisition and/or retention of professional sports franchises is a significant element in the economic development plans for many cities. With few exceptions, sports franchise owners demand public subsidies under the threat of relocating their teams during lease negotiations. Despite these escalating demands and apparent franchise instability, many cities continue to pursue sports franchises. This article, using Baltimore as a case study, seeks to determine whether a sports team is "worth it," and provides a discussion of the types of public policy issues local officials confront as they negotiate with franchise owners. The analysis concludes that if team owners continue to abuse their monopoly advantage at the bargaining table, cities will have no choice but to seek legislative or judicial means of altering that balance of power.
Reevaluating the Benefits and Costs of Industrial Revenue Bonds
Authors: Marlin Matthew R.
Published: November 2009

In a recent article in this journal it was argued that the costs of Industrial Revenue Bonds exceed their benefits and the program, therefore, should be abolished. This note reevaluates the benefits and costs as presented in that article. It is concluded that the costs enumerated in the previous study were overstated whereas the benefits were understated. Among the social costs discussed, only transaction costs and distributional consequences are found to be valid. Absent from the previous study's benefit considerations was the increased capital formation resulting from low-interest Industrial Revenue Bonds.
Rejoinder to Matthew R. Marlin's "Reevaluating the Benefits and Costs of Industrial Revenue Bonds"
Authors: Pascarella Thomas A. , Raymond Richard D.
Published: November 2009

Matthew Marlin's analysis does not support his position. Our earlier research of industrial revenue bonds is correct and we continue to argue that the IRB program creates economic inefficiencies, increases the federal deficit, and serves no apparent public purpose. The elimination of the program is in the best interest of the nation.
Markets and Redevelopment
Authors: Hula Richard C.
Published: November 2009

This article explores the impact of the Neighborhood Housing Service (NHS) in three urban neighborhoods. Specific elements of the local housing markets examined include the home, improvement loan rate, the conventional mortgage loan rate, and housing price. The analysis questions the favorable image of the program, finding only limited evidence of a positive program impact. The article concludes by noting some limitations to market-based programs such as NHS.
The Dispersal of Subsidized Housing in Chicago
Authors: Warren Elizabeth
Published: November 2009

This article shows how the Index of Dissimilarity can be used to develop a measure of the dispersal of subsidized housing in American cities. The Index is applied to data for Chicago: Similar data can be generated in other cities, and comparisons can be made among cities and metropolitan areas as to the degree of dispersal achieved over the three census years 1960, 1970, and 1980. This information should be useful to public officials who administer housing programs as well as to scholars, for it provides a means to assess the degree to which the policy of "deconcentration" of subsidized housing, pursued as national policy for more than a decade, was achieved.
Ecological and Political-Economic Analyses of Migration to a Primate City
Authors: London Bruce
Published: November 2009

Knowledge about internal migration to primate cities in Third World nations is limited. This article will analyze the determinants of migration to Bangkok, Thailand, ca. 1970, by focusing on the characteristics of province of origin. Theoretical issues are also addressed through the determinants analysis: The literature on primate city migration reflects a clear debate between ecological and political-economic explanations. Both explanations are defined and operationalized and their relative efficacy as predictors of migration to Bangkok is tested.
Homelessness in the Postindustrial City
Authors: Adams Carolyn Teich
Published: November 2009

While the twin problems of homelessness and squatting are usually associated with the cities of the Third World, this article examines them in the context of Western postindustrial metropolises. It argues that the growing numbers of homeless and squatters in the United States and Europe reflect not simply the current economic situation, but rather the longer-term changes in economic and demographic structure that have accompanied the transition of such cities from industrial to postindustrial centers. A critical factor contributing to the problem has been shrinkage in the private rental sector, which must be given priority by housing policymakers.
Attachments in the Nested Community
Authors: Slovak Jeffrey S.
Published: November 2009

Studies of emotional attachments to local communities in America have not generally included the conceptualization of the nested community offered by Albert Hunter and Gerald Suttles. Thus, most have not addressed the differential degree to which city dwellers forge attachments to different levels of community, or the social processes behind those emotional links. This article attempts to speak to those issues. It is based on surveys conducted in a high-rise apartment development in downtown Newark, New Jersey, a site selected strategically to yield respondents living in a "defended neighborhood" sited at the symbolic heart of a larger "community of limited liability." Using correlation and multiple regression analyses, the article examines the sources of respondents' attachments to each of those levels of the nested community. In the former, attachment is found to be in part a positive function of immersion in local interactional networks (as in other studies) but in larger part a positive reaction to perceived safety in the neighborhood's environs. In the latter, attachment is found to be both a positive carryover of more local attachments and a negative reaction to the conditions of contemporary urban life. Further analysis demonstrates the empirical distinctiveness of these attachments and the processes giving rise to them. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for future research on emotional links to nested communities.
Officer Orientations toward the Community
Authors: Steinman Michael
Published: November 2009

