With the new agenda of President-elect Barack Obama, Time magazine has issued their Top 5 Agenda Items for the new administration. The article can be found here.
I found it interesting that the #1 agenda item was a New New Deal, stressing new government funding for energy-efficient and mass transit means of transportation, highlighting DC's defunct methods of funding America's infrastructure.
Here's the most important of the article that correlates with our Urban Policy discussions:
America's infrastructure is broken, with more than 150,000 structurally deficient bridges, 3,500 unsafe dams and antiquated sewer systems that need an estimated $400 billion worth of improvements. That's a big long-term problem for America's economic competitiveness. But the Federal Government's two basic approaches to infrastructure are broken too. The most notorious is known as "earmarking," the stashing of pet projects into larger bills by members of Congress, and while Obama was correct to remind John McCain that earmarks are only 1% of the budget, they're a lousy way to decide what gets built. An example: the $23 billion water-resources bill crammed with 900 projects for the already overloaded Army Corps of Engineers. These projects won't be funded according to need, cost-effectiveness or relation to national priorities; they'll be funded according to congressional clout. The same goes for the 6,300 earmarks — including Alaska's "bridge to nowhere" — stuffed into the $286 billion transportation bill.
Profligate as that sounds, earmarks made up less than 10% of the bill's cost. The rest of the cash went to state transportation agencies to spend as they pleased — often on their own roads to nowhere, which is why the bill is usually called the "highway bill" in Washington. Most states consistently favor roads over mass transit, building new roads over repairing old ones and building those new roads in rural rather than metropolitan areas. That means more sprawl, more traffic, more smog, more foreign oil and more carbon emissions, but the feds don't seem to care. In fact, the current archaic federal rules encourage all these biases; strict cost-benefit analyses are required for transit projects, but for highway projects, you can pretty much just roll out the asphalt.
It will be very interesting to see if that by refocusing government funding and earmarks, if the refocus will eventually find the problems of urban sprawl and urban blight.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Making Inner-City Schools Work
During class discussion on the 23rd, we spoke at length about urban school systems – what makes or breaks them? In almost a “What Came First the Chicken or the Egg?” scenario, we asked if its parents (human capital) that make an inner-school system function effectively, or is it funding (financial capital)?
Looking at our own Birmingham school system, one can see the vast differences. Suburbia schools such as Mountain Brook, Vestavia, Homewood, and Hoover are a calling card for a real estate promotion of “Good local schools” while inner-city Birmingham schools suffer with a history of poor financial and peer support.
Recently the grassroots community group Yes! We Can was pinpointed for their strategic and valiant efforts in reforming Birmingham City Schools, but not with money or rewards. They were rewarded with time, commitment, and invaluable listening by Birmingham’s leaders as the Birmingham Board of Education requested that their recent study of the city schools be integrated with a professional consulting group’s assignment.
Yes! We Can held dozens of community meetings over a six-month period to discuss what can be done to help make the schools safer, stronger and more accountable. The end result was a list of 14 goals for the system, such as better communication among the school board, administrators, parents, teachers and the community; stronger accountability; and equitable distribution of school system resources.
It is another example of how human capital can literally take the responsibility (or burden) of reform on their shoulders to galvanize their own community. With such earnest commitment to Birmingham’s schools, the Yes! We Can effort will be recognized as the official “voice” of the people in the Board of Education’s strategic plan.
The Yes! We Can Birmingham website can be found here.
The Birmingham News article featuring the accomplishments of Yes! We Can can be found here.
Looking at our own Birmingham school system, one can see the vast differences. Suburbia schools such as Mountain Brook, Vestavia, Homewood, and Hoover are a calling card for a real estate promotion of “Good local schools” while inner-city Birmingham schools suffer with a history of poor financial and peer support.
Recently the grassroots community group Yes! We Can was pinpointed for their strategic and valiant efforts in reforming Birmingham City Schools, but not with money or rewards. They were rewarded with time, commitment, and invaluable listening by Birmingham’s leaders as the Birmingham Board of Education requested that their recent study of the city schools be integrated with a professional consulting group’s assignment.
