On Common Ground: Winter 2007

Diversity SmartGrowth & C ensus Bureau figures tell us that our young families and fewer moderate-income people. nation is becoming more diverse and in Likewise, large-lot zoning results in large, expen- many places there is no longer a majori- sive houses targeted toward a narrow range of the ty population. Communities across the nation, well population. More generally, zoning combined with beyond larger metropolitan areas and immigration marketing methods have resulted in the “one price gateways, are becoming more diverse as their point” subdivision, segregating families by income. African-American, Hispanic and Asian populations An often discussed, but seldom pursued, aspect increase. of Smart Growth is its value as a tool toward inclu- In the nation’s fastest growing metropolitan sion and increased social equity for disadvantaged areas, from 2000 to 2004, minority groups con- minorities. For most of the 20th century, develop- tributed to the majority of population gains. ment patterns, from urban disinvestment to subur- National growth centers such as Las Vegas, ban sprawl encouraged by single-use zoning, rein- Atlanta, Orlando and Phoenix are now prominent forced Americans’ tendency to live among others centers of minority population growth. like themselves—similar income level, same racial Yet in spite of the increasing overall diversity of group, maybe even the same ages or household our cities and suburbs, when we view the nation on type. Increasingly, many people are seeing Smart a local neighborhood scale, America’s minority Growth as an approach that can increase the diver- populations are still largely segregated from the sity of our neighborhoods. But diversity will not majority white population. Growth planning in happen automatically. many communities can reduce the choices people Some Smart Growth methods may naturally have about where they live. Communities that use achieve more inclusion—mixed-use zoning could zoning to exclude apartments will have fewer be used to provide a wider range of housing types 2 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

and prices, which could encourage a greater mixing of household incomes and sizes. Transportation options, such as better transit and better facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists, would allow those without the means to own or operate a car the ability to fully participate in economic and social opportunities. Reducing sprawl can bring needed reinvestment to disadvantaged older neighborhoods, bringing a range of incomes and new opportunities to former pockets of poverty. But without a serious focus on inclusion and diversity, Smart Growth development, whether it takes the form of new “greenfield” towns or redevelopment or infill pattern of growth, as one tool to bring people in older neighborhoods, could result in more of the together across racial and class lines. Coupled with predominant pattern of segregation in America. policies and approaches that reduce racial barriers People who care about inclusion and diversity and provide increased economic opportunities for are viewing Smart Growth, which supports a minorities, Smart Growth can get us closer to our greater diversity and connectivity in the physical ideal of one America. For more information on NAR and Smart Growth, go to www.realtor.org/smartgrowth. On Common Ground is published twice a year by the Government Affairs office of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR), and is distributed free of charge. The publication presents a wide range of views on Smart Growth issues, with the goal of encouraging a dialogue among REALTORS®, elected officials and other interested citizens. The opinions expressed in On Common Ground are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policy of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, its members or affiliate organizations. Editor Special Issue Co-Editor Joseph R. Molinaro Fred Underwood Manager, Smart Growth Programs Manager of Diversity Programs NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® 500 New Jersey Avenue, NW 500 New Jersey Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20001 Washington, DC 20001 Distribution For more copies of this issue or to be placed on our mailing list for future issues of On Common Ground, please contact Ted Wright, NAR Government Affairs, at (202) 383-1206 or twright@realtors.org. WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 3

W hen many Americans look at their neighbors, they see themselves. Same skin. Same income. Same— Heading more or less—house. Sometimes it’s by choice. Other times it’s due to lack of choice. Either way, it’s segregation based on race and class. And in many communities, it remains a fact of life. “There are a lot of willing integrationists in American society, but when you try to find a stable, racially integrated neighborhood, there’s not a lot of choice there,” said Sheryll Cashin. Cashin, a law professor at Georgetown University, is the author of “The Failures of Integration: How Race and Class are toward Undermining the American Dream.” Segregation may not be Diversity the law of the land, said Cashin, but after decades of policies and practices that sanctioned and promoted it, segregation based on race and class still dictates housing patterns in many communities. Changing that, she said, will take a conscious effort. “There’s been a high degree of intentionality around [segregation] and I don’t think you can counter that by accident,” she said. “If you want inclusion … you have to have policies that reflect that.” As inclusion advocates pursue their agenda, Cashin believes they have a natural—if not always recognized—potential ally in supporters of Smart Growth. And vice versa. “The goals of Smart Growth align with the goals of people who care about creating inclusion,” she said. “It’s not always obvious these people should work together, but they should.” Smart Growth Smart Growth is most often viewed as a tool to address sprawl, congestion and wasteful consumption of land and resource. Can Smart Growth also address issues of race and addresses race class in housing patterns? “I think that it has the potential to do so, but the whole issue and class issues of race and class has to be part of the discussion at the beginning,” said Carlton Eley, a member of the Planning and Black By Brad Broberg Community Division of the American Planning Association. “It can’t be an afterthought.” 6 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 7

Over the next 25 to 30 years, the U.S. will need regated?” he said. “You wall yourself off and an estimated 45 million new housing units. At the maybe I do the same.” same time, the U.S. is moving toward the day Given the gains achieved by the civil rights when it will become a majority minority country. movement, segregated housing patterns are no The question, said Xavier de Souza Briggs, is how longer about blatant denial of rights. They’re will America grow—together or apart? about lack of choice. Everybody—in theory—is Briggs is an associate professor of sociology and free to live wherever they want. In reality, choices urban planning at the Massachusetts Institute of are limited by what’s affordable. If the only afford- Technology and author of “The Geography of able housing for low-income populations—typical- Opportunity: Race and Housing Choice in ly disproportionately minority—is concentrated in Metropolitan America.” He considers the need to specific neighborhoods, that’s segregation. expand housing choice “the most important invis- “I think we still have to work at this experiment ible policy issue in America today.” we call civil rights and inclusion and diversity,” Briggs calls it an invisible problem because said Eley. “It’s all about choice.” “most white Americans don’t think housing dis- It’s not just about choices denied, though. It’s crimination is much of a problem anymore and also about choices made. As people climb the lad- many black Americans are ambivalent about inte- der, said Cashin, the holy grail of housing is to gration.” Much, however, is at stake, said Briggs. continually “buy into the best neighborhood you “What kind of a democracy can we be if we’re seg- can afford”—neighborhoods typically located far- If you want inclusion … you have to have policies that reflect that. 8 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

The goals of Smart Growth align with the goals of people who care about creating inclusion. ther and farther from the city and filled with hous- the Federal Housing es of similar price and people of similar class. Administration (FHA) “Most people think of [segregation] as the natural once instructed all state of the real estate market.” private lenders who In any discussion about segregation, there’s an offered FHA-backed elephant in the room that many people pretend loans that it was “nec- isn’t there. “Fear of black people in numbers is a essary that properties contributor to sprawl,” said Cashin, herself an continue to be occu- African American. “People don’t want to admit it, pied by the same spe- but I think that drives a lot of outward movement. cial and racial class- Any metropolitan area that has a black population es,” said Cashin. approaching 20 percent has … very strict patterns Today, that would of racial segregation.” be against the law, yet Briggs agrees. “That fear is there,” he said. many neighborhoods “Everybody is comfortable with some diversity. It’s still suffer the conse- just a question of where the threshold is.” quences of that form Out-and-out racism is not necessarily driving of segregation, said the fear. In fact, Briggs calls young white renters Cashin. Meanwhile, a “the market’s great integrators.” They appreciate host of other policies the affordability, diversity and energy found in and practices contin- inner-city neighborhoods—which is also where ue to perpetuate seg- low-income and minority populations tend to be regation. They include zoning codes that preclude concentrated, he said. affordable housing, lack of public and private Everything changes, however, when renters investment in low-income neighborhoods and the start thinking about buying a home and raising a steering of black and Latino buyers to “appropri- family. That’s when things like property values ate” areas, said Cashin. and school test scores begin to drive their housing If that’s the how-come of segregated housing decisions. “It’s a bit of a confidence game played patterns, what is the why-care? out on a grand level,” said Briggs. “People say, I’m “If you think about what America stands for— not prejudiced, but I’m going to [choose a neigh- freedom, equality, everybody who works hard borhood] based on what other people’s prejudices should be able to progress—our best view of might be.” America is never going to come to pass if we don’t In the past, the institutional forces shaping seg- achieve racial and economic inclusion,” said regated housing patterns were blunt. For example, Cashin. The nitty-gritty is this, said Briggs. Segregated housing patterns limit access to opportunities for Kentlands in Gaithersburg, Maryland WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 9

Beall’s Hill in Macon, Georgia You get racial inclusion through the collaborations you build. auxiliary units built over the garages or at the rear of full-size homes—that rent for as little as $750 a month, said Thadani. “They’re referred to as a Trojan Horse to increase density,” he said. Auxiliary units add affordable housing to Kentlands without changing the look and feel of the neighborhood from the street, Thadani said. Beall’s Hill is an old residential neighborhood next to Mercer University. To boost the supply of walking-distance housing for university staff/fac- ulty and employees of a nearby medical center, the university and the city of Macon enlisted Ayers/Saint Gross to create a master plan for the neighborhood that would renovate old homes and low-income and/or minority populations. By limit- build new ones. The university is offering a sub- ing choice in housing, segregation limits choice in sidy to employees—17 percent of the final closing education, employment and overall quality of price of a home up to a maximum of $15,000. life—all of which lag where poverty dominates. Many Beall’s Hill homes sat on 200-feet-deep “What’s at stake is the ability of people to function lots with vast back yards. To create more density, in healthy ways,” he said. the lots were split into 100-foot-deep parcels and Count Cashin among those who consider Smart new streets built between the subdivided lots. The Growth a possible remedy—“if it’s done wisely and result is a neighborhood where carefully designed with a degree of intentionality,” she said. “I know new homes of 600 to 2,800 square feet blend seam- what Smart Growth stands for, but the results can lessly with renovated historic mansions of 3,000 vary on the ground.” square feet. “We were very conscious of not being With its emphasis on density, infill develop- able to tell from the street level that this house was ment, access to public transportation and—most different than that house,” said Thadani. importantly—diverse housing types, Smart Growth Kentlands and Beall’s Hill show it’s possible for brings a lot to the inclusion table. Rather than cre- Smart Growth to provide economic inclusion in the ating neighborhoods for a single class of people— housing market. At the end of the day, however, be it high-income or low-income—Smart Growth people are still free to make up their own minds creates neighborhoods where choices exist for about where they want to live. “Just because you both. expand choice doesn’t mean people will avail In some cases, Smart Growth creates affordable themselves of that choice,” said Briggs. choices in affluent communities. In others, it cre- That’s especially true for racial inclusion. “I ates upscale choices in less affluent communities. don’t know how you can encourage one racial Either way, it fosters a less segregated housing group over another,” said Thadani. market. Dhiru Thadani can point to successful It definitely can’t be mandated, said Cashin. examples of each. “No way constitutionally or philosophically would Thadani, a principal with Ayers/Saint Gross it make sense to set aside [private] housing specif- Architects and Planners in Washington, D.C., ically for racial or ethnic groups,” she said. “The helped design Kentlands, a New Urban communi- only way you get racial inclusion is through the ty in Gaithersburg, Md., and Beall’s Hill, a rede- collaborations you build.” velopment project in Macon, Ga. Both feature a The goals of advocates pushing racial inclusion variety of housing choices—not just in the same and those promoting Smart Growth represent “a community but on the same block. convergence of self-interests” that should motivate In Kentlands, $500,000 homes sit next to them to become close allies, said Cashin. Smart $225,000 homes. That’s a small step toward Growth—at least on paper—expands choice in the expanding choice. A bigger one is “granny flats”— housing market. Meanwhile, inclusion—or rather 10 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