This study examines why police officers have positive or negative orientations toward the communities they serve. Orientations are measured by respondent agreement or disagreement with two statements: "I often encounter situations where my professional standards are in conflict with the expectations of the community" and "The people in this city don't seem to appreciate, on the whole, what good police services are all about." The hypothesis is that officer orientations are much more affected by factors related to their memberships in a department than by their direct, off-duty community involvements and their personal histories. Data were obtained in a survey of rank-and-file officers in two urban departments.
Constituency of the Antigrowth Movement
Authors: Albrecht Don E. , Bultena Gordon , Hoiberg Eric
Published: November 2009

This study tested the "status-growth hypothesis," which holds that antigrowth values are more pervasive among middle- and upper-class persons than those in blue-collar positions. Businessmen, however, were expected to be an exception to this pattern by displaying a strong attachment to progrowth orientations. The respondents were metropolitan residents in Iowa. Contrary to expectations, antigrowth sentiment was most pervasive among blue-collar respondents. Businessmen, as predicted, displayed the staunchest commitment of any occupational group to a growth ideology and to policies that promote urban expansion.
The Mayoralty and the Democratic Creed
Authors: Murphy Russell D.
Published: November 2009

The democratic creed is as ambiguous as it is ambitious, and this affords political elites numerous opportunities to maneuver for strategic policy advantage. One target of these maneuvers is the electoral process, and those who lose, or expect to lose, in this arena are free to seek changes in the formal rules of the game-to alter election procedures or to limit the scope of voter participation-in ways they believe will maximize their substantive interests. The mayoralty is a case in point. Throughout its brief history, the operative meaning of mayoral leadership has varied considerably, and much of this variation has been the result of elite efforts to capitalize on the ambiguities of the democratic creed. Debates over the existence of the mayoralty, the scope of its authority, and its role in urban governance all have been influenced by struggles over the meaning of electoral politics, and these struggles, in turn, have often been prompted by strategic policy calculations. It was thus at the beginning, and, mutatis mutandis, it is thus today.
The Market for Local Economic Development
Authors: Schneider Mark
Published: November 2009

Suburbs are now active participants in the market for economic development. They use local policies to compete with one another for the location of business and for the growth of local employment. Despite the fact that suburbs support a wide range of policies to lure business growth, empirical and theoretical issues remain regarding the effectiveness of their pro-growth policies. This article investigates the growth of the retail sector in a sample of suburbs in the years 1972-1982. The effects on retail growth of local tax and service packages are estimated and compared to the effects of other forces over which local governments have less direct control. It is argued that the limits on the efficacy of local policy in attracting retail development are severe.
The Supply of Performing Arts in Metropolitan Places
Authors: Blau Judith R. , Hall Richard H.
Published: November 2009

Consistent with a general assumption of central place theory, the number of performing arts organizations in metropolitan places is a function of population size. Central place theory also posits that the relation between the two untransformed variables is a deciding exponential function owing to economies of scale. However, the relationship for these data is linear, indicating that the population base that supports arts organizations is constant, regardless of how large the metropolis is. Although urban size is a powerful predictor of the numbers of performing art institutions, the remaining variation is examined in terms of region and metropolitan factors that include stratification variables, government fragmentation, and an aggregate index of status inconsistency.
The Personal Side of Street-Level Bureaucracy
Authors: Thomas John Clayton
Published: November 2009

Despite much evidence that municipal services are delivered mostly without significant class bias, suspicions remain that municipal administrators discriminate against the disadvantaged, particularly in one-to-one citizen-administrator interactions. This research develops evidence on that possibility by examining how helpfully and courteously citizens feel they have been treated on a broad range of contacts with the municipal bureaucracy in Cincinnati, Ohio. The findings suggest some areas of possible racial discrimination in bureaucratic treatment of citizens but no discrimination by income. In addition, much of the apparent racial discrimination results from blacks bringing more difficult problems to the bureaucracy, not from bureaucrats giving less consideration to blacks. Municipal administrators appear mostly to be exercising neutral competence in their dealings with citizens, and not always in a manner working to the disadvantage of blacks.
Community Politics and Urban Redevelopment
Authors: Fasenfest David
Published: November 2009

