Archive for diversity

Race, Class and Sprawl

September 12, 2007 / Wendy Waters / 3 comments

Is there a link between race, class and an insistence on urban sprawl in the US? Historically, probably yes. Today, some African American advocates imply that continuing sprawl is required for African Americans to catch up on home ownership rates. I question whether this would actually be best for equalizing the economic playing field.

The National Urban League, an organization dedicated to empowering economic development for African Americans, is concerned about “Smart Growth” policies in many US cities. They worry that the result of restricting sprawl will be higher house prices, which will push home ownership beyond the reach of many African Americans.

If “Smart Growth” means simply reducing the amount of land available and only allowing single family housing on 1/2 acre lots to be built — then yes, they would be right. And, this would be a tragedy for anyone of any ethnic background trying to establish themselves financially through real estate ownership.

Indeed, some cities and suburbs (notably the Washington DC and Boston area) are not introducing new types of housing to coincide with smart growth, according to this article.

Yet, “Smart Growth” need not be so restrictive. If it coincides with introducing a wider variety of housing options, then it could generate more opportunities for home ownership to people with lower incomes (of all races). For example, duplexes, town-homes, and mid-rise condominiums can all ofter less expensive ownership options. They also put more people into a smaller space which makes transit more efficient (which could mean giving up one family car to own a home would not be a hardship). Adding more homes further from jobs makes automobile ownership a requirement — and this is becoming every more costly in terms of purchase price and gasoline costs, taking income away from being used toward housing affordability and life enjoyment.

However, adopting and embracing a multi-faceted, plurality of housing as part of Smart Growth will require a cultural shift in many US cities — by everyone, black, white and all colors of the rainbow.  Update: There was an interesting discussion on anti-townhome biases at Houston Strategies last month.

Currently, often the “life game” is to be able to afford a 4000 square foot home in the suburbs, as a status symbol. And more whites than blacks can afford this. Thus race and class and sprawl are interlinked — and this is probably one less spoken reason why it’s proving more difficult to bring about a changed mindset in US urban areas than other world cities.

Hmmm… would a shift toward embracing smarter housing not only help the environment, but also perhaps the race climate in the US?

Category: communities, development conflicts, diversity, ecological issues, economic development, planning policy, poverty, real estate, resident attitudes, residential development, sprawl /

Families, City Living, and Economic Diversity

September 6, 2007 / Wendy Waters / One comment

What do you need to build a community?  Do you need dozens of like-minded people from the same socio-economic background, living in similar houses, doing similar jobs, with kids who do the same activities?

Or, can you build a strong community with people from a variety of backgrounds, who have different life experiences, living in different types of homes, with a variety of personal interests?

Last week Richard Florida observed that in his new Toronto neighbourhood there were a lot of families choosing urban living over the suburbs, and from a variety of backgrounds it would appear based on the range of housing choices.  He was challenging an assumption in the Denver Post that somehow having children was incompatible with living in a dense, amenity-rich urban setting. 

This led me to think about what makes some dense urban communities work — and a strong community is a good reason to stay and raise a family. 

Looking around my own (dense, urban) community, I notice that my neighbors include several drywallers and construction workers, at least two lawyers, a graphic designer (now free lance, formerly senior at Electronic Arts), several teachers, a genetics researcher, people who work in finance, people who write for semi-communist newspapers, professional photographers, energy traders, marketing specialists, and the owners of local businesses: the gym two blocks away is owned and operated by a couple living 6 houses up the street. 

Some people rent, some people own.  Some owners bought in before housing prices doubled or tripled (as has happened since 2001), some bought in recently.  Some occupy an entire house, but most people whether they own or rent only occupy a portion of the house.  Many people have children.

 And spawning out from my immediate area, the same patterns of residents repeats itself — people from a wide variety of backgrounds.  What’s really intriguing is how much most people in the neighborhood support each other.

Neighbors hire each other, or swap favors.  Need your wall patched, your drywaller neighbor can do it.  Need a will, the lawyer down the street will give you a discount.  Want some great photos taken of your kids or family, ask a local photographer.   In a campaign to get a local park renovated, a professional graphic designer created some post cards and images so amusing, ironic and memorable the campaign leader received a call from the Mayor thanking us for brightening his day.

The community also supports the local businesses.  In a 10 block retail strip that provides the focal point for the neighborhood, there are only two or three chain retailers (Starbucks, of course, and outlets of two local chains).  Most other businesses are run by people in the community — the hardware store, the small grocery stores, the cafes and restaurants, and the ecclectic range of funky retail shops (shoe stores, clothes, childrens).  Most people shop local – again supporting the community.