the “racially identifiable populations” the move- Take, for example, sprawl. It isn’t just a blight on ment serves—expands Smart Growth’s political the landscape or a strain on infrastructure. It steers support for the land-use policies it requires. investment, development and people away from “I think we still have to work at fostering a inner-city neighborhoods, which suffer according- sense of parity across communities,” said Eley. ly. “I would say that they’re the biggest victims of “Civil rights is often viewed as a means to an end. sprawl, yet they don’t have a voice in development Financial literacy is another important tool. In the patterns at all,” said Trenholm. “We really feel like end, it’s all about choice.” these groups … need to be represented in some of That’s exactly what the Coalition for Livable the policy decisions happening here.” Communities is doing in Memphis, Tenn. The Inclusion is not just the right thing, it’s what coalition is a community-based network that is many people want, said Cashin. “Right now, promoting Smart Growth “from an equity perspec- there’s more demand for racially integrated neigh- tive,” said Emily Trenholm, executive director of borhoods than neighborhoods to fill the demand,” the Community Development Council of Greater she said. “If you build it, they will come. You may Memphis. “People in low-income neighborhoods not get everybody, but there’s a lot of people who are very focused on neighborhood issues,” said want their children to grow up in diversity.” Trenholm. “They don’t step back and think about Brad Broberg is a Seattle-based freelance writer special- how some of the these bigger issues affect their izing in business and development issues. His work neighborhoods.” appears regularly in the Puget Sound Business Journal and the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. There’s a lot of people who want their children to grow up in diversity. WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 11

Gentrif ication Is it the blueprint for neighborhood improvement or displacement? By Heidi Johnson-Wright 12 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 13

F or some, it can signify many positives: activity and a sense of community. This scenario affordable, unique housing stock with has a heavy impact on the residents. Political lines eye-catching architectural details, funky are drawn and strange bedfellows come together. little boutiques and delightful ethnic eateries, brag- Urban pioneers move in—the privileged, the edu- ging rights about a cool zip code. cated, artistic types—attracted by a variety of hous- For others, it means nothing but negatives: ris- ing options, access to transit, cultural aspects, the ing rents, a sense of invasion, changing neighbor- energy, the funkiness.” hood identity and an uncertain future. “The people who move in—the artists, then the Gentrification is one of those words that can trig- hipsters, then the yuppies and the very affluent— ger a variety of reactions and opinions, though its are attracted to the same things that drew the orig- most basic definition is very simple: “people of inal residents, but they are less dependent upon higher income moving into a neighborhood.” them. What are amenities to those who move in were necessities for those who were displaced,” After said Grant. But not everyone agrees on the phenomenon of displacement. Lance Freeman, professor in the urban planning program at Columbia University, believes that displacement is not always an automatic, pejorative result of gentrification. “Some people claim to find high amounts of displacement, and you would think this is pretty widespread. But the studies I’ve seen don’t seem to show a lot of displacement,” said Freeman. In Freeman’s recent book, “There Goes the ‘Hood,” which focuses on black, inner-city neighborhoods, he states that “… indigenous residents do not necessarily react to gentrification according to some of the preconceived notions generally attributed to residents of these neighborhoods. Before Their reactions are both more receptive and opti- mistic, yet at the same time more pessimistic and Martindale on the Monon, distrustful than the literature on gentrification Indianapolis, Indiana might lead us to believe.” Freeman doesn’t dispute that negative things It can come in var- can sometimes result from gentrification, yet he ious forms and indis- cites communities—Boston’s Dudley Street and putably signals downtown Brooklyn—that have employed success- change, but just what ful programs and mechanisms to turn the negatives those changes are into positives. and whom they affect In a 2005 issue of Poverty & Race, published by can range across a the Poverty & Race Research Action Council, for- very broad spectrum. mer Berkeley, Calif., Mayor Gus Newport wrote “Urban change is always a traumatic process, about his tenure as the director of Boston’s Dudley and is part and parcel of cities themselves. The Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI.) His con- issues become: what is the rate of change? Who are tention is that, in the long run, public affordable the losers, and do they have ways of adapting?” housing resources speed up gentrification and dis- said Benjamin Grant, planner, urban designer, placement. Therefore, community land trusts writer and teacher in the Urban and Regional (CLTs) are a better solution. Planning Program at San José State. “Through a series of policy firsts, DSNI became Looking to his own stomping ground—the San the first community nonprofit organization in the Francisco Bay area—Grant references the San country to be awarded eminent domain powers Francisco Mission District as an example. over vacant land in a 1.3-square-mile area of the “This type of gentrification involves an immi- city of Boston,” wrote Newport. grant neighborhood of residents who are primarily “The CLTs long-term interest in the land and renters. Before gentrification, it’s a thriving neigh- property assures that this balance of interests is borhood with jobs, access to transit, commercial maintained and community wealth is retained. The 14 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

Residents were able to create a vibrant multicultural community. value of public subsidies used to develop the The development’s potential affects upon the affordable housing is permanently tied to the hous- local community have caused a hue and cry, and ing, thus recycling subsidy dollars from owner to served as a catalyst for a deal that’s been struck owner, assuring long-term affordability and com- between the developer, Forest City Ratner and munity benefit.” ACORN, the Association of Community “Through the community-controlled land trust, Organizations for Reform Now, the nation’s largest the residents were able to create a vibrant multicul- community organization of low- and moderate- tural community, developing hundreds of afford- income families, working together for social justice able homes and providing an opportunity for resi- and stronger communities. dents to personally benefit from the community “When Atlantic Yards was originally proposed, it revitalization they themselves planned,” Newport contained only market-rate rental housing and con- wrote. dominiums. Between 1990 and 2000, the African Atlantic Yards, a proposed mixed-use Frank American population of the area surrounding Gehry and Laurie Olin-designed development in Atlantic Yards decreased by 17.2 percent. For more downtown Brooklyn, will include housing, offices, than a decade, we had seen new high-rise condo- retail and a boutique hotel surrounded by seven- miniums popping up across the downtown plus acres of public open space, plus an arena for Brooklyn skyline—pushing out longtime residents Brooklyn’s NBA franchise, the Brooklyn Nets. and exacerbating the area’s housing affordability While it has yet to be built, Atlantic Yards has crisis,” said Bertha Lewis, executive director of sparked substantial controversy. New York ACORN. WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 15

When you have diversity, Eric S. Friedman, a REALTOR® and developer in St. Louis, Mo., believes in the importance of it brings new energy and maintaining diversity in creating a real community. “What happens when we don’t have a sense of an improved economy to community? It does something to the fabric of our the community. society when we must drive everywhere instead of walking. This affects everything, from crime right down to one’s personal health,” said Friedman. “Through months of negotiations we arrived at “When you have diversity, it brings new energy New York City’s first legally binding Community and an improved economy to a community. This Benefits Agreement and a groundbreaking helps people to take advantage of the value of Memorandum of Understanding between ACORN diversity. To attract diversity, it helps to have range and Forest City Ratner about the housing compo- of types and prices of housing in a community.” nent of the project.” Friedman has been very involved in getting a Lewis said under the agreement, half of Atlantic 25-percent state historic tax credit and other tax Yards’ 4,500 rental units will be offered at afford- incentives passed in Missouri. able rates. Unlike many NYC affordable apart- “We’ve been a throwaway society. Look at how ments that have a limited range of unit types, this we treat natural resources. The same applies to development will have different apartments that buildings. The (historic tax credit) program can can accommodate household sizes from one to six. bring great economic rewards. The program sup- All 4,500 units, including the 50 percent made ports the renovation of historic properties and affordable, will be rent stabilized. buildings in a historic district and includes home “More than anything, in an era of increasing ownership, multifamily housing, rental housing housing segregation, Atlantic Yards will be one of and requires high renovation standards. The tax the only neighborhoods in Brooklyn where families credit goes to developers as incentives to renovate, of all backgrounds will be able to really live and especially in a high construction cost market, grow together,” she said. Neighborhood clean-up day, Indianapolis, Indiana 16 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

where there can be extra costs like asbestos abatement and environmental issues,” Friedman said. As Friedman points out, gentrification doesn’t always equate to tearing down buildings in old neighborhoods and replacing them with out-sized monolithic structures, as sometimes happened during the first wave of American urban renewal. With tax credit programs and creative Indianapolis Mayor, Bart Peterson, looks on redevelopers, restabilizing a as Navonda Adams, lifelong resident of neighborhood can include pre- Martindale on the Monon, speaks in support serving its character and scale. of the neighborhood gentrification. As a former four-term mayor of Indianapolis, author and Urban Land Institute Joseph C. Canizaro Chair for Public Policy, William H. Hudnut, III understands a thing Restabilizing a neighborhood or two about gentrification and effective approaches to it. can include preserving its “Cities are becoming more sensitive to these issues. You don’t just go in and slash and burn. You character and scale. go in and save,” said Hudnut. “The government has an obligation, as well as When Martindale developer Mike Higbee developers, to work with people and appropriately arrived on the scene four years ago, he saw a once relocate them in the same neighborhood, if their thriving community with strong history of home homes must be taken in creating permanently ownership blighted with abandoned cars, trash and affordable housing or other development projects. overgrown weeds. But he knew things could turn If redevelopment allows for homes to be saved, around without displacing those who wanted to then there needs to be partnerships with communi- stay. The key was the approach. ty development corporations or other nonprofits to “It took us two years to assemble the land, which procure grant funds for restoring the properties.” had enough empty lots to re-knit the fabric of the Hudnut’s advice to communities facing these neighborhood. Then we had to earn the trust of the issues is to employ patience and respect for the existing homeowners. We went door to door telling residents. the residents that no one would be uprooted; no ”As the mayor of Indianapolis, my mantra was one’s home would be taken. We also brought in a ‘avoid the acute angle.’ Don’t let things degenerate community development corporation to get funds into a ‘me versus you’ situation. Come to the table to rehabilitate some of the homes,” said Higbee. and see what we can work out,” he said. Since those early days when the median house Regarding the emotional chord that gentrifica- value was $26,000, they’ve built 22 houses which tion can strike, Hudnut thinks that it’s gotten a have caused the average area home value to jump bum wrap. to $185,000. Of the new homes built, 40 percent are “People start wailing and weeping and gnashing affordable and 60 percent are market rate. their teeth. I think you can say ‘three cheers for With each successive year, they hope to be gentrification,’ especially when it serves to coun- adding 40 to 50 more. Townhomes, apartments, and teract abandonment, increase the tax base and sta- a live/work district are also planned. Some folks bilize a neighborhood.” have already moved in to this neighborhood near a As a good example of a project that utilizes bike/hike trail, and they include lawyers, artists Smart Growth principles to achieve these goals, and an airline mechanic. Hudnut points to Martindale on the Monon, a Said Higbee: “We’re not building housing; we’re revival of a historic downtown Indianapolis neigh- in the business of building a neighborhood.” borhood with new single-family housing. Heidi Johnson-Wright frequently writes about Smart The first 15 home sales happened to be made to Growth and sustainable communities. She and her white young professional trendsetters moving into husband live in a restored historic home in the heart of Miami’s Little Havana. Contact her at: a neighborhood comprised largely of African hjohnsonwright@yahoo.com. American senior citizens. WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 17