Faced with the imminent loss of its industrial base, Detroit undertook the Central Industrial Park Project to prepare a site for a proposed General Motors assembly plant. By recalculating the benefits and costs involved in that project, this article raises questions concerning the appropriateness of using benefit cost analysis as the sole determinant of local redevelopment policy, and offers a framework for understanding community power in the light of the experiences of Detroit. Rejecting pluralist and reformist notions of community power that focus on who directly benefits, this article suggests that the locus of community power rests with those factions in the community that succeed in maximizing their potential for future gain. Furthermore, any examination of community power at any given moment must also include an analysis of past outcomes. The range of possible outcomes in the present is constrained by the nature of past confrontations between factions within the community.
Measuring Trends in Segregation
Authors: Stearns Linda Brewster , Logan John R.
Published: November 2009

Social scientists have tended to rely solely on the index of dissimilarity as a measure of segregation, without questioning what precise aspect of segregation is measured by this index. A recent paper by Lieberson and Carter has argued the merits of a less commonly used class of measures of pa interaction probabilities to tap an aspect of segregation not reflected by the index of dissimilarity. Standardizing these interaction probabilities by the proportion of minority/majority group members in the population yields yet a third class of measures, of which the best known is the correlation ratio or eta2. We argue that these three kinds of measures reflect conceptually distinct aspects of racial residential segregation. We analyze the relationships among the three and demonstrate with both simulated and real data that the results of empirical studies will depend on the measure chosen.
A Research Note on the Impact of District/at-Large Elections on Black Political Efficacy
Authors: Bledsoe Timothy
Published: November 2009

Substantial evidence suggests that district, as opposed to at-large, local election structures improve the electoral opportunities for black council candidates. This article attempts to go one step further and determine if, indeed, district election systems and the presumed increased presence of black elected officials can be linked to black feelings of political efficacy toward local government. Based on an analysis of American National Election Study data, a significant connection is found between the type of election structure present in a city and the likelihood of black respondents claiming to "have any say about what the local government does."
Interlocal Cooperation and Urban Problems
Authors: Wrightson Margaret
Published: November 2009

Between 1960 and 1975, federal involvement in urban affairs expanded exponentially, but the influx of federal dollars and programs failed to resolve the "urban predicament." President Reagan set out to shift responsibility for urban problems to the states and to local governments themselves. The change in federal policy raises the following question: Can urban problems be solved by local governments themselves, or is a strong federal presence necessary? The Housing and Community Development Act provides an opportunity to compare both strategies, because it offered urban communities interlocal cooperation and direct federal intervention as alternative means for allocating housing assistance in participating metropolitan areas. Based on a representative sample of 26 metropolitan regions, this analysis showed that interlocal cooperation is a less than effective substitute for federal intervention. In this respect the data suggest that local governments are no different from other jurisdictions given the freedom to act independently. In the metropolitan arena, as in the international and interstate domains, in the absence of sanctions or incentives from higher authorities, communities find themselves able to cooperate when the benefits are shared or the costs hidden, but unable to do so otherwise.
The Decision to Contract out
Authors: Ferris James M.
Published: November 2009

This article examines the determinants of contracting out among cities in the United States. A precondition to contracting out is the expected realization of the cost savings from external production as a result of scale economies and/or increased competition in the supply of public services. Yet, whether or not a city chooses external production depends on the fiscal pressures within the city and the political impediments. This model of the decision to contract out is examined using a sample of 433 cities. The percentage of publicly provided services that are externally produced is found to increase with (1) greater cost savings, (2) more stringent fiscal conditions, and (3) less powerful public service constituency groups.
Neighboring and Urbanism
Authors: Silverman Carol J.
Published: November 2009

A large number of studies have found that there is a residual correlation between urbanism and neighboring even after relevant variables have been controlled. This article suggests that such correlation is an artifact of how neighboring is defined. When the more typically used model that defines the neighbor relationship as a subcategory of friendship is replaced by a more limited one that assumes only a sense of connection, the residual correlation disappears. Instead, neighboring is better explained by the local ecological factors of housing and population heterogeneity.
Computer Technology, Large-Scale Social Integration, and the Local Community
Authors: Calhoun Craig
Published: November 2009