Yes! We Can held dozens of community meetings over a six-month period to discuss what can be done to help make the schools safer, stronger and more accountable. The end result was a list of 14 goals for the system, such as better communication among the school board, administrators, parents, teachers and the community; stronger accountability; and equitable distribution of school system resources.
It is another example of how human capital can literally take the responsibility (or burden) of reform on their shoulders to galvanize their own community. With such earnest commitment to Birmingham’s schools, the Yes! We Can effort will be recognized as the official “voice” of the people in the Board of Education’s strategic plan.
The Yes! We Can Birmingham website can be found here.
The Birmingham News article featuring the accomplishments of Yes! We Can can be found here.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Segregation Still Relevant Today
As American Apartheid has shown, segregation is a key factor in the divide of housing in America. Written over ten years ago, Douglas Massey’s studies of the sharp contrast of suburbia and ghetto living can still not only be seen today, but is still just as prominent and alive as ten years ago.
The study of neighborhood preferences of black and white respondents in a Detroit-area survey in 1976, exemplifies the segregationist views of that time. While black respondents are eager to move into a neighborhood with 50% black/50% white with a strong 63% saying that is their first choice. White respondents, 72% in fact, state they would be uncomfortable with a neighborhood of that make-up and 64% would try to leave.
Shocking as it may seem in the 1970s, segregationist views are still alive today, in 2008. Charles Babington of The Associated Press recently wrote an article on the gap between blacks and white on racial discrimination in the current election poll. The article, entitled Poll shows gap between blacks and whites over racial discrimination" can be found here.
The sharpest contrast appears between how each group sees discrimination today:
The poll, however, shows that blacks and whites see racial discrimination in starkly different terms. When asked "how much discrimination against blacks" exists, 10 percent of whites said "a lot" and 45 percent said "some."
Among blacks, 57 percent said "a lot" and all but a fraction of the rest said "some."
Asked how much of America's existing racial tension is created by blacks, more than one-third of white respondents said "most" or "all," and 9 percent said "not much." Only 3 percent of blacks said "most" or "all," while half said "not much at all."
Nearly three-fourths of blacks said white people have too much influence in American politics. Only 12 percent of whites agreed. Almost three times as many blacks as whites said blacks have too little influence.
Far more blacks than whites say government officials "usually pay less attention to a request or complaint from a black person than a white person."
One in five whites have felt admiration for blacks "very" or "extremely" often. Seventy percent of blacks have felt the same about whites.
It appears that since the 1976 neighborhood surveys, not much as changed. The only is the sentence attributing changing attitudes to college-educated whites living outside the South – that maybe education is really the only answer. Learning the facts and forming your own educated opinions may be the only real way to escape a culture of racism.
The study of neighborhood preferences of black and white respondents in a Detroit-area survey in 1976, exemplifies the segregationist views of that time. While black respondents are eager to move into a neighborhood with 50% black/50% white with a strong 63% saying that is their first choice. White respondents, 72% in fact, state they would be uncomfortable with a neighborhood of that make-up and 64% would try to leave.
Shocking as it may seem in the 1970s, segregationist views are still alive today, in 2008. Charles Babington of The Associated Press recently wrote an article on the gap between blacks and white on racial discrimination in the current election poll. The article, entitled Poll shows gap between blacks and whites over racial discrimination" can be found here.
The sharpest contrast appears between how each group sees discrimination today:
The poll, however, shows that blacks and whites see racial discrimination in starkly different terms. When asked "how much discrimination against blacks" exists, 10 percent of whites said "a lot" and 45 percent said "some."
Among blacks, 57 percent said "a lot" and all but a fraction of the rest said "some."
Asked how much of America's existing racial tension is created by blacks, more than one-third of white respondents said "most" or "all," and 9 percent said "not much." Only 3 percent of blacks said "most" or "all," while half said "not much at all."
Nearly three-fourths of blacks said white people have too much influence in American politics. Only 12 percent of whites agreed. Almost three times as many blacks as whites said blacks have too little influence.
