Hess, Chris; Acolin, Arthur; Walter, Rebecca; Kennedy, Ian; Chasins, Sarah; Crowder, Kyle. (2021). Searching for Housing in the Digital Age: Neighborhood Representation on Internet Rental Housing Platforms across Space, Platform, and Metropolitan Segregation. Environment And Planning A-economy And Space, 53(8), 2012 – 2032.
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Abstract
Understanding residential mobility, housing affordability, and the geography of neighborhood advantage and disadvantage relies on robust information about housing search processes and housing markets. Existing data about housing markets, especially rental markets, suffer from accuracy issues and a lack of temporal and geographic flexibility. Data collected from online rental platforms that are commonly used can help address these issues and hold considerable promise for better understanding the full distribution of available rental homes. However, realizing this promise requires a careful assessment of potential sources of bias as online rental listing platforms may perpetuate inequalities similar to those found in physical spaces. This paper approaches the production of rental advertisements as a social process driven by both contextual and property level factors. We compare data from two online platforms for the 100 most populated metropolitan areas in the United States to explore inequality in digital rental listing spaces and understand what characteristics are associated with over and underrepresentation of advertisements in certain areas. We find similar associations for socioeconomic measures between platforms and across urban and suburban parts of these metropolitan areas. In contrast, the importance of racial and ethnic composition, as well as broader patterns of segregation, for online representation differs substantially across space and platform. This analysis informs our understanding of how online platforms affect housing search dynamics through their biases and segmentation, and highlights the potential and limits in using the data available on these platforms to produce small area rental estimates.
Keywords
Fair Market Rents; Cities; Opportunity; Residential Mobility; Online Rental Listings; Rental Housing Markets; Housing Search; Inequality
Acolin, Arthur; Lin, Desen; Wachter, Susan M. (2019). Endowments and Minority Homeownership. Cityscape, 21(1), 5 – 62.
Abstract
Fifty years after the adoption of the 1968 Fair Housing Act that prohibits discrimination in the housing market, homeownership rates have not increased for Black or Hispanic households. The current homeownership rate for Black households is 42 percent, identical to the 1970 census reported level, and 48 percent for Hispanic households, lower than that in 1970. Using data from the 1989, 2005, and 2013 American Housing Surveys, we identify the extent to which group differences in household endowments account for persistently low minority homeownership levels.
Keywords
Borrowing Constraints; Household Formation; Race; Wealth; Trends; Rates
Robinson, Jamaica R. M.; Phipps, Amanda, I; Barrington, Wendy E.; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Sheppard, Lianne; Malen, Rachel C.; Newcomb, Polly A. (2021). Associations of Household Income with Health-Related Quality of Life Following a Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis Varies with Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, 30(7), 1366 – 1374.
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Abstract
Background: Existing evidence indicates household income as a predictor of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) following a colorectal cancer diagnosis. This association likely varies with neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES), but evidence is limited. Methods: We included data from 1,355 colorectal cancer survivors participating in the population-based Puget Sound Colorectal Cancer Cohort (PSCCC). Survivors reported current annual household income; we measured HRQoL via the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Colorectal (FACT-C) tool. Using neighborhood data summarized within a 1-km radial buffer of Census block group centroids, we constructed a multidimensional nSES index measure. We employed survivors' geocoded residential addresses to append nSES score for Census block group of residence. With linear generalized estimating equations clustered on survivor location, we evaluated associations of household income with differences in FACT-C mean score, overall and stratified by nSES. We used separate models to explore relationships for wellbeing subscales. Results: We found lower household income to be associated with clinically meaningful differences in overall FACT-C scores [<$30K: -13.6; 95% confidence interval (CI): -16.8 to -10.4] and subscale wellbeing after a recent colorectal cancer diagnosis. Relationships were slightly greater in magnitude for survivors living in lower SES neighborhoods. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that recently diagnosed lower income colorectal cancer survivors are likely to report lower HRQoL, and modestly more so in lower SES neighborhoods. Impact: The findings from this work will aid future investigators' ability to further consider the contexts in which the income of survivors can be leveraged as a means of improving HRQoL
Keywords
Built Environment Factors; Functional Assessment; Fact-c; Population-density; Physical-activity; Survivors; Care; Disparities; Impact; Mortality
Reina, Vincent; Acolin, Arthur; Bostic, Raphael W. (2019). Section 8 Vouchers and Rent Limits: Do Small Area Fair Market Rent Limits Increase Access to Opportunity Neighborhoods? An Early Evaluation. Housing Policy Debate, 29(1), 44 – 61.
