Significant policy changes create safer L.A. streets
January 20, 2010 at 12:56 pm | In gangs, neighborhoods, police, prison system | Leave a Comment
Tales of released prisoners often include poor recidivism rates or the creation of police informants, but Los Angeles is creating a new narrative about formerly-imprisoned gang members.
A stark contrast from the tensions between the LAPD and local gangs in the early 1990s, police have begun embracing the influence of former gang members, forming a partnership to decrease rumors after violent incidents and mentor younger members. Extending cooperation beyond “informants” is proving beneficial for the South Central community. Both residents and police acknowledge that the area has not seen these levels of safety in over 50 years. Recalling the 90’s, when drive-by shootings were part of everyday life, citizens are embracing the new safety initiatives on behalf of police and ex-offenders alike.
Neighborhood patterns of Netflix rentals
January 9, 2010 at 1:31 pm | In NYT, amenities, consumption, geography, personality, scenes, what to read | 1 CommentThe New York Times has an excellent interactive feature on the distribution of 2009 rentals of particular films across neighborhoods, for New York, Chicago, Boston, D.C., Los Angeles, Atlanta, and a few other cities. For example, in the Hyde Park zip code (site of the University of Chicago), the most rented film in 2009 was Slumdog Millionaire. Yet in 3 of the South Side zip codes that surround it, the most rented film was Tyler Perry’s The Family that Preys. MadMen Season 1 made the top 50 in many of the zip codes in Manhattan and in those sections of Brooklyn nearest Manhattan; it was virtually absent in the rest of the metropolitan area. Relationship to Terry Clark’s amenity-based scenes indexes? To the neighborhood distribution of personality types? Long live the spatial sociology of consumption….
New edition of “Human Services as Complex Organizations” released
December 18, 2009 at 4:39 pm | In amenities, job centers, new books, non-profits, poverty, race, social service agencies, welfare offices, what to read | Leave a Comment
Sociologist and social welfare scholar Yeheskel Hasenfeld has recently published a new edition of his seminal volume, Human Services as Complex Organizations. This comprehensive and state-of-the-art collection on human service organizations weaves the latest theoretical and empirical studies in macro theory with contemporary examples from hospitals, schools, social service organizations, mental health centers, and public welfare agencies. Blending theory with application, this outstanding anthology highlights the moral choices and accomplishments made by human service organizations. University of Michigan Professor Emerius Mayer Zald writes, “Hasenfeld has done it again. An excellent collection of essays on many of the most important trends and issues involving human service organizations.” The volume features essays from urbanorgs.org members Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Evelyn Brodkin, Stephen R. Smith, Jodi Sandfort and many others.
Altanta set to eliminate all public housing—what’s next?
December 4, 2009 at 8:44 pm | In cities, economic development, housing, neighborhoods, poverty | Leave a Comment
Researchers at Georgia State University file a preliminary report on the consequences of poverty deconcentration in Atlanta. From Deirdre Oakely, one of the authors of the report: “By early 2010 Atlanta is poised to become the first city in the Nation to eliminate all of its traditional public housing stock. The GSU Urban Health Initiative is following approximately 300 relocated residents across six public housing communities earmarked for demolition…. Do they end up in better neighborhoods and have improved and more stable living conditions? How is their health and overall well-being affected by relocation? …Findings suggest that the families are moving to other poor, segregated neighborhoods, but that these neighborhoods are not as poor as the public housing communities. However, our findings also show a pattern of geographic clustering of families which is suggestive of reconcentration. For the seniors, the destination neighborhoods are far poorer and more segregation than the origin ones. This raises some serious concerns about the fate of relocated residents from the public housing senior high rises.” See also, a recent House hearing on the future of public housing (with thanks to Jim Frasier) and a PBS expose on mismanagement in Miami-Dade public housing (with thanks to Andy Beveridge).
Saving Detroit?
November 20, 2009 at 11:46 am | In amenities, economic development, housing, neighborhoods, poverty | Leave a Comment
With the housing market continuing to defy optimists, the economy months away from generating new jobs, and its auto industry clinging to dear life, the State of Michigan has apparently not given up on its cities. From the South Bend Tribune: “The Michigan State Housing Development Authority is seeking $290 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for its New Michigan Urban Neighborhood plan targeting the 12 largest municipalities, including Lansing, Detroit, Highland Park, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.” The HUD program is allocating nearly $2 billion to stabilize neighborhoods and avoid the severe deterioration of cities that has followed sustained economic crises in the past. Detroit is hoping for $53 million, which could not come at a better time, as the city faces hundreds of millions in deficits and its commercial property values—after two years of falling home values—begin their own “ nose dive.”