Far more blacks than whites say government officials "usually pay less attention to a request or complaint from a black person than a white person."
One in five whites have felt admiration for blacks "very" or "extremely" often. Seventy percent of blacks have felt the same about whites.
It appears that since the 1976 neighborhood surveys, not much as changed. The only is the sentence attributing changing attitudes to college-educated whites living outside the South – that maybe education is really the only answer. Learning the facts and forming your own educated opinions may be the only real way to escape a culture of racism.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Parallel Reality of the Ghetto
In reading "American Apartheid" by Douglas Massey, one can't help but have their eyes opened and nod in agreement while reading. Massey's defining passage (so far) is found on page 57 where is says that public housing, in the words of historian Arnold Hirsch, represents a "second ghetto," one "solidly institutionalized and frozen in concrete." At first when reading this, you can't help but be defensive enough to naively think that there is no way people permit ghettos to happen, for people to allow a second world as the ghetto to exist. However, in thinking about the passage of time and the research that Massey has collected, it seems that people not only let ghettos form, but have let them thrive as part of the everyday norm.
Ghettos today are seen as a regular pattern of life - just enough accepted neighborhood. In fact, it appears that ghettos are breeding grounds for a parallel world of survival, hopelessness, and desolation. While ghettos are a stark contrast to the way many live, people can easily count off the ghetto sections of their city with ease. They know where they are and know who lives there, but yet avoid those sections at all costs. They are seen as untouchable, almost quarantined sections of the city whose boundaries cannot be permeated. People do not pass through the "wall" in order to leave or to get in and help.
It is ironic to look at how the ghetto has not only played a permanent role in how people live, but also in pop culture. Music, movies, books, and television shows are famous for telling the success stories of making it out of the ghetto, or the supposed glamorous life of living on the street. Rap stars are notorious for this, and somehow put a cool, hard edge on the perks of living in the ghetto that might be enviable to some that are totally unaware of the unfortunate living situations these people face daily living in the real ghetto. Unless the public wakes up and realizes the almost 3rd world country living environments in which some people live in America, the fear is that the ghetto will continue its cyclical nature.
Ghettos today are seen as a regular pattern of life - just enough accepted neighborhood. In fact, it appears that ghettos are breeding grounds for a parallel world of survival, hopelessness, and desolation. While ghettos are a stark contrast to the way many live, people can easily count off the ghetto sections of their city with ease. They know where they are and know who lives there, but yet avoid those sections at all costs. They are seen as untouchable, almost quarantined sections of the city whose boundaries cannot be permeated. People do not pass through the "wall" in order to leave or to get in and help.
It is ironic to look at how the ghetto has not only played a permanent role in how people live, but also in pop culture. Music, movies, books, and television shows are famous for telling the success stories of making it out of the ghetto, or the supposed glamorous life of living on the street. Rap stars are notorious for this, and somehow put a cool, hard edge on the perks of living in the ghetto that might be enviable to some that are totally unaware of the unfortunate living situations these people face daily living in the real ghetto. Unless the public wakes up and realizes the almost 3rd world country living environments in which some people live in America, the fear is that the ghetto will continue its cyclical nature.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The Perfect Storm for Poverty
Michael Teitz and Karen Chapple write in their study eight different hypotheses of inner-city poverty, which can be summed as follows:
1. Structural economic shifts; 2. Inadequate human capital; 3. Racial & gender discrimination; 4. Interaction of culture & behavior; 5. Spatial mismatch; 6. Migration; 7. Endogenous growth deficit; and 8. Public policy.
While these hypotheses each form a substantial argument for inner-city poverty and could stand alone in their own right, I think that all eight form the foundation of a "perfect storm" of sorts. Like someone posed in class, the age old question of which came first the chicken or the egg, can be applied to this transition. All eight hypotheses stirred together form a sequence of events that had formed a cyclical brew that is still not only alive, but gaining ground today. While this article was written in 1998, ten years later nothing much has changed.
