Urban Land InstituteULI—the Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit research and education organization supported by its members. Founded in 1936, the institute now has some 20,000 members worldwide representing the entire spectrum of land use and real estate development disciplines, working in private enterprise and public service. As the preeminent, multidisciplinary real estate forum, ULI facilitates the open exchange of ideas, information and experience among local, national and international industry leaders and policy makers dedicated to creating better places. The mission of the Urban Land Institute is to provide responsible leadership in the use of land to enhance the total environment.
Civic Practices Network
A Learning Collaborative for Civic Renewal
CPN is a collaborative and nonpartisan project bringing together a diverse array of organizations and perspectives within the civic renewal movement. CPN participants share a commitment to bringing practical methods for public problem solving into every community and institutional setting in America. CPN members assume the responsibility of telling their stories, so that all citizens may have the opportunity to learn from what others are doing to renew their communities. CPN members have a common faith that we can revitalize our democracy to tackle the complex problems of the 21st century if we can broadly exchange and continually refine the civic wisdom of what works and what empowers citizens to work together.
The Social Capital Community Benchmark SurveyThree dozen community foundations, other funders, and the Saguaro Seminar of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University joined together to survey nearly 30,000 people on the civic engagement of Americans. This is the largest-ever survey of its kind. The survey looks at how connected Americans are to family, friends, neighbors and civic institutions on a local and national level. These connections - our Social Capital - are the glue that hold us together and enable us to build bridges to others. This project is designed to assist residents in local communities as they work to build stronger communities and strengthen community bonds. -- What is "Social Capital?" The Encyclopedia of Informal Education says "The notion of social capital is a useful way of entering into debates about civil society – and it is central to the arguments of Robert Putnam and others who want to ‘reclaim public life’. It is also now being used by the World Bank with regard to economic and societal development and by management experts as a way of thinking about organizational development..."
Viewed by some as fueling gentrification, "the New Urbanist movement in architecture and town planning began in the United States as an effort to alleviate the pattern of urban and suburban sprawl that was a common element of post-World War II development around the country. The first place new visitors will want to start is by reading the charter statement of the group, along with a brief history of the organization, which was begun in 1993. The bulk of the substantive materials on the site are located in the Resources section of the site, which contains reports on different planning projects undertaken by New Urbanists, a bibliography of suggested readings organized around different topics (such as housing, policy, and retail), and an image bank containing visual materials from a host of different design sites. Additionally, users seeking the latest news and information about New Urbanist projects can access a frequently updated In The News area."
[KMG - From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2002. http://scout.wisc.edu/]
Books:
The past, present and future of the city, urban and suburban planning, redevelopment, sprawl, gentrification, race, class, economics, public schools. Browse recent and classic books on these topics (new and used) at Amazon.com through our Urban Issues Book List.
Resources, Reports and Data:
City Assessor's Office - Many detailed reports, data, maps, etc.
Change in Recently Sold Riverwest Home Values 2000-2002
"Building Milwaukee's Neighborhoods." Gregg Hoffmann. Milwaukee Insight. June 18, 2002.
Gentrification and Displacement - from The Municipal Art Society, a private, non-profit membership organization whose mission is to promote a more livable city. Since 1893, the Society has worked to enrich the culture, neighborhoods and physical design of New York City. It advocates excellence in urban design and planning, contemporary architecture, historic preservation and public art.
This report indicates that anti-displacement work has tended to take place in two arenas – local grassroots organizing and anti-eviction work, and, affordable housing development. it proposes a third arena of activism – organizing to win policy changes. (Preserving rent regulation has of course been a central focus of the tenant movement and is absolutely vital, although only one piece of an anti-displacement strategy). While this is not a new idea, it deserves fresh attention. Gentrification displacement is not a fact of nature. Rather, it is, to a great extent, a result of specific choices and policies made by government agencies and elected officials. These government policies can be changed so they are less destructive, and, new policies can be put in place thathave a positive impact. What follows are four preliminary policy suggestions that address the problem of displacement. They focus on tax policy, mortgage policy, zoning policy, and housing code as it relates to SROs. We have suggested issues that we believe are winnable, but we have not included any suggestions about how the campaigns should be organized. Please note that these suggestions are offered only to begin a discussion. There are no doubt other ideas that should be explored, and the ideas that we are offering may not be the correct ones.
The Housing and Community Development KnowledgePlex
The inclusive, far-reaching resource for timely, authoritative, and practical information on Affordable Housing and Community Development (AH/CD), www.knowledgeplex.org is the product of a collaborative partnership among leaders in the Affordable Housing and Community Development field. The site launched in October 2001. Funding for designing, developing, and building the KnowledgePlex™ was provided by the Fannie Mae Foundation.