Last year I addressed the question of whether gentrification reduces economic diversity (not racial…economic), and tentatively concluded that no it doesn’t.  In the subsequent discussion with others, I started to conclude that during the process of gentrification, economic diversity is not diminished, but perhaps that could be the end result if the neighbourhood becomes so expensive that only families with >$150K/year in income could consider buying there.

My neighborhood is definitely undergoing gentrificaiton.  But it’s this dyanmic time when economic diversity can contribute to creating an intriguing community.  Yes there are tensions — every community has that — but that’s also important.  People need something to talk about. 

Perhaps a true community is necessarily dynamic and not static — undergoing some sort of gentrification or other change process.  That’s what makes it interesting. 

People who live in suburban sprawl or condo sprawl often say they don’t know their neighbors.  Maybe because everyone is too much alike, there is no reason to interact.

Category: "back to the center", communities, diversity, urban families, urban lifestyles /

World Cities and Work

August 13, 2007 / Wendy Waters / One comment

Here’s a intriguing quote about how and why “world cities” function:

“As technology shrinks distance, differences [in local laws, language and traditions] persist and are even amplified. To mitigate the resulting polarizations, global businesses prefer “world cities” as locations. These cosmopolitan centers, existing and new, mediate between a global culture and the flavors of each locality. Differences are celebrated and even put to work.”

- Andrew Blum, “Work and the Workplace in 2006,”
Dialogue published by Gensler

Assuming Blum’s observations are correct, there are several consequences. In particular, the economy of many nation-states will require supporting “world cities” within their boundaries. World cities welcome people from around the world and one could argue therefore that a country could undermine these centers by restricting immigration or starving a city for infrastructure funds.

Reactions?

Category: diversity, economic development, national politics, resident attitudes /

Women out-earning men in US hub cities

August 6, 2007 / Wendy Waters / No comments

Young women in their 20s and 30s in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston, Chicago and Minneapolis make more than young men. In New York, they earn 117% of men, in Dallas 120%. Women in these age categories nation wide only make 89% the wages of their male counterparts.

This is according to Andrew A. Beveridge, a demographer from Queen’s College (As reported in the New York Times). And posted today by Kevin Stolarick at the Creativity Exchange in a short review.

Assuming that the statistical sample is large enough for these results to be meaningful, that’s a really interesting study for several reasons:

First, it shows how you can’t paint the entire USA with one brush.

Second, it reflects how different certain large “hub cities” are becoming from the rest of the nation (and not just in the USA, think Canada, England, etc.) in terms of opportunity, demographics, etc.

Third, I wonder if large hub cities have different pulls for men and women, depending upon their education. Here’s my theory:

Educated women see hub cities as a land of opportunity — full of interesting career possibilities and a large, diverse population that is generally open minded toward women succeeding (as well as gays, immigrants, etc. succeeding). They feel they’ll be judged for their brains in a hub city.

Educated men can find great opportunity in any city. In fact, they might do better in a smaller city with significant gender biases. So there is no reason for them to move to New York or LA or Dallas.

Men with less education who are also drawn toward places like New York and Los Angeles may be “impatient” and “eager” to strike out on their own, not wanting to spend time earning a degree. They want life in the fast lane — now –and go looking
for it in hub cities. Women with less education may be more inclined to head toward a regional city closer to home.

So the result is we have less-educated men heading for hub cities along with more educated women.

There also may be some interesting further evidence on how hub cities function in a national economy.

Category: attracting talent, demographic stats, diversity, economic development /

A city as an imagined community?

April 24, 2007 / Wendy Waters / 2 comments

By an imagined community I don’t mean that cities and communities are not real. They are. But how we connect to our city and community happens in our heads — our imagination. We either feel a part of something — or not. And when you don’t feel you belong, you’re more likely to depart or do something destructive.

I’m basing this thought on Benedict Anderson’s compelling book from a few years ago, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Anderson argues that nations and nationalism formed from a shared sense of past and of uniqueness, facilitated by the printing press and books.

The question is what makes people connect to a city — what brings citizens together.

I’m writing this as many Vancouver residents sit on the edge of their seats hoping the Vancouver Canucks hockey team pull off a victory against the Dallas Stars in game 7 of the first round of the NHL playoffs. Neighbours are cheering over fences, strangers high-fiving in bars. Sporting events and sports teams certainly help bring people together and even help overcome social, economic or linguistic barriers.

It’s the tension right now that is bringing people together — and the release of tension, temporarily when they score.

Tension also works in other situations: a community working to improve their neighborhood fights against a tension and feels a release and sense of teamwork when they succeed.

The interesting thing about cities is that different people and groups can be fighting at crosspurposes. And yet, they all gain the sense of belonging to a community, to their city. Is it real? or in their imagination?