Computers and new communications technologies are widely expected to contribute to "decentralization" of society. While they may contribute to population deconcentration, however, they offer major increases in capacity for centralized control and coordination of social action. Computerization facilitates further development of large-scale bureaucratic organizations and, thus, at least potential economic and political centralization. The existence of such large-scale forms of social integration is not incompatible with face-to-face community life, as some dystopian visions have presumed. The issue is one of balance between indirect (organizationally and technologically mediated) relationships and direct primary and secondary ones. Renewed attention to variations in pattern and extent of social integration is needed as a complement to attempts to describe demographic and economic-functional changes in urban life. This calls for a conceptual framework that elucidates the roles of both direct and indirect relationships, and does not presuppose the exclusive virtue or eventual complete predominance of either. Such a framework is outlined briefly here and illustrated through discussion of possible social consequences of widespread telecommuting.
Racial Differences in Neighborhood Evaluation Standards
Authors: John Craig St.
Published: November 2009

It is implicit in the literature on neighborhood satisfaction that individuals or groups of people have different standards for evaluating the quality of their neighborhoods—different standards being the result of differences in past experiences or adaptations to present circumstances. However, to date, there has been no research that has tested for individual or group differences in evaluation standards. In this research the hypothesis that blacks and whites have different standards for evaluating the environmental quality of their neighborhoods was tested. I argue that this difference is a result of blacks having much more restricted access to the housing market than whites. The data support this hypothesis.
Fear and Reactions to Crime
Authors: Gates Lauren B. , Rohe William M.
Published: November 2009

Fear and reactions to crime have been identified as important factors shaping our communities. In response to local crime, people can become fearful of personal victimization and avoid potentially threatening situations. This response can have an atomizing effect on communities leading to out-migration. Two models have been offered to explain fear and reactions to crime: the victimization model and the social control model. This article examines the limitations of these models, and develops and tests a revised model of fear and reactions to crime. The model shows that avoidance reactions are primarily affected by crime-related factors such as the objective crime rate and the level of fear. Protective reactions are primarily affected by the social characteristics of the neighborhood such as neighboring, perceived social similarity, and social control. Finally, collective reactions are affected by both crime-related factors and the perceived social characteristics of a neighborhood.
The Rich Get Richer
Authors: Dommel Paul R. , Rich Michael J.
Published: November 2009

This article discusses how the Community Development Block grant targeting policy adopted in 1977 has changed to the disadvantage of needier communities as the result of continuing demographic changes, reflected in the 1980 census, and through expansion in the number of entitlement communities, many of them small, relatively well-off cities. We also present several options available to policymakers for altering the current block grant allocation system that results in a greater targeting of funds to distressed communities.
Deindustrialization in the Great Lakes
Authors: Hill Richard Child , Negrey Cynthia
Published: November 2009

Deindustrialization-its nature, extent, and implications—is a widely debated public issue in the United States. In this article we review the arguments and discuss criteria for gauging deindustrialization in a locality, region, or nation. We then present findings that indicate the Great Lakes region is experiencing deindustrialization. The region is undergoing a structural decline in manufacturing; it claims a shrinking share of the nation's industrial employment; and employment growth in other sectors of the regional economy has not compensated for job loss in manufacturing. The debate about appropriate government responses to deindustrialization has subsided at the federal level, but industrial policy is still a vital issue on many state and local agendas in the Great Lakes.
Comment on Whitt and Yago, "Corporate Strategies and the Decline of Transit in U.S. Cities" (Urban Affairs Quarterly 21: 37-65, 1985)
Authors: Windsor Duane
Published: November 2009

Whitt and Yago argue that balanced transportation never developed in the United States because consumer options and spatial densities were illegitimately manipulated by an auto-oil-rubber complex. On this basis they criticize the conventional technology-efficiency hypothesis. This comment reviews the principal arguments and sources of evidence offered by Whitt and Yago. Their arguments presume that balanced transportation is feasible and desirable in the United States simply because it exists in Europe, rest on theoretical assumptions of class struggle and rational planning which are not demonstrated, and become internally contradictory in comparing the U.S. and European cases. Because the authors blend together political and economic analysis, evaluation of transportation options winds up depending on whose class interests an investigator proposes to favor. They therefore side-step the methodological problems of ever demonstrating the superiority of balanced transportation, since its existence in Europe is likewise attributed to political struggle.
Mozart in the Metropolis
Authors: Whitt J. Allen
Published: November 2009

The performing arts are becoming an important part of the urban growth machine, a development not yet recognized by social scientists. The arts are now a politically acceptable and useful urban growth strategy because of ongoing changes in the nature of cities, in the nature of the economy, and in the nature of the arts themselves, and because of the recent rise of an elite-sponsored political coalition devoted to advancing the strategy. Examples of the use of an arts-centered growth strategy in numerous U.S. cities are presented, and the larger theoretical and practical implications of the phenomenon are explored.
The Ecology of Racial Discrimination in Housing
Authors: Galster George C.
Published: November 2009