And yet its downtown thrives?
Breast cancer as an ethnic variable
October 28, 2009 at 4:27 pm | In breast cancer, health, neighborhoods, race | Leave a Comment
Over time, the number of women dying from breast cancer has decreased. While there is no cure, early detection, mammography, and treatment have made breast cancer survivable. A diagnosis is no longer a death sentence—though that edict may not ring true for all.
Although breast cancer prevalence is higher in Chicago’s White female population, mortality rates of Black women are significantly higher. In light of research on the topic in 2005, WBEZ’s Gabriel Spitzer spoke to survivors and surgeons, experts and advocates, to bring us the series, Twice as Deadly: Chicago’s Race Gap in Breast Cancer Survival.
While some cite genetic predisposition, Steven Whitman’s (Sinai Urban Health Institute) research links the disease to Chicago’s social fabric. Whitman’s research argues that Black women have less access to screening and treatment, the very things that make breast cancer beatable.
African American women seek mammograms at lower rates and are diagnosed in later stages, significantly decreasing their chances for survival. Additionally, facilities providing mammograms in largely-Black neighborhoods are rare. Those in existence are expensive, and their machines are often old or broken.
It’s a domino effect of barriers:
Black women die from breast cancer at high rates…
Because they don’t catch their cancer in the early stages…
Because they don’t get mammograms…
Because they can’t afford the costs of the procedure or transportation to facilities offering free services is inconvenient…
Because they have low incomes.
We are aware how variable economic, social, and geographical barriers impact health, but access and quality should not be rogue variables.
Toronto researcher finds strong patterns of personality traits across neighborhoods
October 27, 2009 at 4:35 pm | In creative class, data, neighborhoods, personality, what to read | 1 Comment
Are Chicago’s South Siders more agreeable than their North Side neighbors? In which neighborhoods are Chicagoans most open to new experiences? University of Toronto’s Kevin Stolarick has taken personality data from a study of more than 2,500 Chicagoans who took “The Big Five Personality Test” and mapped the data onto Chicago neighborhoods. The data reveal strong patterns across neighborhoods. For example, people who see themselves as extroverted appear to cluster on the South Side; those with higher neurotic scores, on the far North Side. Stolarick works in Richard Florida’s Martin Prosperity Institute, which has seen controversy in recent months. See articles Chicago Tribune and Chicago Redeye.
Chicago’s mixed-income housing begins its 11th year
October 6, 2009 at 4:14 pm | In cities, economic development, housing, neighborhoods, poverty | Leave a CommentTerry Peterson’s legacy with the Chicago Housing Authority may very well lie in his efforts to create viable mixed-income housing. However, the plan has experienced numerous setbacks since its inception. Although the first ten years saw the demise of some of the country’s most notorious complexes, such as Cabrini Green and the Robert Taylor Homes, many of the latest setbacks arrived with the economic downturn. Other issues are more ideological in nature. Ideally, the new mixed-income communities promote cross-class socioeconomic unity while providing access to those citizens traditionally outside the realm of top-notch resources. Chicago Public Radio examined this issue further. The story can be found here.
UrbanOrgs member Scott Allard discusses latest poverty figures on Chicago Public Radio
September 30, 2009 at 11:44 am | In news, poverty | Leave a CommentThe following story was featured on Chicago Public Radio on September 29, 2009:
Poverty Levels Are Expected to Rise in 2009
The number of Illinois residents living in poverty grew by about a quarter million from 2000 to 2008. That’s according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau, today.
12.2 percent of Illinoisans and almost 15 percent of Cook County residents were living in poverty in 2008. Scott Allard is professor at the University of Chicago’s school of social service administration. He says he doesn’t expect the poverty level to decline for another few years.
ALLARD: There’s a lot of people who aren’t going to be going back to work anytime soon. And that even though some economic indicators are showing that we’re emerging out of recession, many people are not getting called back to work, or their lost earnings aren’t being replaced.
Allard says the current recession and the economic downturn earlier in the decade contribute to higher rates of poverty around the country. He says poverty is hitting more families and people living in suburban areas.
According to 2009 federal guidelines, a household of four with an annual income below $22,050 is considered to be living in poverty.
For an audio version, visit
http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=37095
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