Inner-city poverty is still a problem affecting many today, with no apparent solution. The argument of who should find and implement the solution seems to be the real problem, with the blame shifting from the public to the government to the church to the nonprofit community. Is it a local, state, or federal policy problem? Is it a land planning, employment, cultural, or discrimination policy issue? With the hypothesis of public policy, one can look back at the often misguided government "solutions" of inner-city poverty. However, like we discussed in class, were it really solutions being formed or just a shifting of the "problem"? Did anyone in the government really look at the root of the problem or was it seen as an annoyance that must be swept under the rug?
Many of these questions can be asked today, but for the first time, the current generation seems to be asking the right questions. Not how can these problems be averted but how can they be solved? Is it not a numbers game, but a real issue affecting real people. Unless the root of the problem is solved, the same problems will reappear, sometimes with just a different face. If the economic pie is broadened, not short-changed, for everyone, than everyone as a whole can benefit from an increased growth in our economy. The answer only seems to be waiting on the right person or group to step up and admit that inner-city poverty is not right, that people living in such suffering and desolate opportunity is not the "America" that we all know.
1. Structural economic shifts; 2. Inadequate human capital; 3. Racial & gender discrimination; 4. Interaction of culture & behavior; 5. Spatial mismatch; 6. Migration; 7. Endogenous growth deficit; and 8. Public policy.
While these hypotheses each form a substantial argument for inner-city poverty and could stand alone in their own right, I think that all eight form the foundation of a "perfect storm" of sorts. Like someone posed in class, the age old question of which came first the chicken or the egg, can be applied to this transition. All eight hypotheses stirred together form a sequence of events that had formed a cyclical brew that is still not only alive, but gaining ground today. While this article was written in 1998, ten years later nothing much has changed.
Inner-city poverty is still a problem affecting many today, with no apparent solution. The argument of who should find and implement the solution seems to be the real problem, with the blame shifting from the public to the government to the church to the nonprofit community. Is it a local, state, or federal policy problem? Is it a land planning, employment, cultural, or discrimination policy issue? With the hypothesis of public policy, one can look back at the often misguided government "solutions" of inner-city poverty. However, like we discussed in class, were it really solutions being formed or just a shifting of the "problem"? Did anyone in the government really look at the root of the problem or was it seen as an annoyance that must be swept under the rug?
Many of these questions can be asked today, but for the first time, the current generation seems to be asking the right questions. Not how can these problems be averted but how can they be solved? Is it not a numbers game, but a real issue affecting real people. Unless the root of the problem is solved, the same problems will reappear, sometimes with just a different face. If the economic pie is broadened, not short-changed, for everyone, than everyone as a whole can benefit from an increased growth in our economy. The answer only seems to be waiting on the right person or group to step up and admit that inner-city poverty is not right, that people living in such suffering and desolate opportunity is not the "America" that we all know.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Transportation, cultural norms, business interests, technology, and government - these are the significant turning points from city life to suburbia, according to Kenneth Jackson. However if we reflect on history, we can see that all major events seem to rotate around one of these factors.
Discovery of America = transportation, business interests, government.
Taming the American wilderness to Colonies = transportation, cultural norms, government.
Gold Rush = transportation, cultural norms, business interests.
The Great Depression = cultural norms, business interests, technology, government.
Flying a man to the moon = transportation, technology, government.
Computer and Internet Boom = Cultural norms, business interests, technology, government.
Any major war = transportation (oil), business interests, technology, government.
Although these events in history vary, they can all relate to the ignition of at least one of Jackson's five factors. And it begs the question to wonder what is not in the reach of human interest or passion, until one of these five factors begets a path to its fruition.
Discovery of America = transportation, business interests, government.
Taming the American wilderness to Colonies = transportation, cultural norms, government.
Gold Rush = transportation, cultural norms, business interests.
The Great Depression = cultural norms, business interests, technology, government.
Flying a man to the moon = transportation, technology, government.
Computer and Internet Boom = Cultural norms, business interests, technology, government.
Any major war = transportation (oil), business interests, technology, government.
Although these events in history vary, they can all relate to the ignition of at least one of Jackson's five factors. And it begs the question to wonder what is not in the reach of human interest or passion, until one of these five factors begets a path to its fruition.
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