Why scholars of urban poverty should take culture seriously again
May 10, 2010 at 11:24 pm | Posted in culture, neighborhoods, poverty, reading list, what to read | Leave a comment
A new volume of the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences reexamines the relationship between culture and poverty. The volume takes contemporary researchers on poverty to task for largely abandoning the study of culture. At the same time, it challenges dated and discredited perspectives that suggest that the poor are poor because of their cultural values. Instead, it calls for scholars and policy makers to take advantage of new research in anthropology and cultural sociology that forces us to broaden our understanding of culture, poverty, and anti-poverty policy. See the uncorrected proofs of the introductory article by Mario L Small, David Harding, and Michele Lamont.
The shrinking of Detroit
February 25, 2010 at 2:19 pm | Posted in geography, housing, neighborhoods, poverty | Leave a commentFacing a $360 million smaller budget, a dwindling tax basis, and a substantially weakened ability to provide services, Detroit appears to have begun the process of downsizing. From the Detroit News: “… Mary Bing said Wednesday he “absolutely” intends to relocate residents from desolate neighborhoods and is bracing for inevitable legal challenges when he unveils his downsizing plan. In his strongest statements about shrinking the city since taking office, Bing told WJR-760 AM the city is using internal and external data to decide ‘winners and losers.’ The city plans to save some neighborhoods and encourage residents to move from others, he said. ‘If we don’t do it, you know this whole city is going to go down. I’m hopeful people will understand that,’ Bing said.” The reactions are predictable. One less ring in the city’s nested concentric circles?
New edition of “Human Services as Complex Organizations” released
December 18, 2009 at 4:39 pm | Posted 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 | Posted 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 | Posted 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?
Chicago’s mixed-income housing begins its 11th year
October 6, 2009 at 4:14 pm | Posted 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 | Posted 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
The costs of calulating poverty
September 14, 2009 at 12:35 pm | Posted in news, NYT, poverty | Leave a commentTags: New York City, poverty, welfare
If you’re raising a family of four on $26K, you may believe that your current checkbook balance is enough to qualify your household for federal assistance. And in New York, at least, you’d be right. Beginning with recommendations provided by the National Academy of Sciences, NYC set out to reform their decades-old guidelines by issuing new measures of poverty based on 2006 census data. The new calculations go a step further than traditional measures, considering living expenses such as healthcare and childcare costs. The result, according to backers of the new formula, is a more realistic picture of today’s world. They’re pushing the federal government to make a similar change.
To read the full article and listen to the story on National Public Radio, please click here.
To see the working paper on which this story was based, click here.
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