The Key to Family Housing Smart Growth opens the door for affordable family housing options By Christine Jordan Sexton 18 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 19

H omes are where jobs go at night. It’s not The reason is simple, says Hamilton, vice presi- a saying California REALTOR® and dent and manager of Alain Pinel REALTORS® developer Jim Hamilton originally branch in Los Altos and 2005 president of the coined, but it is a turn of phrase that has helped California Association of REALTORS®. Without guide his belief that family housing is the fabric of affordable housing options for their employees, a diverse, thriving, well-planned community. employers will relocate their firms. When the jobs In short, without family housing a community’s leave, the workers and their families will follow. social and economic success are at risk. “One thing families create and children create is the future,” Hamilton said. “Who is going to fill into the community and take over the community as we get older and retire if we don’t have children in the environment? Who is going to be there?” Yet resistance to including family housing in communities is commonplace. Exclusionary zoning requirements like oversized lots block affordable options from being built. They also drive up the costs of the home and contribute to widespread and ill use of land. Exclusionary zoning essentially undermines the efforts to build high-density, mixed-use developments that offer a variety of housing options to meet different income levels. Consider Massachusetts. It is the only state to lose population the last two years and it ranks in the bottom five nationally in housing production. It is considered the most expensive housing market in the nation, and it is a prime example of an area where affordable family housing is slipping away. Through exclusionary zoning requirements— namely large lot requirements—communities there have routinely opposed the inclusion of affordable family housing for the local school teacher and his family of four or the area firefighter and her three children. Communities cite any number of reasons for opposing family housing options, such as more traffic congestion, increased demand on infrastructure and increased local taxes to pay for schools. A January 2006 study conducted by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership and the MIT Center for Real Estate indicates that half of the 30,387 new single-family homes built between 1998 and 2002 were built on lots of nearly an acre or larger. In the Western United States, the study indicates, the typical new house is built on about Without family housing, a community’s social and economic success are at risk. 20 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

In order to maintain successful family housing in developed areas, people need to abandon the conventional ideas. one-quarter of an acre of land and in the South the typical new home lot is one-third of an acre. The study notes only one out of four communities outside the metropolitan area had any multifamily developments of five or more units during the same four-year period. It’s startling statistics like that which helped per new or rehabbed unit—also will be paid to the lead to the passage of 40 S and 40 R, new regula- developer once the permit for the new or rehabbed tions in Massachusetts that deal with growth and is issued. family housing in a New Urbanism, Smart Growth 40 S is meant to work more like an insurance context. policy and won’t trickle into the community unless The first of the new laws—40 R—pays a commu- the school district incurs a deficit due to an influx nity willing to build housing in high density areas. of 40 R housing. The community gets paid an incentive for zoning Thirty-five years before the new Smart Growth the units and then gets state Smart Growth incen- laws, the Massachusetts Legislature passed tive money again when the buildings are complete. Chapter 40 B, or the comprehensive permit law. It 40 S is an incentive to pay for any additional encourages communities to have 10 percent of educational costs related to school-age children their housing stock available for households whose who come from the 40 R produced housing. income is 80 percent or less of median for the area. Thirty-five communities are actively working on When communities don’t meet those standards, implementing Smart Growth zoning districts under developers can apply locally for streamlined “com- chapter 40 R and as of October 3, six Smart Growth prehensive” permits to build mixed-income hous- zones had been approved by local governing bod- ing so long as they are willing to commit at least 25 ies, said Eleanor White, president of Housing percent of the units for residents with below-aver- Partners, Inc., an affordable housing consulting age incomes. firm based in Massachusetts. Nonetheless, when developers try to override 40 R incentive dollars—which range from a low local zoning under Chapter 40 B, “communities of $10,000 for 20 new units to a high of $600,000 for often fight tooth and nail, except for age-qualified, more than 500 units—can begin flowing to the (55 and older) projects that don’t produce chil- communities almost immediately. An additional dren,” said David Wluka, president of the “one time density bonus payment,” set at $3,000 Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®. The WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 21

ing happening’ is not an option. People tend not to understand.” In California, Hamilton and his partner, Dan Niemann, developed the $25 million El Centro Lorento, a community housing center developed along with the not-for-profit organization Search to Involve Filipino Americans. Although the building was allowed under zoning requirements, it was met with a firestorm of opposition from neighborhoods more than one mile away. Today there is a waiting list for the residences. “The day it opened it was filled to capacity,” said Hamilton, who also is a partner in Neimann Properties. In order to maintain successful family housing in developed areas, people need to abandon the conventional ideas in favor of flexible zoning mod- els. Family housing could be built near the oversize parking lots employers are willing to build to ease parking woes or even over the parking lots if zoning was more forward thinking. Employers would have to start playing a role in order for scenarios like that to play out, Hamilton said, adding that communities and municipalities also would need to One thing families work with the employers to help make it all hap- create and children pen. “That takes an awful lot of players getting create is the future. involved,” Hamilton said. Developer businessman Cortez Carter gives Chicago high marks for prioritizing family housing rejected project is then sent to the state Housing in the redevelopment projects occurring there. Appeals Committee for review which takes prece- Carter is the president of the Chicago-based dent over local rules. Quest Development Group, a fully integrated con- In the battle to provide affordable housing, 40 B struction firm with expertise in affordable housing, has been described by many as the stick. 40 R and among other things. He recently built 25 two-unit 40 S are seen as the carrots. family homes in Auburn Gresham and the sur- That’s a description that Wluka considers rounding area. The homes there consist of a two- “unfortunate,” because he believes that 40 B is a story, three-bedroom owner’s unit as well as a two- smart planning tool when applied properly with bedroom, ground-level rental unit. Both the community support. Either way, Wluka said towns owner’s and the renter’s unit are self contained. in Massachusetts need to be more involved with Carter holds the units out not only as family better managing their growth. housing, but stresses that units like those also “You can take command of what’s going on, or encourage home ownership. And it is a way to you can sit back and let it happen to you; but ‘noth- 22 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

Thirty-five communities [in Massachusetts] are actively working on implementing Smart Growth zoning districts. make home ownership more affordable for many ship.” The majority of those buying homes from families. The self-contained renter’s unit can be Quest Development are former tenants who lived leased to a family member, Carter says, noting that in family housing. “It’s not about who is buying,” pooling funds with a family member divides up the says Cortez. “It’s about buying and bringing fresh family’s financial burdens. Additionally, the people in.” renter’s unit could be rented to a non-family mem- Christine Jordan Sexton is a Tallahassee-based freelance ber and rental income comes in to offset the costs of reporter who has done correspondent work for the the mortgage. Associated Press, the New York Times, Florida Medical Carter says homes such as the ones in Auburn Business and a variety of trade magazines, including Gresham offer families “new forms of home owner- Florida Lawyer and National Underwriter. WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 23

A Balance of Opportunity Mixed-income housing provides a place for every economic background By Jason Miller O ne of the hallmarks of a healthy commu- income housing,” says Emily Talen, associate pro- nity is a balanced mix of housing fessor of urban and regional planning at the options at a variety of price points, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “The which in turn encourages economic diversity first addresses the fairness of it: Mixed-income among its residents. In the late 19th and early 20th housing should be developed as a broader social century, this diversity was the default setting in goal because doing so provides a more equitable most American neighborhoods. But as use-based distribution of resources. You’re not concentrating zoning took hold after World War II, it gradually one group in one area with limited resources, while morphed into the current default system, which concentrating another group in another area with a often segregates residential areas by price point, separate group of resources. It’s the geography of effectively creating pods of wealthy homeowners, opportunity, equity, fairness; you want to promote middle-class homeowners and those less fortunate. ‘the American Way.’ In doing so, you build toler- Today, mixed-income neighborhoods—both new ance because there is daily contact among neigh- and revitalized—that follow the tenets of Smart bors. Growth and New Urbanism are beginning to “The other response takes the approach of demonstrate the wisdom of returning to a more urbanist Jane Jacobs. Neighborhoods with an equi- income-integrated development model. While the table mix of housing options help to foster innova- jury is still out regarding how much healthier tion, creativity and economic growth. These neigh- mixed-income neighborhoods are as compared to borhoods provide fertile media for cross-fertiliza- their segregated, conventional suburban counter- tion of cultures and ideas.” parts, anecdotal evidence and a growing body of But these assertions—which are the backbone of empirical studies seem to point to certain realities: proponents’ arguments for mixed-income hous- • Mixed-income neighborhoods alleviate the ing—are not supported by all housing policy adverse effects of high concentrations of experts. According to the findings of a 2002 report poverty, including negative behavior; and by Alastair Smith, who wrote the paper as a Master • Mixed-income neighborhoods offer more life of Public Policy candidate at the Kennedy School of chances and encourage positive, upwardly Government of Harvard University, mixed-income mobile behaviors. housing doesn’t necessarily alleviate poverty and “There are two categories of responses when the effects typically associated with it. While admit- addressing the question of the necessity of mixed- ting to a scarcity of empirical data to support either 24 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007 Oak Hill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 25

Mixed-income housing should be developed as a broader social goal. camp’s assertion, Smith’s report references studies Kansas City were studied, each with a differ- that are inconclusive at best with regard to the role ent mix of incomes; residents interviewed gen- that mixed-income housing plays in healing the rift erally described “low or very low levels of between the haves and the have-nots in America neighboring, even lacking the ability to name today: their immediate neighbors.” • One study addressed a deteriorating public- It should be noted that the above studies were housing project in Chicago, which was rede- not performed in comparison to conventional sub- veloped into Lake Parc Place; only moderate urban developments (CSDs); i.e., no interviews levels of interaction were found among resi- were conducted to demonstrate the level of interac- dents after redevelopment; tion among neighbors in the same regions’ CSDs. • Various developments in New York City, Few Smart Growth or New Urban practitioners Boston, Chicago and the Bay Area of would claim that mixed-income housing is a silver California were studied; interaction between bullet that will solve the ills of the ever-widening income groups was “unclear” or “difficult for income gap in the U.S. Indeed, any type of housing the authors to gain;” and project often takes years, even decades, to come • Seven other mixed-income developments in into its own and become the best—or the worst—it Boston, New Haven, Conn., San Francisco, can be. But a growing number of projects funded Oakland, Montgomery County, Md., and with a wide range of public and private moneys are providing environments that encourage economic, social, mental, physical and even spiritual well- Oak Hill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania being for their residents. Tools of the trade Creating this income diversity comes at a cost. “The idea of mixed-income housing goes against the land market in America; it’s radically different,” says Talen. “We can’t just expect that if we build free-market housing, things will work out [for low- income families]. Most of the time, mixed-income housing is accomplished using outside money.” That funding can come in dozens of forms, including city funds, local or housing authorities, corporations, private foundations, housing advoca- cy groups and other related nonprofits, low-income housing tax credits, or a federal source, such as the HOPE VI program, which aims to fund projects that provide a mix of public housing, affordable housing and market-rate housing. Mixed-income housing projects that don’t use some form of public funds are Crawford Square, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania extremely rare; even those that purport to be These purely market- neighborhoods based usually have benefited provide cross- from some form of taxpayer fertilization of funding during their financing cultures and ideas. stage. 26 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

