sample syllabi page

Neighborhood redevelopment is one of the most challenging of all planning undertakings - especially in declining urban areas. In the face of private and public disinvestment, planners must attempt to stabilize their neighborhoods or actually reverse powerful downward trends. Ingenuity, enthusiasm, and deep understanding must often make up for limited resources.

This course will focus on the process and techniques for the creation and implementation of neighborhood development plans. Cleveland neighborhoods and their neighborhood-based organizations will be emphasized, and students will work on problems with a client community. Top-Down and Bottom-Up views including organizing will be stressed. Students will be introduced to the organizations and institutions which support neighborhood planning and development, as well as the federal, state, and local programs which fund neighborhood development. Students will visit the target community, and participate in field research on its revitalization.

A final presentations of plans, surveys, and development proposals will be made to the board and officials of the client neighborhood organization.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

The course will provide students with a basic understanding of:

1. History of neighborhood planning and organizing;

2. The goals and objectives of community development;

3. How to go about organizing the community.

4. Techniques and data sources for researching neighborhoods and neighborhood planning issues;

5. Cleveland's neighborhood organizations and community development corporations (CDCs);

6. City, state, and federal agencies and their programs; private foundations and technical assistance providers which provide support for neighborhood planning and development;

7. Techniques for the development of neighborhood plans;

8. The dilemmas of neighborhood planning;

9. The place of the neighborhood within the metropolitan area.

COURSE PREREQUISITES

There are no course prerequisites, although such courses as UST 607 Urban Planning, and UST 621 Planning Implementation would be helpful.

COURSE METHODS

This course will consist of lectures by the instructor and guest speakers, field-trips to the subject community and discussions with neighborhood leaders as to their perceived needs. In the first or second session, community leaders will make presentations to the students about their research needs. Student teams will then be formed to undertake various projects and present their findings.

Students will be expected to participate in field trips to the community site selected for the course. Research will focus on neighborhood: organizing, planning from the ground up, needs assessments, the potential re-use of selected buildings, and/or the impact of proposed new developments on the neighborhood. Students will be asked to consider the various forces leading to neighborhood strengths or weaknesses and to write about them. At the final meeting of the course, student research teams will make a presentation of their findings and recommendations to representatives of the client community.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Texts:

Four textbooks are required along with a selection of supplementary readings. A website is available to provide CDC-related materials at http://little.nhlink/CDC/index.htm.

Required Textbooks and Policy Reports:

R. F. Ferguson and W.T. Dickens (eds). 1999. Urban Porblems and Community Development. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution,Medoff, P. and Holly Sklar. 1994. Streets of Hope: The Rise and Fall of an Urban Neighborhood. Boston, MA: South End Press; Jones, Bernie. 1990.

Neighborhood Planning. Chicago, IL: APA Planning Press.

W. Peterman, 2000. Neighborhood Planning and Community Based Development: Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Selected readings on neighborhood issues and on the subject Cleveland neighborhood will be held on reserve at the main library reserve desk. One copy of all readings will also be available at the receptionist's desk at The College of Urban Affairs, 1st floor. Other books and articles on neighborhood theory are shown in the bibliography. Cleveland City Planning has the Civic Vision Report and maps on the area. (Contact Bob Brown at City Planning, 664-3467.)

ASSIGNMENTS

Each student will be required to:

Write a 3 and 1/2 page Op-Ed article for The Plain Dealer on the importance of neighborhood planning and development. Touch on the need for affordable housing, the development of “social capital” and other issues. An Op-Ed is an “opinion” commentary of about 750 words. It is a terse, interesting commentary designed to be readable and convey a point of view. See the NY Times or The Plain Dealer editorial page for examples of style. Use Op-Ed style, provide extensive information and make it readable. (10 points max.) Due Week 3.
Carefully read O’Connor in Urban Problems and Community Development and write a 5-7 page critical examination of past federal policies in poor urban neighborhoods. Suggest a few alternative policies that might improve results. (25 point max). Due Week 7.
Community Assets, Liabilities, and Priorities: A Team Assignment. The purposes of this assignment are: to help students learn how to better identify the assets, liabilities, and opportunities present in a neighborhood; to use the information gathered to determine important issues for the community and develop a revitalization strategy.
Students will be formed into teams. Each team will be asked to prepare a 8-10 page memo outlining the assets, liabilities and issues pertaining to the physical, social, economic, and political aspects of your neighborhood. Your memo also should identify neighborhood short-and-long-term issues of concern, key stakeholders and opportunities.