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Abstract
One critique of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s Housing Choice Voucher program is that its maximum rent limit is set at the metropolitan level, making more expensive neighborhoods effectively off limits to households who receive rental assistance. As a result, the design of the program limits a voucher household's access to opportunity neighborhood. In response, HUD created the Small Area Fair Market Rent (SAFMR) demonstration program, which calculates the maximum voucher rent at the zip code level so that HUD's rent limits more closely align with local neighborhood rents. In theory, this program should improve a voucher household's choice set and location outcomes. Looking at changes in the location of beneficiaries in the six sites that participated in the SAFMR demonstration program, we find a significant amount of regional variation in the results. Specifically, introduction of the SAFMR rent calculations results in voucher households living in higher opportunity neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas, in lower opportunity neighborhoods in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and mixed effects in other areas. These mixed results highlight some of the potential incremental benefits of the program and reinforce the importance of viewing this policy over a longer period of time, and in the context of other constraints voucher households face in accessing neighborhood opportunity.
Keywords
Choice; Mobility; Families; Live; Section 8; Low-income Housing; Subsidized Housing; Vouchers; Neighborhood; Access; Markets; Mathematical Analysis; Federal Agencies; Urban Development; Housing; Households; Neighborhoods; Rents; Limitations; Beneficiaries; Housing Subsidies; United States--us; Dallas Texas; Chattanooga Tennessee
Tillyer, Marie Skubak; Wilcox, Pamela; Walter, Rebecca J. (2021). Crime Generators In Context: Examining ‘place In Neighborhood’ Propositions. Journal Of Quantitative Criminology, 37(2), 517 – 546.
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Abstract
Objectives The present study tests hypotheses regarding the moderating influence of neighborhood-level criminal opportunity on the relationship between crime generators and block-level crime. Methods We first estimated multilevel negative binomial regression models for violent, property, and drug crimes to identify crime-type specific crime generators on each block. We then estimated a series of crime-type specific models to examine whether the effects of violent, property, and drug crime generators are moderated by three census block group-level indicators of neighborhood criminal opportunity-concentrated disadvantage, vehicular traffic activity, and civic engagement. Results The positive relationship between crime generators and crime on blocks was exacerbated in census block groups with high levels of concentrated disadvantage and high levels of traffic activity for all three crime types. The effects of crime generators on block-level crime were significantly tempered in census block groups with high levels of civic engagement. Conclusions Particular place types do not generate crime similarly across varying neighborhood contexts. Rather, the criminogenic effects of micro-places appear to be exacerbated in neighborhoods with extensive criminal opportunity and tempered in neighborhoods with less criminal opportunity.
Keywords
Neighborhoods; Crime; Regression Analysis; Census; Crime And Place; Crime Generators; Multilevel Opportunity; Place In Neighborhood; Alcohol Outlet Density; Block-level Analysis; Social-disorganization; Routine Activities; Longitudinal Analysis; Street Robbery; Land-use; Multilevel; Victimization; Community; Citizen Participation; Traffic; Property Offences; Drugs; Effects; Property
Manzo, Lynne C. (2014). On Uncertain Ground: Being at Home in the Context of Public Housing Redevelopment. International Journal Of Housing Policy, 14(4), 389 – 410.
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Abstract
The recent global financial crisis increased the volatility of housing markets and furthered the ongoing disinvestment in public sector housing. This disinvestment has been manifest in urban restructuring programmes involving both the privatisation and the wholesale demolition of public/social housing. For example, programmes like HOPE VI in the USA have radically altered the landscape of public housing through the demolition of tens of thousands of housing units nationwide. However, what of the people who occupied this housing, and what of the lives they had built there? In such a context, deliberating on the notion of being at home becomes a pressing task, necessitating serious consideration of the lived experience of place and place attachments among those who have been displaced by such programmes. While research has studied outcomes such as the quality of the new neighbourhood and household economic stability, it does not adequately address the lived experience of place and the disruptions that forced relocation can cause. This paper brings the literature on place attachment into the discussion of urban restructuring programmes and discusses the findings of several empirical studies on place attachment to provide a more complete picture of the impacts of such programmes on poor people. It demonstrates how place attachments in the context of public housing are complicated by poverty, power dynamics, ambivalence, and stigma, underscoring how attachments are formed through the interplay of policy and programme rhetoric, and the active processes of meaning making among residents. Policy implications of considering place attachments in public housing redevelopment efforts are also addressed.
Keywords
Public Housing; Housing Development; Housing Market; Housing Assistance Agencies; Urbanization; Global Financial Crisis, 2008-2009; Being At Home; Hope Vi; Place Attachment; Urban Restructuring Programmes; Relocation; Residents; Stability; Landscape; Neighborhoods; Stigma; Poverty; Radicalism; Ambivalence; Public Policy; Social Programs; Public Finance; Public Sector; Economic Stabilization; Housing Authorities; International Finance; Economic Crisis; Privatization; Demolition; Volatility; Redevelopment; Low Income Groups; Rhetoric
Salcido, Christine Galvan; Ray, James V.; Caudy, Michael; Viglione, Jill; Walter, Rebecca J. (2019). Associations Between Psychopathic Traits and Readiness for Change: An Exploratory Analysis. Personality And Individual Differences, 141, 86 – 91.