It’s development where almost anybody can live. Playing by the “rules” of the market years to com- But market-based projects do exist; from the plete. The small to the large. master plan Throughout our nation’s housing history, the for this proj- individual homeowner had the right idea. ect calls for diverse housing types that include Homeowners knew their neighborhood and their townhouses; three, four, five and six flats; and mid- community’s housing market. They knew how to rise buildings. More than 1,300 units will be built tap into their property value—that if they convert- as part of the plan for Stateway redevelopment. In ed their houses’ upper floors into affordable apart- the end, Stateway Gardens will offer 439 units at ment flats or built an additional unit over the market rate, 437 units as affordable housing and garage, there were plenty of people willing to rent 439 public housing units. from them. These accessory dwelling units (ADUs), traditionally known as granny flats, supplemented Power of partnership income and made for a nice retirement income dur- Developer and property manager McCormack ing the 1940s and 50s. ADUs naturally promoted Baron Salazar (MBS), based in St. Louis, Mo., mixed housing and offered affordable housing for takes a “team” approach when building and revi- working-class families. Today, these types of units talizing mixed-income neighborhoods. For more are making a comeback. Homeowners still find the than 20 years, the firm has worked with residents, extra income appealing and developers are includ- neighborhood groups, financial institutions, foun- ing them in Smart Growth plans. Communities and dations, state and local governments and federal cities across the country are finding these units an agencies, pulling together funds and nurturing appealing option to meet higher-density require- political will to create better neighborhoods that ments and to promote the diverse neighborhoods bring together residents from virtually every eco- many homebuyers would like to see return and nomic stratum. now seek out. “From a market perception, it’s development Market–based, mixed-income projects exist on a where almost anybody can live,” says Executive larger scale as well. One such effort, Stateway Vice President Vince Bennett. “[The mix of housing Gardens, developed by Stateway Associates LLC, is options] helps us to avoid the perception that a located on the western edge of Chicago’s development is only affordable product. Plus, all of Bronzeville community. The 33-acre Stateway site our units have market-rate amenities, so the conti- was originally built in 1958, and consisted of 1,644 nuity of quality is maintained throughout the public housing units in eight high-rise buildings. development.” Only two of these buildings are left; they currently McCormack Baron Salazar developed the first house about 600 residents and will eventually be HOPE VI project, Centennial Place, in the down- demolished. The first six buildings to be demol- town commercial district of Atlanta, Ga., using a ished will be replaced by a lower density, mixed- mix of funds from HOPE VI, local city/state funds, income community. private equity and a first mortgage. Begun in 1996 The redevelopment plan for Stateway Gardens is Centennial Place is nearing completion with four of divided into four phases and will take up to six its five phases out of the ground. It replaces the WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 27

Mixed-income housing provides choices for persons of all incomes and stages of life. Park DuValle, Louisville, Kentucky aged Techwood Homes (built in 1936) with a neighborhood that provides 40 percent of its housing to market-rate buyers, 40 percent to public housing residents and 20 percent to tax-credit investors—investors who purchase tax credits from the original holder of those credits, often a developer, for a to-be-determined sum on the dollar. For example, a brokerage firm could be a tax-credit investor. The tax credits generate equity in a deal; the investor purchases the credits by putting capital—i.e., cash—into the partnership. “We typically go into difficult-to-develop areas,” says Bennett. “That’s our niche.” Democratic treasures One such project is Pueblo del Sol, a mixed- income housing development in Los Angeles, Calif. “Mixed-income housing provides choices for A joint effort between MBS, The Related persons of all incomes and stages of life to live in a Companies of California, The Lee Group, Inc. and community from childhood to retirement,” says the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, Donald Carter, president of Urban Design Pueblo del Sol marked a turning point in the his- Associates (UDA) in Pittsburgh, Pa. “They are a toric east Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle historic American tradition and a democratic treas- Heights. Previously occupied by the Aliso Village ure. They work.” public housing complex, the That passionate philosophy has played out in site had deteriorated two UDA projects in particular. Pittsburgh’s beyond repair. Pueblo del Crawford Square is one of many steps toward Sol now offers an attractive rebuilding Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill District. A suc- mixed-income community cessful rebuilding of a residential neighborhood, consisting of 377 rental Crawford Square is a low-income housing tax cred- units and 93 home owner- it project that is 50 percent tax credit and 50 per- ship units. On the rental cent market rate. Even though more than 50 per- side, 60 percent is public cent of the units are subsidized, no visual distinc- housing; 40 percent falls tion is apparent in either the architecture or the under the tax credit and character of the neighborhood. A total of 500 units affordable housing umbrel- of mixed-income housing have been built here, la. On the housing for-sale including a mix of rental and for-sale units, with a front, 70 percent is market wide range of prices. rate and 30 percent is pub- In Louisville, Ky., the Park DuValle neighbor- lic. The neighborhood also hood is an even more visually arresting story. Once includes two community dominated by 1,100 public housing units, vacant centers, plus proximity to an land and abandoned houses, Park DuValle has elementary school and a become a stable, mixed-income community. A total future MTA Gold Line (light of 513 units of mixed-income/mixed-finance rental rail) stop and a proposed units and 341 home ownership units have been Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. built or are under construction. new high school. 28 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. Park DuValle has attracted a wide range of income levels. Market-rate units are immediately adjacent to rental houses, with a high percentage of low- and very-low-income families. But most importantly, the development has changed the image of the larger area in which it is located, from one of abandonment and decay to that of a vital and desirable neighborhood. As a result, adjacent neighborhoods are experiencing revitalization, and, for the first time in generations, new retail and community services are being attracted to the area. This kind of success doesn’t just happen, says Carter. “A mixed-income project requires multiple sources of financing, including traditional bank financing, tax credits, state housing loans, and phil- anthropic grants and loans. In terms of management, They [mixed-income the two principal concerns are high-level mainte- nance of the property and screening of residents.” neighborhoods] are a Transforming the troublemakers historic American tradition Allequippa Terrace was Pittsburgh’s largest and and a democratic treasure. most troubled housing project. Its original 1,799 units were one-third vacant, physically deteriorat- The Townhomes on Capitol Hill vary from two to ing and crime-ridden. Enter Corcoran Jennison four stories, which maintains architectural consis- Companies (CJC), a Boston-based developer that tency with the range of building dimensions in the partnered with Beacon Companies and the Capitol Hill Historic District. And the project, Allequippa Terrace Resident Council to redevelop designed by Weinstein & Associates architectural the community. The result: Oak Hill, which firm, based in Washington, D.C., looks as good as it includes mixed-income family rental housing and a lives. Its handsome brick facades earned it the major reconfiguration of the street plan, which American Institute of Architects’ Honor Award for opens the community to the surrounding neighbor- Urban Design Excellence and the Urban Land hood. Additional off-site home ownership opportu- Institute Award for Excellence. nities for residents help to reinforce the city’s efforts to stabilize neighboring communities by improving The final measure the existing housing stock for occupancy. Presently, the promise of mixed-income housing Funded in part by a HOPE VI grant, the city of has not yet been fully realized. We don’t know Pittsburgh, low-income housing tax credits and the beyond a reasonable doubt how much better design Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, the and integrated price points contribute toward 82-acre project will offer 816 rental units and 275 improved behavior, interpersonal connectivity and home ownership units at its completion. By the end upwardly mobile economic positions in life. of 2006, a new community center will be complet- However, urbanism is not a quick fix. Often, it ed in cooperation with the Pittsburgh Housing can take decades to plot a new course and steer in Authority. a new direction the massive machinery of develop- In Washington, D.C., CJC transformed the for- ment and social detriments it sometimes brought. mer Ellen Wilson public housing project into 134 After all, it took decades to get it moving on its cur- limited-equity, cooperative residential units called rent course. Still, having seen and experienced The Townhomes on Capitol Hill. Located in the his- what the first attempts at public housing have toric neighborhood of Capitol Hill, the Ellen Wilson engendered, revisiting a mixed-income model of project was condemned in 1988. In 1991, a group of development seems the wisest approach, one that neighbors and business people formed the Ellen will help to reintroduce an element that has been in Wilson Community Development Corporation and short supply in low-income housing projects for began the site’s redevelopment in 1997. With $26 decades: hope. million of HOPE VI grant money, CJC undertook the project as development advisor and handled Jason Miller is a freelance writer, editor and publishing the construction, marketing and management of consultant based in Concrete, Washington. the community. WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 29

Pros W orking as a firefighter, school teacher, retail salesperson or entry-level professional has never been considered dishonorable in America. Wanting to live in a healthy community with access to the best jobs, schools, cultural activities, transit and more has always been viewed as a worthy pursuit in this nation. VS. But with a vast number of jobs offering middle to low wages and a great amount of new housing being built in price ranges reachable by only the middle and upper class, the gap between workforce wages and desirable neighborhood affordability is widening each day. From large urban centers to new growth areas, the police officer and the other backbones of the workforce cannot begin to dream of buying even a one bedroom condo or a small cottage. To try to level the playing field, hundreds of cities have created inclusionary zoning (also known as inclusionary housing) as a way to create a percentage of affordable units intermingled with the market-rate units and their skyrock- eting price points. Inclusionary zoning has dozens of forms, but most typically a development with a certain threshold of units—often 10 or more—is required to offer affordable units—usually 15 percent—to households earning roughly between 60 to 120 percent of the area median income. CONS Smart Growth experts debate inclusionary zoning strategies in an effort to win diverse affordable neighborhoods By Steve Wright 30 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 31

Sacramento, California Inclusionary zoning is the means to preserving a healthy mix of diverse incomes, ethnicities and workforces. Quite often, such mandatory inclusionary hous- than approximately 11,000 affordable units since its ing requirements come along with developer program began in 1974.” incentives such as increased density, expedited Derek Camunez, president elect of the Denver permitting and reduced or waived inspection fees. Board of REALTORS®, is not sure inclusionary zon- To some, inclusionary zoning is the means to ing mandates are addressing the affordable hous- preserving a healthy mix of diverse incomes, eth- ing problem. nicities and workforces in increasingly pricey “We believe that mandating affordable housing municipalities. is not nearly as effective as providing builder To others, inclusionary zoning is an impediment incentives such as tax breaks, creative zoning for to growth, an interference with the free market and higher densities and speeding up the permitting an exceedingly expensive cost-per-unit way of inte- process for providing access to affordable housing,” grating lower incomes into high land-value areas. he said. Susannah Levine and Adam Gross of Chicago’s “Denver’s annual report on the inclusionary Business and Professional People for the Public Building Ordinance is finding that the affordable Interest believe in the power of inclusionary hous- housing stock is not significantly increasing. ing. Moreover, the city is discovering that they are not “Inclusionary housing is an extraordinarily effec- getting the desired cross-cultural families taking tive and efficient way for cities to create affordable advantage of this housing stock that they had housing,” they said. Author, consultant, former mayor hoped.” of Albuquerque David Rusk has calculated that if the Thomas M. Menino, serving his fourth term as 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States mayor of Boston, believes inclusionary zoning is had adopted typical inclusionary housing programs working in his historic, densely-developed and (a 15 percent set-aside on 10 or more units), between very pricey city. Since 2000, Boston has used inclu- 1980 and 2000 those 100 programs would have pro- sionary zoning to foster economic diversity through duced 2.6 million affordable units. That’s almost affordable housing. twice as many units as were built using the most pro- “Neighborhoods accept them well and they are ductive federal affordable housing program, the Low well scattered about,” Geoffrey Lewis, a project Income Housing Tax Credit. Montgomery County, manager with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, Md., which has the longest-running inclusionary said of market-rate buyers’ willingness to have housing program in the country, has created more affordable units created next to them. 32 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