Islands of Decay in Seas of Renewal: Urban Policy and the Resurgence of Gentrification (with response papers)
Fifteen years ago, Brian J. L. Berry characterized urban gentrification as "islands of renewal in seas of decay." After a slowdown in the early 1990s, gentrification is enjoying a resurgence, according to Elvin K. Wyly and Daniel J. Hammel's Forum article. They argue, however, that public policy and housing finance are now so favorable for urban revitalization that, in some cities, gentrification is becoming pervasive, surrounding "islands of decay in seas of renewal." The authors identify key shifts in banking practice and public policy as driving this trend. They find that, in the mid-1990s, mortgage capital flows into gentrified urban neighborhoods grew at more than twice the rate of growth for suburban areas. They also argue that recent assisted housing policy, which favors urban revitalization and neighborhood income mixing as strategies to deconcentrate poverty, has contributed to the rise in gentrification. While gentrification may be viewed as a positive force in revitalizing urban neighborhoods, the scarcity of affordable housing in many urban housing markets is making gentrification — which generally upgrades the less expensive housing stock — a hot political issue in some cities.
The Chicago Rehab Network: Development Without Displacement
In this paper, we have outlined approaches, policies, strategies, or programs addressing the issue of development without displacement. Can we find ways to redevelop communities for their current low-income residents? Can we find ways to include the costs of displacement in redevelopment? To answer these questions we have compiled a list of programs and strategies that have been used in Chicago and other cities. In addition, we have included a section on case studies of Chicago communities that have been fighting displacement. In these case studies, we have put the strategies in a context to show how different communities and situations call for different strategies. In the last section, Concluding Remarks, we try to show a way forward by discussing how a combination of strategies are needed with an overriding policy that views development without displacement of low income residents as a serious urban issue.
Dealing with Neighborhood Change: A Primer on Gentrification and Policy Choices - By Maureen Kennedy and Paul Leonard - April 2001
This paper serves as a primer on how to view the complex issue of gentrification. It reviews the findings, analyses and frameworks developed during the gentrification wave of the '70s and '80s. The paper outlines the complex ways that current and "original" residents view gentrification-and clarifies that long-time neighbors can take very different positions on the gentrification issue. Additionally, the paper shows the wide range in the way gentrification pressures play out in three very different cities and one multi-city region - Atlanta, Cleveland, Washington, D.C., and the San Francisco Bay Area - pointing out that gentrification is a much more urgent concern in some areas than in others, where it hardly exists at all. Finally, the paper suggests policies and strategies that can be pursued to advance equitable development by optimizing the benefits of neighborhood change while minimizing or eliminating the downsides of such change.
Gentrification: Practice and Politics - Home Ownership Summit 2000 Research at LISC, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.
This paper provides data and analysis on the realities of gentrifcation as well as explanations of how different interest groups view it. This paper argues that the term "gentrification" is often counterproductive. People affected by or involved in economic change in a city community all too frequently descend into unproductive fights where they do not understand each other or communicate well because they all define gentrification differently. Too much attention is focused on the character and consequences of gentrification, and not enough energy is devoted productively to the "end game"--its causes and solutions. By reframing the issue in a productive way, the paper offers ways to build vital communities that work for all stakeholders. The paper uses its findings to suggest policies and strategies that can be pursued to optimize the benefits of neighborhood change while minimizing or eliminating the downsides of such change.
Beyond Gentrification: Equitable Development Toolkit
Policylink.org offers an equitable development toolkit for dealing with gentrification: Using a comprehensive approach, these tools have been crafted to help community builders achieve equitable development--diverse, mixed-income/mixed wealth neighborhoods--strong, stable, and welcoming to all.
Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions
The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (located in Switzerland) "is committed to local and national capacity-building in the area of economic, social and cultural rights and places particular emphasis on securing respect for the housing rights of traditionally disadvantaged groups, including women, children, ethic or other minorities and indigenous peoples." With this mission in mind, the site contains materials for persons interested in international trends in litigation for housing rights, forced evictions, and housing rights across the globe. Also, there is an online library of documents and additional reports related to these subjects and a section for those persons who may choose to get involved with different projects. The site is rounded out by several extensive glossaries of terms related to housing rights and a section on the Centre's most recent activities. [KMG - Scout Report]
State of Working Wisconsin 2002 Report
This recent report, produced by the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, offers a great deal of timely and prescient material on Wisconsin's work force, along with providing information on income trends and offering some suggestions for future policy initiatives. Some of the findings of the report include documentation that, while median family income has increased, total hours worked have increased. The full 72-page report offers extensive data (through 2001) dealing with the problems and possibilities that Wisconsin's working population faces, along with an executive summary and a county-by-county breakdown of economic and other work-related data. The report also contains extensive data on the methodology deployed throughout, along with extensive policy recommendations. [KMG - Scout Report]
Affordable Housing Under Siege - Resources on the Video Activists' Network
Urban Sprawl Directory (Environmental NetworkRoom)
Resources on Gentrification (The Journal of Law in Society - Wayne State Univ. - A Bibliography)
European Perspectives:
Social Inclusion, Urban Governance and Sustainability: Towards a Conceptual Framework (PDF file)
Centre for Neighbourhood Research (CNR)
GentrificationWeb - The King's College London Gentrification Research Website
Brownfield Gentrification in Amsterdam
Brownfield sites are underused urban areas, generally dating from the first phase of industrialisation. In Europe that ranges from 1800-1914 in Britain, 1870-1940 in Germany, and 1900-1970 in much of eastern and southern Europe. In the USA, the term is used especially for contaminated sites. Industrial technologies changed, the shift to road transport displaced rail transport, and port zones moved seaward. These sites were then available for urban development projects, usually with negative effects - gentrification. This comment examines the conversion of a former coal-gas plant in Amsterdam, the Westergasfabriek, and the new park surrounding it.
Gentrification is the unit-by-unit acquisition of housing, displacing low-income residents by high-income residents. Gentrification is independent of the structural condition, architecture, tenure, or original cost level of the housing - although the housing is usually renovated for (or by) the new occupiers. In the classic gentrification pattern, upper-middle-class buyers bought individual units, from working-class owner-occupiers, or from small-scale landlords. In the course of 5, 10 or 20 years, the original population was replaced by a population with a different social class, culture, income level, and lifestyle. This typically happens in older urban residential areas, but there is also rural gentrification around large cities. Gentrification implies displacement: building new luxury housing on an empty site is not gentrification. The market in expensive houses, selling from the rich to the rich, is not gentrification either.
Use gentrification is a term for the unit-by-unit acquisition of industrial or commercial property for art, cultural, fashion or other high-status use. It affects primarily industrial areas in decline - possible future brownfield redevelopment zones. The conversion itself, and the acquisition, may be illegal: this category includes squatting ('art squats').
The phases of gentrification have not been categorised by systematic research, but it seems that art and culture are prominent in the first phase. The first art gallery in a working-class neighbourhood is a classic sign of imminent gentrification. Later these activities (and the associated population) may themselves be displaced - by an older high-income population and by office uses. In the newest gentrification zone of Amsterdam, the northern docklands, this pattern has been institutionalised. An 'alternative' arts centre will be financed by the city, as a driver for the redevelopment. After 10 years, when redevelopment is complete, the lease will terminate, and the artists are officially expected to move on to the next gentrification zone.
Urban regeneration is the name usually applied by planners and politicians to brownfield redevelopment, from single sites to docklands. It also covers a wide range of social policies, and may be used as a euphemism for gentrification.
Social cleansing is a term now used, at least in the Netherlands, for deliberate policies aimed at removing a section of the population - a criminal underclass, or simply those with low incomes. It is ultimately driven by the belief that an area (and its administration) has failed, if such people live there. A quasi-moral moral character, attributed to residents, is also attributed to the geographical area itself. Unlike gentrification, social cleansing is always government-initiated.
The Press in Other Cities on Gentrifying Neighborhoods
Getting a handle on gentrification in Nordeast - Chris Roberts - Minnesota Public Radio - December 6, 2002.
Northeast Minneapolis is at a crossroads. It's been an artist haven for years, but the areas' funky nature has drawn the attention of developers, and now artists can't afford the rising prices. Now the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association has developed a plan to make it work for everyone.
A Black Enclave in Pittsburgh Is Revived - Lynnette Clemetson - The New York Times - August 9, 2002.
Gentrification isn't just for white people. What happens when middle and upper-class blacks gentrify an old south Pittsburgh neighborhood?
What is Gentrification? - Tom Wetzel.
Gentrification: Capitalism and the Paradox of Urban Revitalization - Peter Brinson.
Quality of Life is Not So Black And White - Mark Winston-Griffith.
A prominent community development professional in Brooklyn reflects on gentrification and his own part in it.
Shame of the Cities: Gentrification in the New Urban America - Kari Lydersen - LiP Magazine March 15, 1999.
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