This research investigates the spatial variation in racial housing market discrimination. Using 1980 data for Cuyahoga County (Cleveland, Ohio), regression analysis indicates that compared to integrated or majority-black tracts with stable 1970-1980 racial compositions, all-white tracts, and especially transitional tracts evidencing large gains in proportion of black residents, have higher discrimination rates, ceteris paribus. These findings support the hypotheses that housing agents discriminate when they fear losing business from their prejudiced white customers and when they can exploit an unstable situation characterized by relatively high white/black housing demand elasticity ratios.
Community-Relevant Measurement of Quality of Life
Authors: Myers Dowell
Published: November 2009

A popular term for describing our cities emerged in the 1980s: quality of life. Recent efforts to measure quality of life have responded to the growing interest of citizens, business leaders, and government officials, but these measurements have emphasized comparisons among places. Although these measurements are of value for citizens and businesses who are comparison-shopping prospective new locations, locally committed citizens and organizations have different needs. Thus an alternative, community-oriented measurement process is required. The advice of local residents is essential for both selecting and weighting components for measurement. This community orientation also places emphasis upon the trends over time in different components of a community's quality of life. Closer attention to the local context of quality of life leads to a richer understanding of the subject.
Conditions of State Aid to Distressed Communities
Authors: Hawkins Brett W. , Smith Gregg W.
Published: November 2009

Several studies have been undertaken to explain state aid to local governments and to ascertain if state aid is "responsive" to cities and urban problems. Most scholars have interpreted their findings with reference to the state role in the federal system. This study examines state aid to distressed communities (a category of aid programs created by the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations). We find that, independent of other factors, local need shapes the allocation of these programs. This evidence adds to other evidence suggesting that the states are responsive to urban distress.
Unraveling the Enigma
Authors: Grimshaw William J.
Published: November 2009

The study uses a historical analysis to examine the thesis that since the Chicago Democratic machine's inception during the Great Depression, black voters have been torn between supporting the machine out of socioeconomic necessity and opposing it because of cultural values rooted in the church, producing a paradoxical political tradition. Four configurations of the paradox are identified, resulting in four distinctive stages of black political behavior. The paradox is resolved during the fourth stage, at which point black voters overcome the socioeconomic constraint and give Harold Washington strong, uniform support against the machine. Washington's own paradoxical political orientation is tracked through the four configurations of the paradox.
Patterns of Political Party Activity among U.S. Cities
Authors: Bledsoe Timothy , Welch Susan
Published: November 2009

Urban political parties have enormous potential for affecting local politics, as was demonstrated in the era of the party machine. But we have little systematic knowledge of where and under what circumstances parties remain as viable forces in our cities. Using a measure of local party activity obtained from a survey of elected municipal officials in 186 American cities, this study attempts to identify the conditions that accompany active urban parties. The prevailing level of party activity is found in part to be a function of community education level, region, and city size, but the overriding influence is found to be the presence of legally nonpartisan elections. Further, a connection is found between the level of party activity in a city and voter turnout in city elections.
Overurbanization Reconceptualized
Authors: Smith David A.
Published: November 2009

After many years of relative neglect, the issue of "overurbanization" in Third World countries has recently received renewed attention in the social science literature. Adopting a political economy of the world-system perspective on urbanization and development, this article critiques the theoretical adequacy of the overurbanization thesis. Conceptualizing a causal relationship between spatio-demographic imbalances (labelled "over-urbanization") and relatively skewed and stagnant economic development is misleading. Both urban patterns and development trajectories are distorted by the international dependency of Third World nations in the world economy. The general argument is illustrated by discussing the role that the so-called "urban surplus labor" of the "informal sector" plays in surplus extraction under peripheral capitalism.
The Predictive Value of Three Ecological Models
Authors: Schwab William A.
Published: November 2009

The degree to which three ecological models can predict the direction of neighborhood change is evaluated in this article. The life-cycle, arbitrage, and composition models commonly are found in the literature on neighborhood change, but each focuses on a different aspect of this process. To date, researchers have evaluated these models individually, but few have compared their predictive ability. This study uses discriminant analysis to evaluate the efficiency of each model in correctly classifying upward and downward succession of tracts, using census tract data from Cincinnati, Ohio. The composition model had the greatest predictive value, closely followed by the life-cycle model, but each identifies different and complementary aspects of the neighborhood change process.
Equity as a Decision Rule in Determining the Distribution of Urban Public Services
Authors: Toulmin Llewellyn M.
Published: November 2009