Your memo should recommend one pressing neighborhood issue for further analysis. Please discuss this with representatives of the sponsoring neighborhood organization and explain and justify your choice of issues.

In addition to your memo, please prepare a map locating your findings. Prepare slides, GIS materials, and other audio visuals, if needed.

Your team should be prepared to present your maps and findings in class (25 point max). Due Week 11.
Final presentation: A team assignment. Participate in research and data collection for the neighborhood projects, and participate in the presentation of plans and policy recommendations to neighborhood representatives during the final week of class. One paper of approximately 20 pages will be expected from each study team. (30 points max.). Due Week 15.
Students are expected to attend classes and participate in class discussions. (10 points max.)

PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED

It is important that students with handicaps requiring special accommodations identify themselves to the instructor immediately so that we can seek appropriate arrangements.

Students with Special Needs

Anyone anticipating needing special accommodations to take exams or complete assignments must identify themselves to the instructor by the end of the second week of classes. These include accommodations for physical handicaps, learning disabilities, and English as a second language.

GRADES

Papers will be graded using the following general criteria:

(a) Coverage: of principal points of the assignment;

(b) Content: understanding of materials;

(d) Grammar, syntax, and style.

The papers and class presentations will make up 90% of the course grade. The balance of the course grade (10%) will be based on participation in class discussions.

90 - 100 = A

89 - 80 = B

79 - 70 = C

69 - 60 = D

NOTE: LATE PAPERS WILL BE DOWN-GRADED AND PAPERS MORE THAN A WEEK LATE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED

DESCRIPTION OF CLASS SESSIONS:

SESSION #1

TOPIC: -Presentation by community representatives on their neighborhood and needed research.

-Screening of video “Building Hope.” 1994. Producers: Vanguard Films and WETA, Washington, D.C. Distributed by PBS Video. Hand-out on “Building Hope.”

-Orientation and overview of course.

-Background of federal policy in poor urban neighborhoods. Read: O’Connor, Alice. 1999. “Swimming Against The Tide: A brief History of Federal Policy in Poor Communities.” In R. Furgeson and W. Dickenson (eds.) Urban Problems and Community Development. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institute Press;

SESSION #2

TOPIC: -Organizing Alinsky, Saul D. 1972. Rules For Radicals. pp. 48-62; 113-125; Alinsky, Reveille for Radicals. pp. 1-50. Thucydides. 450 B.C.? The Athenian v. Melian Debate From the Peloponnesian War.

SESSION #3

TOPIC: -History of the national community development (CD) movement. Defining: CD; life cycle of CDCs; Social capital.

Christenson, James A., Kim Fendley and Jerry W. Robinson, Jr. 1989. “Community Development.” In Christenson, James A. and Jerry W. Robinson, Jr. (eds). Community Development in Perspective. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press. pp. 3-25.

Keating, W. Dennis. 1989. “The Emergence of Community Development Corporations- Their Impact on Housing and Neighborhoods,” Shelterforce. (Feb/March). pp. 8-14.

Putnam, Robert D. 1993. “The Prosperous Community: Social Capital and Public Life.” The American Prospect. Spring, No. 13. pp. 35-42.

Silver, Christopher. 1985. “Neighborhood Planning in Historical Perspective.” JAPA, Spring.

Peterman, William. 2000. Neighborhood Planning & Community-Based Development. pp 9-28.

SESSION #4

TOPIC: -Accomplishments and organizational characteristics. CDCs as housing providers. Case studies of CDCs. Paper # 1 DUE.

Lewis, Sylvia. 1993. “Tough Love Works in Newark.” Planning. October. pp. 24-29.

Rasey, Keith P. 1993. “The Role of Neighborhood-based Housing Nonprofits in the Ownership and Control of Housing in the U.S.” In Hays, R. Allen, ed. Ownership, Control and the Future of Housing Policy. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. pp.195-224.

Clark, Susan E. 1994. “Neighborhood Policy Options.” JAPA, Autumn.

Vidal, Avis C. 1992. Rebuilding Communities: A National Study of Urban Community Development Corporations-Executive Summary. New York: Community Development Research Center, New School for Social Research. pp. 1-16.

Krumholz, Norman. 1997. “The Provision of Affordable Housing in Cleveland” in van Vliet, Affordable Housing & Urban Redevelopment in the U.S. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

NOTE: ASSIGNMENT 1 DUE

SESSION #5

TOPIC: -Community development research methods and tools i.e., using the census, neighborhood surveys, computer technology, list servers. Guest speaker invited.