But, in a way, a sense of belonging –or multiple imagined connections to a city through a sports team and a community group and a career and a favourite cafe — is what holds a city together.

I hope this blog entry is lucid — it’s written with nervous energy and tension and now elation — canucks won… Vancouver celebrates.

Category: communities, diversity, resident attitudes, urban lifestyles /

Urban Economic Lessons from the Las Vegas Strip

January 10, 2007 / Wendy Waters / No comments
Walking the Las Vegas Strip on the evening of December 30th 2006 was an obstacle course of strollers and gaggles of pre-teen kids and their parents enjoying the sights together.

Families were there from all over the world, speaking dozens of languages and enjoying the over-the-top extravagant fantasy world that is the Las Vegas Strip. There are carnival rides, arcades, fountain-and-light shows, tasty treats, the Coca Cola and M&M stores, live lions (at MGM Grand), and many more inexpensive or free attractions.

Ten years ago, you wouldn’t have seen this. There was nothing for children in Las Vegas. In fact, if you were not into gambling there wasn’t that much for adults to do except eat and drink. I don’t recall seeing too many foreigners either, except the Mexicans and Guatemalans cleaning rooms.

There is a lesson here for urban economic development — how important it is to be inclusive to succeed. That is, a city must appeal to everyone: singles, couples and families of all ages and from around the world. This doesn’t just apply to tourism on the Las Vegas Strip. A city’s economy needs the metropolis to be attractive to the same range of people.

A region unappealing to families or to people with international backgrounds will lose out on what they contribute to the economy — just as the Las Vegas Strip would lose out on all those extra tourist dollars were it not so “inclusively appealing.”
Category: attracting talent, diversity, economic development, public spaces, urban families /

New Year Thoughts – Part I : 2006 Elections

January 4, 2007 / Wendy Waters / No comments

Happy New Year!

Since the new year is a time for reflection and forecasting, I’ve jotted down some thoughts on urban trends. Here’s part I, thinking about the elections of 2006 in the US and Canada.

2006 – elections in both Canada and the United States revealed a growing urban-rural divide, politically speaking. In Canada, the federal conservative party (center-right — similar to the left side of the US republican party) failed to win a seat in Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal yet managed to win a minority government in parliament.

In the United States, despite some inroads by democratic candidates in more suburban and rural areas, the urban-rural split continued. Residents of more densely populated cities such as Chicago, tend to vote democrat, and those living in less densely populated areas republican. The map shows blue-democratic areas from the 2004 election — note how they are smaller because of the higher density populations.

So what? I think city-dwellers tend to vote differently for several reasons.

First, cities are a place where you see the reach of “the state” in the form of city services. Because people bump up against rules and regulations as well as government services (the state) all the time, and often feel they benefit from them. People in rural areas are often there because they dislike the regulation and thick network of government services in cities.

Second, urban voters are often concerned about issues centered around what Florida would call “tolerance” – embracing, multiculturalism, immigrants, gay rights, women’s rights. They often look to “the state,” in the form of the courts, to protect these rights. The center and center-left political parties in the US and Canada (Democrats, Liberals, New Democrats and Greens) have specific policies that appeal to those with these concerns.

So we have urban voters willing to embrace a role for government in their lives and rural voters pushing back against government regulations and government-led recognition of certain minority rights.

Looking ahead to 2007 and beyond, this divide is somewhat worrying. In many ways urban and rural / suburban voters live in two different worlds. Look for some political leaders to try to re-frame the debate toward more common ground. I’m not sure what this ground will be, or if anyone will find it.

Guessing here: In the US I’d look for something regarding medical insurance or health care costs to have the potential to reach suburban and rural voters as well as urban ones. In Canada, the Conservatives are hoping tax relief aimed at families will help bridge the divide while the Liberals under new leader Stephan Dion see the Environment as the issue to unite Canadians back under a Liberal banner.

Category: diversity, national politics, urban lifestyles /

What a City Planner Believes in

December 12, 2006 / Wendy Waters / 4 comments

What does it take to help make a city work for its residents?

What role does the city planning department play? or should it play?

These are tough questions. The new Director of Planning for the city of Vancouver, Brent Toderian, has been speaking about how he views the role of the planning department, and how he views the city of Vancouver.
I’ve had the fortune to hear him twice. His perspective is refreshing.

In his presentation, he used slides with one or two words each to convey his message, explaining what each term meant to him.

As a planner, here is what he says he believes in:

  • Sustainability
  • Creativity

  • Design

  • Beauty

  • Diversity

  • Collaboration

  • Holistic Urbanism

(He did explain these terms, but I’ll let them stand here without explanation).

Since taking over in Vancouver, he’s been observing the citizens of Vancouver and the city, and has these observations:

  • Relationships – the interconnections between different groups are strong.