The article describes and evaluates the Responsive Public Services system of Savannah, Georgia. This system apparently is unique in its comprehensive measurement of output equality of conditions in all city neighborhoods, in its ongoing targeting of city resources into neighborhoods judged to be the "worst off" in each fundamental area measured (such as crime incidence, fire incidence, inadequate sewer service, flood control, and street conditions), in its lack of controversy, and in its longevity. The system is analyzed in terms of the theoretical literature on equality and the determinants of urban public service delivery, and the success of the system is evaluated in seven functional areas, using a pre-post comparison of output measures.
A Community Services Budget
Authors: Warren Robert , Rosentraub Mark S. , Weschler Louis F.
Published: November 2009

Voluntary and nonprofit organizations, private firms, and public agencies provide and produce many of the same goods and services at the local level. Consequently, the adequacy, equity, and efficiency of the local public sector and the aggregate performance of the three sectors cannot be fully assessed without accounting for the effects of all sectors. A multisectoral framework or "community services budget" is proposed in this article to facilitate comparative research and achieve a better empirical and normative understanding of how the three sectors contribute to the total provision and distribution of urban goods and services in a community.
Changing Patterns of Suburban Racial Composition, 1970-1980
Authors: Stahura John M.
Published: November 2009

The question addressed by this study is whether or not the increase in black suburbanization during the 1960s, and especially, during the 1970s, has affected the patterns of suburban racial change described for earlier decades. Patterns of suburban racial change during the 1970-1980 decade are examined for a sample of 1,114 American suburbs. It was found that during the 1970s, racial change in suburbs became more prevalent, with invasion-succession emerging as the dominant type of change in northern suburbs. In southern suburbs, invasion-succession and parallel-development (growing) patterns of racial change also occurred with greater relative frequency than in previous decades.
South Africa's Urban Policy
Authors: Tomlinson Richard
Published: November 2009

The South African government has repealed influx control for blacks living in the "non-independent homelands." Although the urban shift of the black population is increasingly accepted, controls on the supply of housing and land for housing blacks have been retained. The emphasis is now on alternative restrictions on black urbanization. The restrictions, however, contrast with the wishes of South Africa's business leadership. The 1986 "reforms" are explained by exploring the relationship between government policy and business interests. Finally, the urban policies are contrasted with the new metropolitan government, the Regional Services Councils, through which blacks are being brought into multiracial governmental structures but on unequal terms.
Competition for Economic Development among Southeastern Cities
Authors: Bowman Ann O'M.
Published: November 2009

Economic development, in its most general sense, is a process through which a community's material and social well-being is increased. For American cities, the interaction of federalism and capitalism makes the pursuit of economic development a competitive process. This study assesses the nature and extent of interjurisdictional competition for economic development by surveying 84 public- and private-sector actors in 31 Southeastern cities. The findings indicate that the competition ethos is pervasive, with cities establishing aggressive economic development programs to compete with larger, economically diverse jurisdictions.
The Effect of Changing Household Composition on Neighborhood Satisfaction
Authors: Spain Daphne
Published: November 2009

The 1983 Annual Housing Survey is used to test the following hypotheses: (1) female householders will be less satisfied with their neighborhoods than other householders, (2) they will live in neighborhoods with more services, and (3) neighborhood conditions and services will affect satisfaction independent of household characteristics. Sex of the householder drops out as a significant predictor of neighborhood satisfaction when other household and neighborhood characteristics are controlled, whereas marital status remains significant. Actual conditions are more important than services or household characteristics in determining satisfaction. Given the greater dissatisfaction among the unmarried, and the growth of single householders, we may expect to see declines in overall neighborhood satisfaction.
Race and Life-Cycle Effects on Home Ownership in Los Angeles 1970 to 1980
Authors: Ong Paul M. , Grigsby J. Eugene
Published: November 2009

To better understand the significance of employing group-specific data versus aggregate information in assessing the impacts of housing policies, we use multivariate regression analysis to examine the determinants of home ownership and to isolate the source of observed racial differences for black married couples and white married couples in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in 1970 and 1980. The results indicate (1) a systematic racial difference in life-cycle stage that effects home ownership, (2) a much lower probability of blacks becoming homeowners, and, worse, (3) a possible widening of the black/white home ownership gap. Discrimination is posited as the most likely explanation for continued blocked access to home ownership for blacks.
Barriers to Equal Opportunity
Authors: England Robert E. , Meier Kenneth J. , Fraga Luis Ricardo
Published: November 2009