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Abstract
Readiness to change (RTC) indicates an individual's recognition of a problem as well as confidence in their ability to change (Gaume, Bertholet, & Daeppen, 2016), and is hypothesized to play an important role in therapeutic processes aimed at changing offending behaviors (Polaschek & Ross, 2010). However, prior research has generally failed to consider RTC among severe offender subgroups (Hodge & Renwick, 2002; Howells & Day, 2007) such as those with psychopathic personality features whom have often been characterized as resistant to treatment (Harris & Rice, 2006; Salekin, 2002). In the current sample of formerly incarcerated persons (N = 70), we explore the relationship between psychopathic personality traits, as measured by the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM; Patrick, 2010), and the unique components of RTC, as measured by an originally constructed assessment called the Change Readiness Scale (CRS). Each item of the CRS has been empirically supported and combined to form five subscales of change readiness (recognition, action, social bonds, human agency, and self efficacy). Results show unique associations between the subscales of the TriPM and aspects of the RTC construct, yielding it necessary to further explore these relationships to better understand how these factors may contribute to treatment and justice system outcomes.
Keywords
High-risk; Therapeutic Alliance; Personality; Validation; Construct; Behavior; Psychopathy; Readiness To Change; Triarchic Psychopathy Measure; Reentry; Offender
Wagenfeld, Amy; Winterbottom, Daniel. (2021). Coping on the Inside: Design for Therapeutic Incarceration Interventions – A Case Study. Work-a Journal Of Prevention Assessment & Rehabilitation, 68(1), 97 – 106.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Adjusting to incarceration is traumatic. An under-utilized strategy understood to buffer and counteract the negative impacts of incarceration are nature interventions. OBJECTIVE: Outcomes of an interdisciplinary design studio course focused on developing masterplans for a women's prison in the Pacific Northwest (US) are presented. Course objectives included comprehension and application of therapeutic and culturally expressive design principles to increase the benefits of environmental design within a carceral setting; collaboration, developing a deeper, more representative understanding of how design processes can improve the lives of marginalized populations; and enhancing design skills, including at masterplan and schematic scale using an iterative process and reflection. METHODS: A landscape architect, occupational therapist, and architect teaching team, with support from architects and justice specialists facilitated an elective design studio course to redesign the Washington Corrections Center for Women campus. RESULTS: In a ten-week academic quarter, six student design teams created conceptual masterplans for therapeutic outdoor spaces at the Washington Corrections Center for Women. Students presented their plans to prison staff, current and ex-offenders, and architects and landscape architects in practice, and then received positive feedback. CONCLUSION: Despite well-documented need for and value of nature interventions to improve health and wellbeing for everyone regardless of circumstance or situation, the project awaits administrative approval to move forward to installation.
Keywords
Recovery; Exposure; Health; Correctional Institutions; Environmental Justice; Therapeutic Outdoor Environments; Interdisciplinary Academic Design Studio
Purcell, Mark. (2014). Possible Worlds: Henri Lefebvre and the Right to the City. Journal Of Urban Affairs, 36(1), 141 – 154.
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Abstract
There has been much attention paid recently the idea of the right to the city. This article argues that in order to fully appreciate the power of the idea, we should understand it through a close reading of Henri Lefebvre's body of work on the city and politics. Lefebvre presents a radical vision for a city in which users manage urban space for themselves, beyond the control of both the state and capitalism. However, while it calls for profound change, Lefebvre's vision is also eminently practical; it can very much serve as a guide and inspiration for concrete action to change the city today.
Tillyer, Marie Skubak; Walter, Rebecca J. (2019). Busy Businesses and Busy Contexts: The Distribution and Sources of Crime at Commercial Properties. Journal Of Research In Crime & Delinquency, 56(6), 816 – 850.
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Abstract
Objective: Examine the distribution and sources of crime across freestanding businesses in San Antonio. We test hypotheses about the main and interactive effects of neighborhood and business characteristics on crime at the business, with a focus on busy contexts and busy businesses. Method: Police crime incident data are spatially joined to study area business parcels. Additional data sources include Infogroup USA Business Data, the American Community Survey, and an Environmental Protection Agency traffic activity indicator. Multilevel negative binomial regression models are estimated to observe the main and interactive effects of census block group and business variables on crime at the parcel. Results: Businesses located in block groups with more commercial property and high levels of vehicular traffic experience more crime. In addition, crime is higher at busy businesses, as indicated by employee size, sales volume, and square footage. Busy contexts and busy businesses do not appear to interact to increase crime at the parcel beyond their main effects. Conclusions: Crime is clustered at relatively few businesses, and this variation cannot be explained by business type alone. Both neighborhood and business characteristics are associated with crime at freestanding businesses, with busy businesses and those within busier block groups experiencing more crime.
Keywords
Business Enterprises; Commercial Real Estate; Crime; Businesses; Busy Places; Crime And Place; Crime Concentration; Infogroup Usa (company); United States. Environmental Protection Agency; Social-disorganization; Routine Activities; Street Segments; Micro Places; High-schools; Hot-spots; Criminology; Neighborhoods; Facilities; Multilevel; Companies; Law Enforcement; Business; Protection; Traffic; Police; Census; Trade; Sales; Environmental Protection; Commercial Property