City leaders realize a strong middle class is going to be important to the continued vitality of Boston. “Our mayor wanted economic diversity through- In Sacramento, where the percentage of afford- out the neighborhoods,” he added. “They (city able homes fell from a high of 70 percent to a recent leaders) realize a strong middle class is going to be rock-bottom low of less than 10, inclusionary zoning important to the continued vitality of Boston. The is applauded. Desmond Parrington, a planner with political leadership has been very strong. It under- the city of Sacramento, said nearly 2,000 affordable stands that if we don’t get housing costs under con- houses and rental units have been created through trol, it will be detrimental to our economy.” the capital city’s inclusionary legislation. Lewis cautioned that inclusionary zoning The city’s Mixed Income Ordinance, created in requires a strong housing market to make it work, 2000, seeks to “prevent segregated communities noting “if the market isn’t strong, developers will through economic integration.” It also “aims to look at inclusionary as the thing that’s killing the provide affordable housing that fits the character of project.” market-rate neighborhoods.” The ordinance In Housing Supply and Affordability: “Do Affordable Housing Mandates Work?” published by the Reason Public Policy Institute and funded by a grant from the Home Builders Association of Northern California, researchers Benjamin Powell and Edward Stringham found data that suggests inclusionary zoning is a failure in Northern California because it: • Produces few units. “The 50 Bay area cities with inclusionary zoning have produced fewer than 7,000 units.” • Has high costs. “The total cost for all inclusionary units in the Bay area to date (is) $2.2 billion.” • Makes market-priced homes more expensive. “In high market-rate cities … inclusionary zoning adds more than $100,000 to the price of each new home.” • Restricts the supply of new homes. “In the 33 cities with data for seven years prior and seven years following inclusionary zoning, 10,662 fewer homes were produced during the seven years after the adoption of inclusionary zoning.” • Costs government revenue. “The total present value of lost government revenue due to Bay area inclusionary zoning ordinances is upwards of $553 million.” Although some builders and researchers are skeptical of inclusionary zoning’s impact on the free market, more cities are enacting inclusionary ordinances each year. While the San Francisco Bay area homebuilders are chafing at the affordable housing requirements, another urban center in California is Hollywood Palms, championing its inclusionary San Diego, California housing model. WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 33

The program has been successful at creating new mixed-income communities. requires that “The biggest pitfall is pushing income limits any new resi- down too low,” McIlwain said. “The advice I can dential devel- give is [to use inclusionary zoning] for working opment of 10 people, the workforce earning 80 to 100 percent of or more units area median income. Some other program can then include an be created to address affordable housing needs of affordable people below 80 percent of median income.” component. Most experts agree that it is more difficult to “[The pro- make inclusionary housing work in dense urban gram] has areas that are mostly built out. If the city is desir- been success- able and rapidly redeveloping, the premium on ful at creating buildable land drives the price up so high that it is new mixed- very difficult to squeeze in affordable housing. If income communities that might not otherwise be the city is stagnant or perceived as undesirable, created when new housing is built, due to the high any additional requirements, such as inclusionary price of land and construction costs in California,” zoning, may serve as a deterrent to much-needed Parrington reported. urban reinvestment. “It ensures that there are lower-income units Inclusionary requirements work best in new that are part of market-rate developments and that urban growth areas, producing the success stories those units are built concurrently with the rest of of Montgomery County, Md., and more recently, in the project.” Southern California. John McIlwain, a senior fellow at the Urban In San Diego, a voter-approved initiative made Land Institute, believes inclusionary zoning is a affordable housing a big part of the development piece of the puzzle, but not the complete solution. plan for the urban growth area to the north of the He agrees with homebuilders that more affordable core city. In that low-rise growth area, which start- housing is created through density bonuses than ed being developed in 2003, 20 percent of the hous- strict inclusionary requirements alone. ing must be affordable. “It won’t produce the amount of affordable hous- Todd Philips, director of the San Diego Housing ing that’s needed by a long shot, but it’s still a very Commission’s Policy and Public Affairs valuable tool if it’s done right,” he said of inclusion- Department, said the inclusionary zoning program ary zoning. for the north growth area has created nearly 1,000 McIlwain said cities start with the premise that affordable units and has a goal of creating another inclusionary zoning will provide affordable hous- 1,000 before build out is completed. ing without hurting the market. He said that is true in two circumstances: 1. A market so strong, that inclusionary housing can be imposed on developers and they will still make a lot of money. 2. The more likely scenario that the city gives developers something in return to offset the loss of profits associated with selling units below market price. “In most cases, bonus density is the key. That’s one way a city can do it without spending money,” he said. McIlwain said because high-rise condominiums are so expensive to build, it is often difficult to create affordable units within them. He also cautioned that a low-income family will not be able to keep up with the high monthly fees levied by high-rise condos. Rancho Del Norte, 34 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007 San Diego, California

Cristamar at Santa Monica, California True inclusionary housing starts with regulations that allow developers to build more diverse products. He said affordable is mixed with market rate in tions,” he said. “We don’t do enough comprehen- the new developments. Typically, single family sive planning to create applications of zoning that homes are market rate and a pair of developers would allow you to do more complex development. team up to make garden-style apartment condo- Developers can do master planned developments miniums to fulfill the affordable requirement. and have them be very well representative of all “We look at comparability with the market rate housing needs.” and the affordable. Not that if the market rate has Koebel said American planning comes from a granite, the affordable has to too. But we do want history of segregation of uses. Mixed-use and the housing to be comparable in quality and mixed-density development requires so many vari- appearance,” he said. ances and zoning changes that developers throw in In 2003, San Diego created a requirement of 10 the towel before trying to serve a diverse market percent affordable units in the infill redevelopment here. areas in the old city, but that phase endured a bru- “European zoning allows for mixed use by right. tal legal battle before developers settled on a for- What they review are issues around massing of mula to calculate payments in lieu of building buildings, the relationships of building to its sur- affordable units. roundings, how growth fits the transportation sys- Despite the challenges, Philips counsels politi- tem,” said Koebel, noting that European cities cians, planners, REALTORS® and others interested maintained a mix of affordable housing for cen- in creating inclusionary zoning in their hometowns turies. to “shoot for the moon.” Koebel said the idea that housing has to be seg- “Even a 10-percent fee probably isn’t enough. regated by income “is flat out wrong.” We need to truly address what it costs to house a “This is not social experimenting. Developers can working-class person.” create a well-planned, mixed product, but most zon- Ted Koebel, professor of urban planning at ing regulations demonize mixed-income, mixed-use Virginia Tech, is not opposed to inclusionary zon- development. Our local regulations speak to one ing, but believes the affordable housing gap would market—middle income and above. True inclusion- be better closed by citywide or regional zoning that ary housing starts with regulations that allow devel- allows for all ranges of housing price points and opers to build more diverse products.” needs in several neighborhoods. “Very few cities allow mixed-density, mixed-use Steve Wright frequently writes about Smart Growth and sustainable communities. He and his wife live in a development and if you want to do something cre- restored historic home in the heart of Miami’s Little ative, you slam into a wall of discouraging regula- Havana. Contact him at: stevewright64@yahoo.com. WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 35

By John Van Gieson 36 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 37

I n older communities on Chicago’s Southwest Side, in the neighborhood surrounding an abandoned Pittsburgh steel mill and on an Indian reservation in New Mexico, com- bining economic development with Smart Growth is a smart idea. The term economic development appears infre- quently in New Urbanist and Smart Growth literature. It is, however, recognized by implication as an essential tool in combating sprawl by redeveloping blighted inner cities and poor rural areas. In August, the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) released a study Chicago Lawn, Chicago, Illinois titled “Economic Development and Smart Growth” which used eight case studies, including redevelopment of Pittsburgh’s South Side, to explore the You have to identify “connections between Smart Growth development and jobs, wealth and quality of life in communities.” what moves the economy “As results from long-term projects develop, the connections between Smart Growth and economic and what makes the development have become more pronounced,” the IEDC study said. “Economic development organi- economy attractive. zations and local governments are realizing that by harmonizing these approaches they can create and Southwest Chicago’s Economic Shift: retain jobs, enhance the tax base and improve qual- The Cookie Factor ity of life in the communities they serve.” Jim Capraro, executive director of Greater The executive directors of the community devel- Southwest Development Corp. (GSDC) based in opment organizations serving the Chicago Lawn Chicago Lawn, said economic development of and Englewood neighborhoods on the Southwest depressed areas depends on exporting something Side of Chicago agree but have their own ideas on from them to bring increased value back to them. developing inner-city neighborhoods. He said the exports can be labor, goods, retail sales, cultural or ethnic experiences, information or intel- lectual programs. In Chicago Lawn’s case, it hap- Chicago Lawn, Chicago, Illinois pened to be an existing neighbor in the form of Oreo cookies. Vincent J. Barnes, executive director of the Rebirth of Englewood Economic Development Corp. (ROEEDC), said community development organizations must shift from emphasizing social service programs, a traditional focus, to economic development. “You have to identify what moves the economy and what makes the economy attractive to an outside investor,” Barnes said. “What has hurt communities like Englewood was the fact that they looked like they weren’t going to yield a return on investment.” Once working-class white neighborhoods, Chicago Lawn and Englewood are trying to reverse decades of decline. Chicago Lawn has a growing population comprised mostly of African Americans and 38 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