  • Talent & Passion — everyone involved in making the city work has exhibited talent and passion.

  • Unsatisfied — no matter how many accolades Vancouver achieves, the citizenry believes the city can do better.

Toderian is an impressive speaker and I hope that he will be as impressive in his new role as the Director of Planning. At only 37 years old, he’ll be around for a while. If he ever comes to your city and you have a chance to hear him speak — do it.

Category: city hall, communities, diversity, downtowns, economic development, urban lifestyles /

Does gentrification reduce economic diversity?

October 14, 2006 / Wendy Waters / 4 comments

What makes great cities fun, creative and energetic places? Often it is the diverse people to see, places to go, and things to do.

What also makes cities fascinating and inspiring is that they are places that are constantly changing.

So, as everything changes, can you lose diversity? can you lose the energy and divergent ideas interacting that spawns creativity?

Maybe. I used to think yes, but upon reflecting on the issue, maybe not.

In many cases as a metropolitan area grows in popularity with international immigrants, national migrants and major employers (that in turn draw workers), the inner core city (or cities) become increasingly expensive places to live. As that happens, what happens to diversity? In particular, what happens to economic diversity — a city needs people who do every type of job from busking at the metro station to teaching to janitorial work or running a fortune-500 corporation.

(By core city I refer to the historic, namesake city in a metro area — Boston, San Francisco, Vancouver — and the metro area includes the suburbs.)

In some cases the less economically fortunate rent to stay in the inner city; others move to the suburbs in order to afford their own single family home (or even a townhouse).

The question is whether a core city loses diversity as affordability declines in a metro area. Or, is choice of community within a metro area somewhat independent of wealth and more a lifestyle choice within a family’s economic envelope.

For example, a family with a $250,000 per year income might choose to live in a smaller, historic house in a trendy neighbourhood in the urban core where housing and land prices are much higher than in the suburbs; but they might also choose to live in a much larger home in a distant suburb that might be worth the same amount. This would likely involve a commute for work and even for leisure if the family enjoys the amenities of the urban core.

In another example a family on a $35,000 per year income might choose to rent a small, dated apartment in the urban core because it is close to good schools, nice amenities, and to their jobs (allowing a shorter commute time and therefore more family time). Their other choice might be buying a small townhome in a distant suburb and many families would make this choice as a way to achieve ownership and the stability and security that goes along with it.

My gut feeling is that gentrification does not necessarily change the income mix of a core city — but it probably does impact ownership, which in turn may serve to limit the ability of workers with lower paying jobs to gain ground financially over time.

I’m going to look for statistics on economic stratification of the population in the core of gentrifying cities versus the metroarea as a whole. Stay tuned.

Category: "back to the center", communities, diversity, revitalization /

The role of tension in creating great communities

September 7, 2006 / Wendy Waters / 2 comments

Many people escape to the suburbs hoping to find an area free of crime, litter, homelessness and other urban issues. What they also find there are often bedroom communities or neighbourhoods where neighbours rarely talk or know each other. There is no inherent reason to do so — nothing that breaks the ice.

In a transitioning inner city neighbourhood, there is no shortage of issues to get neighbours talking. In my case, it’s been the small community park across the street from my house. A few years before we moved here, the park was a scene for drinking and drug dealing, and occasionally shooting up heroin. It was also a place where children played, spontaneous soccer games errupted and a large contingent of elderly Italians appeared every day to play bocci (like lawn bowling, Italian style).

In an effort to remove the undesirable elements and prevent them from displacing appropriate park uses, the neighbours living near the park organized. Through regular meetings, the group evolved from organizing park and community clean ups, to discussing the problem with police and taking their suggested action (calling 911 every time we spotted illegal behaviour — drinking, drugs, etc. — in order to generate stats that the community police could use to justify more resources be allocated to the park). The group also lobbied the city for improvements to the park that would attract more citizens — a better playground, drainage, and repaired bocci courts — and succeeded.

Through regular meetings for several years, along with clean ups and take back the park events, the neighbours became good friends. We got to know each other, bonded through the tensions created by urban stresses of alcohol and drugs.

While things have improved, we still have a small group of middle aged men who show up in the park across the street from my house nearly every day and drink until they are “smashed.” But the more serious issues are generally gone. The drunks now serve as the tension that keeps us talking and us along with the police involved in thinkibg of new creative ways to work city policy, by laws and the justice system to solve the problem.

Tension generates creativity and community.

So, we need to add a fourth T, TENSION to Richard Florida’s three T’s of TOLERANCE, TECHNOLOGY, and TALENT in assessing what makes a city fertile ground for creativity.

Category: city hall, communities, crime reduction, development conflicts, diversity, revitalization /
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