May/Jun 1997
Issue #93
Mini Neighborhoods
John Atlas reviews two books about New Jersey’s Mt. Laurel decision, which created a number of housing opportunities for New Jersey residents, and questions an approach that relies on litigation. Other articles in this issue touch on grassroots organizing. Oscar Newman discusses the importance of having community residents actively involved in plans to create gated, “mini-neighborhoods” to increase neighborhood safety. Edward J. Blakely and Mary Gail Snyder describe the range of gated communities, home to about 8 million Americans – and growing fast – and discuss some of the reasons they may not be an effective way to deter crime and build community. Organizing can be profoundly, if not always permanently, empowering. Mike Miller tells the story of the Tenderloin Senior Organizing Project in San Francisco that, over 15 years, trained tenant leaders to develop the tools and self-confidence to keep their homes affordable and safe. Unfortunately, even organizers have to eat. When funding ran out, the project ended.
Defensible Space
In the Five Oaks community of Dayton, Ohio, during 1991, violent crimes increased by 77 percent, robberies by 77 percent, vandalism by 38 percent, and overall crime by 16 percent. […]
Putting up the Gates
What is the measure of nationhood when the divisions between neighborhoods require security patrols and fencing to keep out other citizens?
The Price is Wrong:
Imagine buying a brownstone in an up-and-coming neighborhood like Clinton Hill or Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and pouring $25,000 worth of repairs into your new house, only to be told, after […]
Courting Racial Justice
Our Town: Race, Housing, and the Soul of Suburbia. By David L. Kirp, John P. Dwyer and Larry Rosenthal. Illustrated. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1996. 267 pp. Suburbs […]
Tenant Self-Sufficiency Programs in St. Louis
“EHPC started back in 1979 over breakfast at Howard Johnson’s,” recalls Lynn Broeder, founder of the Ecumenical Housing Production Corporation in St. Louis. It brought together a group of experts, […]
Empty the Courts, Fill the Streets
After a 27-year legal battle, the planning board of Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, approved the construction of 140 units of low- and moderate-income housing. The nearly three decades of litigation […]
Shelter Shorts
New York’s Rent Regulations Expire; Compromise Reached Their worst nightmares realized, 2.5 million tenants watched rent regulations expire at 12:01 a.m. on June 16, leaving New York City and State […]
Tenderloin Senior Organizing Project
“It’s hard to do this – I was scared,” said Robin King, one of the younger women living in a building organized by the Tenderloin Senior Organizing Project (TSOP), which […]
Schmoozing 101: Developing Relationships with Foundation Officers
If you want to raise money through grant proposals, one of the most important things you can do is develop strong, peer-to-peer relationships with the decision makers. The value of […]
Homeless Assistance Programs Up for Reauthorization
This year, Congress will consider reauthorizing the four federal homeless assistance programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Rep. Rick Lazio (R-NY), the Chairman of […]