This study empirically examines the impact of within-school educational practices on minority students for the period 1968-1982. Findings reveal disparities between black and white and/or Hispanic and white students in ability-grouping placements, disciplinary actions, and graduation ratios. Also, data show substantial differences in minority and white teacher/administrative employment practices. The implications of these findings for understanding equal educational opportunity and attainment are discussed.
Urban Research 1965-1987
Authors: Schmandt Henry J. , Wendel George D.
Published: November 2009

This article surveys urban affairs research as it has evolved from 1965 through 1987, principally by analyzing the content of all articles that have appeared in Urban Affairs Quarterly during this period. The survey focuses on the subject matter of the research, its relevance to problems in the contemporary city, its concern with policy, its use of quantification, its interdisciplinary character, and the extent to which its interests and priorities have shifted. The urban-research agenda has undergone significant but not radical changes in content and direction during the 22-year span analyzed, and these changes have reflected developments in the cities themselves.
The Image of the City
Authors: Mehrhoff W. Arthur
Published: November 2009

This interdisciplinary urban history examines the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial on the St. Louis riverfront as a case study of the Progressive response to the urban disorder resulting from the modernization of American society during the twentieth century. Using the insights of urban sociologist Anselm Strauss into urban images and urban historian Blain Brownell into civic boosterism as a conceptual framework, this article draws upon original documents such as city plans and newspapers from the turn of the century until the 1947-1948 design competition for the memorial. These materials reveal an enduring pattern underlying attempts by St. Louis commercial and civic leaders to restructure the urban form-of the riverfront into an orderly image consistent with their progressive urban ethos.
Race, Residence, Discrimination, and Economic Opportunity
Authors: Galster George C. , Keeney W. Mark
Published: November 2009

A cross-sectional simultaneous equation model is specified wherein metropolitan-wide levels of racial residential segregation, housing discrimination, interracial occupational dissimilarities, and black/white mean incomes are endogenous. Parameters are estimated via two-stage least-squares for a 1980 sample of 40 SMSAs. Results support the hypothesis of mutually causal interrelationships among the aforementioned urban racial phenomena. Simulations suggest that narrowing occupational differentials played a major role in reducing interracial income differences and segregation during the 1970s. Hypothetical policy simulations indicate the efficacy of an economic opportunity strategy for indirectly promoting desegregation, although direct approaches such as fair housing and dispersal of moderate-cost housing are also predicted to yield large reductions in segregation.
Fiscal Disruptions and City Responses
Authors: Pagano Michael A.
Published: November 2009

Building on the theoretical tradition established by Cyert and March, March and Simon, and Wolman, local government is conceived as a social organization engaged in problem-solving activities that maintain an equilibrium between the organization and its external environment. Analyzing 234 cities' fiscal responses to disruptions in the external environment, the author concludes (1) that revenue dedication for capital purposes has not resulted in increasing capital spending, (2) that cities turn to cost-shifting mechanisms primarily because of fiscal pressures, and (3) that capital-spending plans of cities are in general more revenue-elastic than operating programs. These findings confirm the expectations that cities adjust and adapt to their external environment.
The Paradigm Shift in Urban Sociology
Authors: Gottdiener M. , Feagin Joe R.
Published: November 2009

Three discussions recently published by mainstreamers arguing the virtues of the more orthodox ecological perspective are answered by systematically evaluating two distinct theoretical paradigms that oppose each other, namely, urban ecology and the new urban sociology. Three points of contrast are used to demonstrate the explanatory superiority of the new urban theory that better helps us understand central city change, suburbanization, and the shift to the Sunbelt. We address the comparative lack of representation among "new" urbanists and attempt to encourage a maturation of the new field by defining the contours and central questions of a critical urban sociological perspective.
The Rise and Development of Urban Political Machines
Authors: DiGaetano Alan
Published: November 2009

The accepted wisdom about the rise of urban political machines leans heavily on sociologist Robert K. Merton's functional analysis of machine politics. Merton contended that centralized machine organizations appeared in American cities because local government, organized on the principle of separation of powers, proved too weak and fragmented to meet the "latent" needs of urban society. This argument has found its way into many, if not most, analyses of American bossism and political machines since Merton first posited it in the 1940s. This article evaluates Merton's thesis against comprehensive and comparative historical evidence.
Housing in the Welfare State
Authors: Nesslein Thomas S.
Published: November 2009