The No. 1 strategy ... ‘Attract new industries and service firms that create living-wage jobs.’ Hispanics, with a Muslim minority. Englewood, 98 percent African American, has lost thousands of residents. Greater Southwest and Rebirth of Englewood are working with the Local Initiative Support Corporation/Chicago’s New Communities Program, which sought input from hundreds of residents in developing plans to bring new life to their tired old neighborhoods. The No. 1 strategy for redeveloping Englewood is “Attract new industries and service firms that create living-wage jobs while preparing residents for regional employment opportunities,” according to Teamwork Englewood, which organized the planning process for the New this place is not declining, it’s being reborn, and Communities Program. their whole perspective kind of changed. Nabisco Greater Southwest has an economic base as the loved the labor base here.” neighborhood borders Midway Airport and the Nabisco decided to invest $300 million in the Southwest Industrial Corridor. The biggest prob- bakery and agreed to procure services such as roof- lem, Capraro said, was keeping employers from ing and gardening from community businesses. The leaving the area—specifically the Nabisco plant city created a tax-increment financing district and that bakes 22 million Oreo cookies a day and an enterprise zone with GSDC training workers and employs 1,800 workers. teaching English to Mexican immigrants. When Nabisco executives were pondering the Capraro’s organization is involved in rehabilitat- fate of the Chicago plant in the 1990s, Capraro took ing the neighborhood’s 1920s bungalows and devel- them on a tour of the business district community oping plans to build a Town Center and mixed-use advocates are redeveloping along 63rd Street and buildings featuring residential and retail. Western Avenue. He said community advocates worked hard to “They wanted to know what’s happening around involve Muslims in community building, and the us, and that helped to sell the neighborhood to effort paid off when Muslim physicians announced Nabisco,” he said. “They saw for themselves that plans to open a new health clinic this fall. In Englewood, Barnes’ organization has focused on providing residents with job training, home ownership programs and affordable housing. He said youth centers serve a purpose, but they do not develop the neighborhood’s economy. ROEEDC formed a partnership with area employers to teach workforce skills to neighborhood residents. The goal is to train workers for jobs paying about $5,000 more than the $19,000 median income; enough to put them in the market for affordable housing. By the end of summer, Barnes said, ROEEDC had placed 311 workers in jobs paying $7.1 million a year. A year ago, ROEEDC and the local congressman, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, Jim Capraro Chicago, Illinois Photo by Eric Young Smith WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 39

announced plans to build 550 affordable homes From Steel Mills to an Economic Hub: The selling in the $165,000 range over the next five Changing Face of Pittsburgh’s South Side years. Other organizations are developing plans for The International Economic Development 500 more new homes. ROEEDC and Rush have Council report also cited the turnaround along East launched a 10-week program to prepare residents Carson Street in Pittsburgh’s South Side as a who never had them to qualify for mortgages. superb example of what can be accomplished when In 2005, the Congressional Black Caucus pre- public officials, economic development organiza- sented ROEEDC with its With Ownership, Wealth tions and private developers work together to Program of the Year Award in recognition of the implement a good plan. The report said local gov- home ownership program’s accomplishments. ernment and private developers have invested Barnes said his organization has offered training $487 million over 20 years into revitalizing the on home ownership programs in about a dozen dilapidated Victorian storefronts lining the Carson other cities, including Los Angeles and Miami. shopping area and converting the old steel mill into In addition, a $200 million Kennedy-King a mixed-used development featuring commercial, College campus is under construction in residential and office buildings. Englewood’s business district, once second only to “We pulled that off through 20 years of hard downtown Chicago for business activity. Future work in neighborhood revitalization,” said Rick plans call for development of Englewood Center, a Belloli, executive director of the South Side Local mixed-use commercial/residential area near the Development Corp. “It’s not one size fits all. Every college, and a transit-oriented development neighborhood knows what it needs better than around the Green Line station at 63rd and someone from the outside.” Ashland. The results are evident that these efforts Belloli said his organization attempted to bal- in Chicago’s Southwest Side are shifting the econ- ance the interests of the longtime residents, many omy for the better. from Eastern European immigrant families, with The SouthSide Works project on the site of the old steel mill is projected to create 5,000 jobs when it’s complete. Southside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Photo by S. Rick Armstrong 40 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

The Ohkay Owingeh have made significant progress in developing jobs that will reduce the tribe’s economic dependence on its gambling casino. the young professionals flocking to the area for entertainment, jobs and housing. “One of the things I’ve heard is that Carson Street caters to both of the blue hairs—the blue hairs with Mohawks and the blue-haired grannies,” he said. The economic benefits of the South Side redevelopment program are impressive. The IEDC report said per capita income doubled in 10 years, and Belloli said property values in the Slopes, a hilly residential area, have tripled. He said the SouthSide Works project on the site of the old steel mill is projected to create 5,000 jobs when it’s complete, or more than twice the number of steel workers who once labored there. The cloth- ing company American Eagle has agreed to move its headquarters from the suburbs to a new building at SouthSide Works—reversing the usual trend of suburbs uprooting inner-city jobs. Tsigo Bugeh Village, New Mexico Already occupying gleaming new buildings at SouthSide Works are the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Facility, the In February of 2004, the pueblo and a company Pittsburgh Steelers and Pitt Panthers football prac- that builds airplanes announced a preliminary tice fields, and the regional offices of the Federal agreement to build an 80,000-square-foot assembly Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Immigration and plant on the reservation. The agreement committed Customs Enforcement. Trendy bars and restaurants the tribe to invest $11 million in the company and are proliferating on Carson Street and at the old upgrade its airport. steel works. The deal eventually fell through. However, the Ohkay Owingeh have made significant progress in developing jobs that will reduce the tribe’s eco- It’s Not Just Casinos Any More: New Mexico’s nomic dependence on its gambling casino. Its eco- Tribal Economic Development nomic development agency, Tsay Corporation, In New Mexico, the Ohkay Owingeh are work- operates Tsay Construction and Services, a demoli- ing to overcome the gritty reality of reservation life. tion and rehabilitation company that contracts with Two years ago, the Environmental Protection Los Alamos National Laboratory and a Navy base Agency (EPA) presented a National Award for in Seattle. Smart Growth achievement to the tribe, which is Tsay Corp. Director Ron Novato said the compa- located at a pueblo 25 miles north of Santa Fe. The ny has about 600 employees in Northern New EPA called the tribe’s master land-use plan “the first Mexico, many of whom are members of the tribe. Smart Growth model for Native American tribes.” “We have adopted more of a diversification strat- The tribe opened its first land-use plan project in egy,” Novato said. “We’re actually pursuing big 2003, the 40-unit Tsigo Bugeh apartment complex. opportunities away from the reservation.” Tomasita Duran, director of the Ohkay Owingeh He said the tribe is also investing $3.5 million in Housing Authority, said the buildings were the airport and other infrastructure improvements designed to blend in with the traditional adobe to boost its appeal to potential investors. The eco- buildings. The apartments are occupied, but plans nomic growth and Smart Growth of the Pueblo has to build 10 new homes have run into problems, started, although slowly, and it’s an attraction to Duran said. investors, tribe members and developers alike. “In terms of future development, I see it moving very slowly unless we can figure out an easier way John Van Gieson is a freelance writer based in to develop,” she said. Tallahassee, Florida. He owns and runs Van Gieson Media Relations, Inc. WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 41

Home sweet home today … MOR ROW HOM E TO E SEI ZED Emine HOM role in nt domain c but pa economic an play a d comm st abuses m evelopmen unitie t, s wary ake 42 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

By Brad Broberg I n reality, eminent domain is not such a or utilities, then eminent domain is indeed an slam-bam process. Yet it can feel like a appropriate tool, said Mindy Fullilove, a professor punch in the gut to those caught in its path. of clinical psychiatry and public health at “There’s a pretty broad recognition that eminent Columbia University. However, if the goal is eco- domain is one of the strongest powers government nomic development, then private gain, not public has, and it has to be used sparingly,” said Jason good, is often the underlying motive. Jordan, a consultant with the American Planning “I personally think most of the economic devel- Association (APA). opment I’ve observed has been much more about Few would disagree. However, many disagree lining the pockets of developers as opposed to eco- over whether eminent domain—which often hits nomic development for all the people in the city,” low-income and minority neighborhoods hardest— she said. is used sparingly enough. Eminent domain—the government’s right to “The planning community views eminent take private property for public use—became a domain … as an extremely valuable tool because in political hot potato last year after the U.S. Supreme certain instances it’s the only way to achieve a pub- Court affirmed that it can indeed be applied in the lic good,” said Jordan. name of economic development if state law so If the public good is defined as roads or schools allows. WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 43

Kelo v. City of New London involved a group of Connecticut property owners who objected to the city taking their land as part of a redevelopment plan for their neighborhood. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that the economic benefits of the redevelopment, including the creation of jobs and tax revenues, represented a “public purpose” and therefore was constitutional and consistent with Connecticut state law. According to Jordan, no one should have been shocked by the ruling. “There’s a lot of angst out there about this, [but] frankly I think it’s a misunderstanding of what Kelo does,” he said. “It simply affirms … previous rulings and precedents.” Nevertheless, the ruling has triggered an avalanche of legis- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma lation—some enacted and some pending—that clarifies, modifies and in some cases nullifies the use of eminent domain for economic development purposes. According to the APA, various versions of eminent domain reform have been adopted or considered in 45 states. Congress also is getting into the act. The House passed a bill (HR 4128) that would withhold all federal economic development funds from states that allow economic development as a rationale for property seizures. Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett doesn’t dispute that there may be room to reform the way eminent domain is practiced in some states, including how people are compensated. But reforming state law and impos- ing a federal law are two different things, he said. “We think the federal government ought to stay out of it and it should be debated by state and local governments,” said Cornett. Cornett chairs the Urban Economic Planning Committee for the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The organization has gone on record opposing HR 4128—not only because it usurps states’ rights, but because it 44 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

There are times when it [eminent domain] is the only way to complete a project. Bricktown in Oklahoma City handcuffs cities in their efforts to create jobs, generate revenue and revive ailing neighborhoods. “It would be very damaging,” said Cornett. Oklahoma state law allows the use of eminent domain for economic development purposes, but only if the targeted area is deemed “blighted,” said Cornett. “I think we here in Oklahoma City have been very responsible in our use of eminent domain,” he said, citing redevelopment of the city’s Bricktown entertainment district. “It’s not a short process and it’s not a private process. It’s very open and there are several steps along the way.” Cornett believes flawed coverage of the Kelo decision sparked an unwarranted uproar. “The media so misrepresented what happened in Connecticut that it created a furor in the public and Congress is under the impression that it has to do something and the states are under the impression they have to do something,” he said. Some believe the uproar is totally justified. Soon after the Kelo decision was announced, Hilary Shelton, director of the Washington, D.C., Bureau of the NAACP criticized the ruling before a con- , gressional subcommittee. “By allowing pure economic development motives to constitute public use for eminent domain purposes, state and local governments will now infringe on the property rights of those with less economic and political power with more regu- larity,” he told the committee. “These groups, low- numerous “blighted” inner-city neighborhoods income Americans and a disparate number of and displaced many residents through the use of African Americans and other racial and ethnic eminent domain. minority Americans, are the least able to bear this “The history of eminent domain is rife with burden.” abuse specifically targeting racial and ethnic As far as Shelton is concerned, it’s all too remi- minority and poor neighborhoods,” Shelton testi- niscent of the tide of urban renewal that rolled fied. “Indeed, the displacement of African through America starting in the 1950s. Spawned Americans and urban renewal projects are so inter- by the Housing Act of 1949 and underwritten by twined that ‘urban renewal’ was often referred to the federal government, urban renewal destroyed as “black removal.’” WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 45

Eminent domain is one of the strongest powers government has, and it has to be used sparingly. In her book “Root Shock: How Tearing Up City found that neighborhoods deemed “blighted” by Neighborhoods Hurts America, and What We Can the powers that be were often vibrant communities. Do About It,” Fullilove examines what urban Empowered by eminent domain, urban renewal’s renewal did—and still does—to the African destruction of affordable neighborhoods has creat- American communities it displaced. Fullilove ed an epidemic of homelessness, inhibited the start of new businesses and destroyed important community networks and institutions, she said. The Kelo decision ensures eminent domain will remain a tool politicians and developers can wield for their mutual gain, said Fullilove. “Developers are big cam- paign contributors and have a lot of access to politicians and politicians are quite willing to do what they want,” she said. Jordan understands the concern. “We live in a post-urban renewal world and we can see the destruction caused to communities by well-intentioned projects,” he said. At the same time, it’s important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, said Jordan. “Any person looking at the record would say, yeah, there’s been sporadic misuse of eminent domain,” said Jordan. “But the level of abuse in recent years has been overstated.” Eminent domain is a “tool of last resort,” said Jordan. “It’s not used nearly as often as discussion post-Kelo would have us believe.” Still, there are times when it’s the only way to complete a project. That can be especially true in urban settings where it’s difficult to assemble a large parcel without involving numerous small—and less likely to be united about selling—property owners, he said. It’s also important to understand that economic development projects often include Oklahoma City redevelopment 46 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

The key is to make communities more comfortable with the basic fairness of the process. public elements such as municipal offices or a transit center and are not driven solely by private-sec- tor interests. “If you take eminent domain out, it makes projects harder to do, that’s for sure,” said Jordan. The key, said Jordan, is to make communities another one in the same city at that price? she “more comfortable with the basic fairness of the asked. And what about renters? “If everybody acts process,” he said. One way to do that is by preced- like we have no responsibility to help the poor in ing any use of eminent domain with a public plan- our cities, we are going to be creating somewhere ning process that produces a blueprint for the in our country refugee camps for poor people,” she neighborhood so “everyone can see what the plan said. for the community is.” Fullilove doesn’t deny economic development Another big issue is compensation. Paying fair can benefit cities, but “it depends on how you do market value doesn’t always compensate home- it,” she said. That’s especially true for housing. owners for what they lose when they’re forced out “There’s a huge tendency for the range of incomes of their neighborhood—or take into account what [of potential residents] to start at $30,000,” she the property will be worth after redevelopment, said. “It has to cover the whole income range in said Fullilove. It becomes even more difficult in a ways that are proportionate to the population of the neighborhood where property values are lowest— area.” the kind of neighborhood often targeted for redevelopment. Brad Broberg is a Seattle-based freelance writer special- America is suffering from “a famine of low- izing in business and development issues. His work income housing,” said Fullilove. If a person’s home appears regularly in the Puget Sound Business Journal is worth only $60,000, will they be able to find and the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 47

NewOrleans 48 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

By David Goldberg A s far as Gwendolyn Adams is con- houses and sent others careening off their founda- cerned, Hurricane Katrina is still killing tions and into other houses. Because it was solidly people, more than a year later. Her African American and mostly poor, the Lower Nine mold-ravaged home, blocks from the levee breach also became emblematic of the people displaced by in the Lower Ninth Ward, fell to bulldozers recent- the storm—those mostly black faces we saw crying ly. Still, the retired schoolteacher counts herself as for help on rooftops or waiting in anguish for safe one of the lucky ones. As of mid-September she was passage out of the Superdome and Convention prohibited even from parking a trailer on her lot, Center. thanks to a lack of potable water and electricity. But Many other neighborhoods were flooded, of at least she, her husband and son were back in their course. Fully 80 percent of New Orleans took on beloved city, having scored one of the rare rental water, as did nearly 100 percent of neighboring St. units available. Meanwhile, more than a year later, Bernard Parish and large portions of Jefferson her neighbors are starting to come back to other Parish. But the fate of the Lower Nine acquired spe- areas in the Ninth Ward, albeit slowly, and with cial significance in the debate over how, and even gashes in the community fabric still painfully evi- whether, the flooded areas of the city should be dent. rebuilt. Was it right to allow people to continue to “I attended the funeral on Saturday past of one live in harm’s way, or to re-establish the concentra- of my church members who grieved himself to tions of poverty that seemed to have isolated so death because he was stuck in Texas and he could- many from mainstream society? Even to raise these n’t get back home. He eventually just gave up and questions, however, opened a Pandora’s box of sus- allowed sickness to overtake him,” Mrs. Adams picion and fear arising from the city’s race and said. “A lot of my older friends are depressed, losing class divisions. weight, not eating. Yes, people are still dying from The hurt feelings and suspicion these attitudes Katrina.” would engender ultimately doomed the first plan Lower Nine, as residents call it, became the for rebuilding, put forward by Mayor Ray Nagin’s poster child for the storm’s effects. In part that was Bring New Orleans Back Commission. That plan because the physical damage was so visible and essentially drew a red line around the parts of New readily accessible to journalists encamped in down- Orleans regarded as “viable” and gave neighbor- town hotels, only minutes away by car. The wall of hoods outside the line four months to demonstrate water that surged through the flood-wall breach their own viability, based on the number of resi- obliterated many of the neighborhood’s modest dents who took action to return. After that point the WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 49

The government … has an obligation to make sure they can get back home. said Steven Bingler, a local architect and planner who is overseeing the successor effort to create a Unified New Orleans Plan. “It may have had physical merit, but by failing to address cultural and social issues it ensured its undoing.” The truth, too, is that it is hard to make a “scien- tific” argument for which neighborhoods are simply too vulnerable to rebuild in a city that is substan- tially below sea level. The early story was that African Americans had suffered disproportionately because they lived in neighborhoods, like the Lower Ninth Ward, that were lower than the neighborhoods of the old city, which was built on the sliv- er of high ground built up by depositions from long- ago Mississippi floods. While the Ninth Ward is city would determine where it would offer services lower than the old city, it actually is higher ground and maintain infrastructure, and other areas would than most of the land that was developed in the last revert to green space. Rational in the abstract, that century, particularly the latter half, when back scheme seemed almost designed to doom hard-hit swamps were filled to create suburban-style areas like the Lower Ninth Ward, whose residents enclaves such as mostly white Lakeview or New were barred even from visiting their flooded homes Orleans East, home to much of the black middle for months after the storm. Nagin, facing re-elec- class. While a substantial rainfall might inundate tion, distanced himself from the plan even before it those areas, the Lower Ninth rarely flooded. In was announced. truth, the entire metro area can survive only within “For many citizens, the plan created an almost a well-functioning system of flood control. Absent a desperate sense that their future would be out of dispassionate rationale, then, a conscious choice to their control and planning would be top down,” shrink the city’s footprint means picking winners 50 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

and losers, something that the political leadership And that begs the question of whether there is a is loathe to do. literal home to occupy. “Our affordable market in If, in the early going the question was “Should the whole metro area has just about disappeared,” parts of New Orleans rebuild?” the question now is says REALTOR® Conchita Sulli, owner broker of whether people of lesser means are able to return, Conchita L. Sulli & Assoc., Inc. “You see all these and whether the black middle class, with options apartment complexes, heavily damaged, and they elsewhere, will endure what it takes to come back. are empty. Where are you going to put the people who would have lived there?” In addition, about 85 Enormous obstacles bar return of the African percent of New Orleans huge stock of public hous- American poor ing remains closed, while local and federal author- “The poor people didn’t have enough money to ities devise plans to redevelop it. “The complexion leave town before the storm, so they certainly don’t of the city has changed radically. My experience is have enough money to come back home,” notes that the large number of renters is still gone.” Malcolm Suber, national organizing coordinator for the Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund, which was organized after the storm to fight for the right to return. Most of those same residents were bused out of the city in the days and weeks after the storm. “The government dispersed these people, so it has an obligation to make sure they can get back home.” Our affordable market in the whole metro area has just about disappeared. WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 51

A recent Brookings Institution report estimates All this leaves many of the displaced stuck in that 48,000 of the city’s rental units, about 40 per- states like Texas, where 251,000 storm evacuees cent of the entire stock, were destroyed or heavily still are living, according to a Gallup Organization damaged. Rents are up 39 percent over pre-Katrina survey sponsored by the Texas Health and Human levels. Wages, while higher, haven’t kept pace and Services Commission. Eighty-one percent were unemployment is up by at least two percentage African American, and 61 percent of the house- points. There are myriad other obstacles. The pub- holds had earned less than $20,000 a year before lic transit system is running half its routes, but at Katrina. greatly reduced service. Fares, which had been waived since the storm, are being reinstated and Whither the black middle class? the system faces bankruptcy. The once-comprehen- With so many poor blacks coming back slowly, if sive system of indigent health care has been deci- at all, what of the black middle class? Many have mated. Public schools are largely closed and trans- returned or intend to; more than half the voters in portation is problematic. Utility and insurance rates the mayor ’s race were African American. But are soaring. whether they continue to return, will hinge on deci- The state’s Road Home program, which will dis- sions by African Americans of means. tribute $6.3 billion in mostly federal dollars to “One of the problems with the return of the black homeowners, will offer only $2 billion in rehab middle class is their community networks in New loans to landlords. Otherwise, the state is depend- Orleans have been devastated, and they have ing on a complicated system of tax credits to spur options in other places,” said Lolis Elie, an African creation of affordable housing, but developers are American columnist for the New Orleans Times balking at the complexities. Picayune and second-generation New Orleanian. Community networks in New Orleans have been devastated. 52 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

I have no fear for the culture of New Orleans. “No matter who or where you are, you have friends and relatives who are not here. That has an impact on whether you want to come back. Are you willing to come back if there’s a shortage of doctors? If your wife has a job and you don’t, can you make it back? If the insurance company isn’t paying you enough to rebuild? Do you want to come back if your neighborhood isn’t back? They are more apt to have friends and family in other parts of the country to make the transition easier.” On the other hand, he said, New Orleans has a powerfully magnetic pull. “I think about my moth- er, who is not a woman who goes to every second line [parade] and gushes volumes about how she housing. They have put that sentiment into their loves the city. But when this happened and her own plan for rebuilding the East. house got flooded, her determination to get back This points out problems with the city’s new has been unwavering. She’s not alone.” approach to a rebuilding plan,which starts from the Still more complex dynamics are at play. Eastern assumption that every neighborhood will rebuild, New Orleans, which began life in the 1960s as a largely according to its own plan, said Amy Liu of huge master-planned enclave for affluent whites the Brookings Institution. Those neighborhood and fleeing the city, has over the years become the larger district plans will be pulled together under location both for African American professionals, the unified plan being overseen by Bingler. But that living in McMansions on cul de sacs, and lower process leaves serious, big-picture questions unan- income blacks, occupying the thousands of afford- swered: Where can affordable rental housing be able apartment units built to take advantage of fed- built? Can the city promise services and infrastruc- eral Section 8 subsidies. Parts of New Orleans East ture for all neighborhoods, given a much smaller are perhaps the most vulnerable to flooding and tax base, staff and budget? storm surge, but they are also among the most “The mayor has made it very clear that every politically connected. Many of these influential res- neighborhood will be rebuilt,” said Liu, deputy idents want the apartment complexes gone, trans- director of Brookings’ Metropolitan Policy Program, formed into green space and not new, affordable and author of the institution’s recent report on New WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 53