In the postwar period the European welfare states undertook large-scale housing interventions. The primary purpose was to provide all households with housing of a good standard. The proponents of the welfare housing model argued that the housing measures employed would sharply raise housing investment as well as lower housing costs. The purpose of this article is to systematically assess this claim.
Urbanism and Urbanity
Authors: Greer Scott
Published: November 2009

The functions of cities in societies are discussed in this essay, the specialized functions performed and the integration of functions. The cities are seen as marketplaces of ideas, attitudes, artifacts, and consequently, innovation; they are driving wheels of great cultures. Then the modem city is considered—as it emerges as a vast collection of "small towns" around a small urban center deserted by night with various islands of intense cultural activity. The question is raised: What will be the consequence of the loss of the city as it has developed during the 200 years of modern civilization in the West? Some speculations suggest an isolation of functions and elites, a growing social distance among them, and a situation conducive to fragmentation of culture.
Alternative Strategies for Economic Development
Authors: Warner Paul D.
Published: November 2009

In recent years, pressures have mounted on local officials to develop policies that stimulate economic growth. The traditional approach, which calls for attracting manufacturing plants through the use of cost-cutting inducements, has been brought into question, and the search for alternative approaches led to a human capital strategy that focuses on attracting, retaining, and developing skilled labor. Empirical tests of two models, one representing human capital development and the other based on firm costs in the local economy, are described. The evidence suggests that a strategy focusing on human capital would have been more effective at stimulating per capita income growth than one designed to reduce firm costs.
The Organizationally Dependent Community
Authors: Crenshaw Edward , John Craig St.
Published: November 2009

We introduce the concept "organizationally dependent" community to describe communities that lack the basis for developing attachment through informal social integration and in which the primary source of attachment is participation in formal organizations created to protect the community from outside threats. Neighborhoods experiencing residential renovation are examples of organizationally dependent communities. Because renovators are newcomers to their neighborhoods they cannot rely on informal social networks to solve neighborhood problems, but they can become involved in formal organizations to do so. This type of participation becomes an important source of neighborhood attachment. Data testing this hypothesis, generally, are consistent with it.
Community Context and Metropolitan Church Growth
Authors: Guest Avery M.
Published: November 2009

A recurring issue in the urban literature is the degree to which individuals and institutions are influenced by their immediate environments. Church growth in Seattle-area churches is correlated with characteristics of the nearby area, such as spatial location, population composition, and social ties. Consistent with previous research, the "life cycle" stage of the surrounding neighborhood is an important predictor of growth but the social ties of the church to the nearby area also are important, including the church's duration at location and the localization of membership. The effects of the urban environment on growth are nearly as strong as church internal organizational characteristics.
Community Interaction and Suburban Zoning Policies
Authors: Burnell Barbara S. , Burnell James D.
Published: November 2009

Focusing on multifamily land use, this note discusses the hypothesis that zoning policies in a community are related to the zoning policies of surrounding communities. A community may restrict certain types of land use to preserve its neighborhood quality. As a result surrounding communities may adopt similar policies to prevent an influx that would reduce neighborhood quality. Empirically, a model is formulated to test whether the amount of multifamily development in a community is related to the amount of multifamily land use in surrounding communities. Other variables control for the effects of market forces, fiscal factors, and other effects. The empirical results are consistent with the hypothesis.
The Least Glorious, Most Local, Most Trivial, Homely, Provincial, and Most Ignored Form of Local Government
Authors: Stephens G. Ross
Published: November 2009

Scholars in the area of state and local government, for the most part, ignore local governments called towns and townships, write them off as insignificant, or assume they will wither away and disappear over the next few years. Yet, these presumably insignificant local governments serve 51 million residents, nearly half the population of township states, and are of increasing importance as local governing bodies in urban and suburban areas. The activities of township governments range from providing very limited service to acting as full-scale municipal corporations that provide all local public schools and even county-type services.
The Disintegration of Urban Policy
Authors: Keating Michael
Published: November 2009

In the past, the conflict between the growth and distributional aspects of urban policy has not been a major issue in Britain. In Glasgow, the institutional reforms of the 1970s heralded a comprehensive, public-sector-directed program for urban regeneration. In the 1980s, policy has disintegrated under the impact of recession, local fiscal cutback, and central government and agency intervention. A conflict between growth and distribution is posed. Glasgow emerges as a dual city, with subsidization of downtown business and amenities but widespread deprivation, especially on the periphery—reflecting conditions more widely seen in the "new Britain."