Orleans. “Who’s going to say that they want more distrust of a process likely affordable housing, who will volunteer themselves to reduce the number of for it, even if as a citywide goal they say it’s criti- affordable units in the cal?” she asked. In addition, “The utilities are hav- name of mixing incomes. ing to raise rates, transit is bankrupt, water and “There are still some sewer are completely broken, the police force can’t people fighting for a small- cover every neighborhood without the help of the er, richer, whiter footprint, National Guard, which will be leaving soon. I don’t and there are others fight- think the city is being frank about its capacity, and ing to get home,” said that is unfair to homeowners and other investors.” Wade Rathke, chief organ- Rhetorically, city and state officials are painting izer for the Association of a picture of a New Orleans with fewer public hous- Community Organizations ing projects and large apartment complexes and for Reform Now (ACORN), more mixed-income and mixed-use neighbor- which has advocated stren- hoods, in compact footprints that allow people to uously for the return of low- get more done income residents, and is without an auto- the lead consultant on the mobile and that rebuilding plan for the maximize the effi- Lower Ninth Ward. “Mixed ciency of city serv- income is a euphemism for ices. Enormous what they did at St. political obstacles Thomas,” a housing project remain. Affluent, that was redeveloped as River Garden, with a mix high-ground of subsidized and market-rate units adjoining an neighborhoods urban Wal-Mart. “There they took 1,200 units of that are in high low income and rebuilt only 60 units of lower demand will resist income. That’s not a fair percentage for affordable being economical- housing.” ly integrated, even Liu agrees that percentages should be much as many lower- higher, but she strenuously defends the idea that income residents the homes built for the working poor and people on express profound subsidies must never again be isolated in high concentrations that too easi- ly fall to official neglect, disinvestment and crime. But working against the vision for healthy, complete neighborhoods that are as economically integrated as those of historic New Orleans, she said, is the compelling desire for “speed, speed, speed.” “It’s chicken and egg,” laments Sulli. “Our small businesses need workers and they need customers, but people have to have housing to come to. It’s almost like we have to do it fast, or 54 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

lose the opportunity. mitment to racial and economic diversity. Call me But doing it fast an optimist, but so far the forces that appeared to doesn’t always mean be under way to undermine the racial and econom- doing it right.” ic diversity of this community have been reversed.” No matter how it’s That certainly would be good for the future of done, New Orleans New Orleans’ vaunted culture, which so clearly will have to get busy has drawn upon the collision of world and indige- providing housing for nous cultures at the mouth of the Mississippi. its low-wage work- “I have no fear for the culture of New Orleans,” force, said Rathke. said Elie, who writes frequently on the city’s food, “We didn’t get a music and art, ”because our culture is doing for us Katrina shower and exactly what culture is supposed to do: Remind us wake up as Seattle. of who we are and strengthen our fidelity to our- Our jobs are not high selves and our identity.” tech, it’s hospitality That is what is drawing people like Gwendolyn and service based,” Adams back, to rebuild in the same spot as before. he added. “Anybody “I can’t imagine being any place else. As bad as who believes we can it is—as good as it is—there’s no place like get by with a less New Orleans.” diverse population; I David A. Goldberg is the communications director for Smart don’t see where Growth America, a nationwide coalition based in they’re getting that.” Washington, D.C. that advocates for land-use policy reform. Bingler said the city is moving beyond its initial In 2002, Mr. Goldberg was awarded a Loeb Fellowship at polarization. “There was a justifiable fear that low- Harvard University where he studied urban policy. income black folks would be displaced and barred from coming back. People were making public statements that it should happen,” he said. “But I frankly think the system is in the process of correcting itself, and this community is actually reaffirming a com- I can’t imagine being any place else. There’s no place like New Orleans. WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 55

smartGrowth Compiled by Gerald L. Allen, NAR Government Affairs in the states ALABAMA ARIZONA CALIFORNIA Mountain Brook city leaders are The Thunderbird Business In June, the Oakland City Council working toward adopting a new School in Glendale plans to approved Oakland’s mixed-use Oak master plan that will accommodate transform its campus into a (Street)-to-Ninth (Avenue) project for 64 mixed-use development in the city’s live-work environment. The acres of the Bay waterfront just south of four shopping villages. Debate over school would become a 45- downtown with 465 of its 3,100 housing the mixed-use concept was sparked acre urban core and add a units slated for families making $25,000 by a 2005 proposal for a village-type hotel, hundreds of live-work to $50,000 a year. The project is the result development that included a six- apartments, and office and of cooperation between the developer story residential and office building retail space. Pedestrian and and several community groups, resulting in English Village. Further debate bicycle paths also would be in the development including 30 acres of centered on whether mixed-use added to connect the hous- company-maintained public parks and developments were appropriate for ing with other areas. With an trails in addition to 200,000 square feet of villages. Consultants have comment- increasing enrollment of for- retail, a 170-slip marina and restored ed that the city’s intentional layout eign executives who bring wetlands. The company will hire 300 city in the 1920s of homes encircling families, the school decided residents as trade apprentices and the shopping areas is precisely the it needed to offer a commu- city will invite proposals to redevelop mixed-use concept that many com- nity experience. Glendale part of the 180,000-square-foot historic munities throughout the country are officials are calling it a Ninth Avenue Terminal for recreational, now seeking to encourage. “quality infill project.” cultural or retail use. 56 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

MARYLAND MASSACHUSETTS NEW HAMPSHIRE The town of Vienna is moving The city of Pittsfield’s Plan NH, a nonprofit community plan- toward annexing nearly 400 Department of Community ning group, came to Merrimack to direct acres of adjacent farmland that Development is reworking its a two-day “design charrette,” where would eventually be developed subdivision zoning code to planners, engineers, architects and into a Smart Growth community establish flexible development designers brainstormed ideas for a new of 300 homes. The preliminary zoning rather than the old town center design. Formed out of four plan for the project envisions Planned Unit Residential villages and thus lacking a defined cen- houses designed to complement Development (PURD) rules. ter, the goal of the charrette was to create the white clapboard homes in Under the flexible development a new physical center for Merrimack. The older Vienna neighborhoods, proposal, developers would charrette focused on the former Harcros linked together by a new town have to preserve at least 25 per- Chemical property, a 12.5-acre site donat- square with a new town hall cent of the property as open ed to the town by a local resident. During building. The plan also calls for space or agricultural land. the charrette’s first day, residents were neighborhoods clustered along- Additionally, developers could given time to suggest ideas for the site. side a series of public trails and receive density bonuses, allow- These included a river walk, bandstand parks that would leave approxi- ing higher density and clustered and ice rink. In the end, the charrette pro- mately two-thirds of the site building, in exchange for desig- posed a plan with a large park that incor- undeveloped. Critics of the plan nations of larger open space or porated a pavilion, public garden, dog have expressed concern that the affordable housing units. The park and seating areas by the adjacent proposed small-scale commer- old PURD rules required only Souhegan River and Baboosic Brook. cial development, which would reserving a minimum of 10 per- Supplementing the park on adjoining include a grocery store, phar- cent of land as open space. property would be a new library, retail macy and drycleaner, might Additional revisions of the new center, town hall and courthouse either unintentionally attract larger zoning code are expected in the redesigned in existing buildings or newly business to the community. coming months before a final built. The proposal was estimated to cost Vienna presently has two vote is taken. $50 million to implement but was restaurants, a service station, a designed to allow construction in phases. bank branch and one conven- ience store. WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 57

smartGrowth in the states (continued) NEW YORK NORTH CAROLINA NORTH DAKOTA Inclusionary zoning, which gives Orange County commissioners Development in the North Dakota developers financial incentives to approved the county’s Planning and Badlands is becoming a concern for build affordable housing, is com- Inspections Department to develop a the local residents. Ranches around ing to Queens. The new policy is draft of a Transfer of Development Medora, North Dakota’s top tourist part of a set of sweeping land-use Rights (TDR) ordinance. The TDR destination, are being sold and sub- changes for 130 blocks in Maspeth program would protect farmland in divided into “rancheros” lots and Woodside, in the western part Orange County by allowing landown- bought by wealthy buyers to build of the borough. Roughly 110 resi- ers to sell the development rights of homes on. Medora itself appears dential blocks will be zoned to their land as credits. These credits poised for big changes. Proposals allow mostly one- and two-family could then be purchased and used by have been floated for two subdivi- homes and stem the proliferation a developer to increase the density sions. If approved, it would be the of oversized houses that has drawn allowed on other land in Orange first sizable expansion in the his- criticism elsewhere in the borough. County. Previously, consultants and a toric hamlet for decades. The town The other 20 blocks, scattered task force analyzed the legal, econom- is wrestling to find the right balance along Queens Boulevard from 50th ic and administrative perspectives for in preserving its Old West feel with to 73rd streets, will be zoned to a TDR program and advised that the its growing aspirations as a tourist allow for larger residential devel- TDR initially only cover unincorporat- center. The town has been dis- opments and affordable housing. ed parts of Orange County. A draft of cussing a new historic preservation Under the inclusionary zoning the proposed TDR program is being zoning ordinance for months, with component, developers will be able developed and once the draft program sign restrictions a source of con- to increase buildings by one-third is completed, there will be public tention. A proposal forwarded by if 20 percent of the space is perma- hearings before the final stage of cre- the city zoning committee would nent affordable housing. In recent ating the TDR program is begun. curb new freestanding signs and years, inclusionary zoning has limit the size of signs in proportion been approved for Hudson Yards to storefronts. The ordinance, which and West Chelsea in Manhattan, the city council plans to take up this and Greenpoint and Williamsburg fall, is an outgrowth of a strategic in Brooklyn. plan drafted two years ago. 58 ON COMMON GROUND WINTER 2007

PENNSYLVANIA TEXAS VERMONT Implementing a 2004 Smart The projected commuter rail between Burlington is using public Growth Land Partnership fund- downtown Fort Worth and Cleburne input to begin outlining ing program, Cumberland about 25 miles south has local offi- plans for the 2.79-acre for- County commissioners in July cials preparing four cities along the mer Moran Generating awarded a total of $1 million in way for higher-density transit-orient- Plant waterfront site. 35 grants to municipalities and ed development. The four towns on Public opinion was mixed regional nonprofits for farmland the commuter rail line—Burleson, about whether the large, and natural resource preserva- Crowley, Joshua and Cleburne—are brick, generating plant tion, parks and recreation, and anticipating the new rail service by should be renovated or livable community plans. The annexing land, buying land and zon- demolished as part of the grants ranged from $15,000 for ing for transit uses. Burleson Mayor final plan, so drafters are ordinance preparation to a max- Ken Shetter pointed out that his city providing plans with and imum of $100,000 for land has zoned 653 acres as its transit-ori- without the plant in them. acquisition. “The results of the ented development district, which Site renderings will be program clearly show there is prompted a developer request and released and discussed at interest in land preservation and city council approval for rezoning public forums in the fall. Smart Growth in the county,” another 138 acres nearby for a Suggestions and opinions stated Commissioner Gary planned development with 300 from these discussions will Eichelberger who, together with upscale apartments. Mayor Shetter help the city devise a defi- other commissioners and the stressed, ‘’We’re not waiting for trains nite plan to put before vot- county planning director, called to come to Burleson. We’re starting ers for approval. the program a success. our development around it.’’ WINTER 2007 ON COMMON GROUND 59

On Common Ground: Winter 2007

0 comments

Notes on slide 1

Favorites, Groups & Events