Connerly, Charles E. And Robert W. Marans. 1988. “Neighborhood Quality: A Description and Analysis of Indicators,” in Huttman, Elizabeth, ed. Handbook of Housing and the Built Environment in the United States. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press c/o Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 37-62.

Gottlich, Paul D. 1997. “Neighborhood Development In the Metropolitan Economy” Journal of Urban Affairs. Vol. 19, No. 2.

Streets of Hope. Pp. 1-88.

SESSION #6

TOPIC: -Community economic development. Pros and cons of the “people- based” versus “placed-based” development. Functioning of neighborhood economies.

Bendick Jr., Marc and Mary Lou Egan. 1991. Business Development in the Inner-City: Enterprise with Community Links. New York: Community Development Research Center, New School for Social Research. pp. 1-45. Also S. Frinstein and M. Gray, “Economic Development Strategies For The Inner City: The Need For Governmental Intervention.” In Review of Black Political Economy, Vol 24, Fall-Winter 1995-96.

Porter, Michael. May-June 1995. “The Competitive Advantage of the Inner City.” Harvard Business Review. pp. 55-71.

Wiewel, Wim, Bridget Brown, and Marya Morris. May, 1989. “The Linkage Between Regional and Neighborhood Development,” Economic Development Quarterly. Vol. 3. No. 2. pp. 94-110.

Fainstein, S. and Mia Grey. 1995-96. “Economic Development Strategies for the Inner City: The Need For Government Intervention.” In Review of Black Political Economy, Vol. 24 Nos 2-3.

Peterman, Williams. 2000. 33-59.

SESSION #7

TOPIC: -Human capital development. Training and accessing loan funds. Business development strategies. Guest speaker invited.

Gunn, Christopher and Hazel Dayton Gunn. 1991. Reclaiming Capital-Democratic Initiatives and Community Development. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. pp. 59-80.

Streets of Hope. Pp. 89-144.

SESSION #8

TOPIC: -Evaluating the impact of community-based organizations on their communities. Do CDCs address community needs? Current debates about CDCs as an economic development strategy. Paper #2 DUE.

Lemann, Nicholas. January 9, 1994. “The Myth of Community Development,” New York Times, Sunday Magazine. pp. 28-31, 50, 54, 60.

Schwartz, Ed. 1994. “Reviving Community Development.” The American Prospect. (Fall) No. 19. pp. 82-87.

Stoecker, Randy. 1997. “The CDC Model of Urban Redevelopment.” In Journal of Urban Affairs, Vol. 19, No.1.

NOTE: ASSIGNMENT 2 DUE

Streets of Hope. Pp. 145-168.

SESSION #9

TOPIC: -Legislation and pending initiatives affecting community development (EZ/EC; Contract with America; TANF; HUD Reorganization, etc.) Also affordable housing dilemmas. Guest invited.

Bratt, Rachel G. 1994. “Community-based Housing: Strengths of the Strategy Amid Dilemmas That Won’t Go Away,” In Davis, John Emmeus ed. The Affordable City-Toward a Third Sector Housing Policy. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. pp. 122-144.

Kenneth Temkin and William Rohe. 1996. “Neighborhood Change and Urban Policy” JPER, 15: 159-170.

SESSION #10

TOPIC: The enduring issue of race.

Kotler. 1969. “Theories of Neighborhood Organization.” Neighborhood Government. NY: Bobbs-Merrill.

Smith, R.A. 1991. “Creating Stable Racially-Integrated Neighborhoods” in Journal of Urban Affairs: Vol. 15.

Sviridoff, Mitchell. 1994. “The Seeds of Urban Revival” The Public Interest. Winter.

Streets of Hope. Pp. 169-202.

SESSION #11

TOPIC: -Models of Community Development

Kingsley, T., Joseph McNeeley, and J. Gibson. Community Building Coming of Age. Pp. 3-13.

Goetz, Edward, “Sandtown-Winchester, Baltimore: Housing As Community Development” in W. Van Vliet, 1997. Pp 187-209.

SESSION # 12

TOPIC: The Political Community. (Paper #3 due and In-class presentation.)

Marston, S. and G. Towers. “Private Spaces and the Politics of Places: Spatioeconomic Restructuring and Community Organizing in Tulson and El Paso”. Mobilizing the Community. Sage 1993. Pp. 75-102.

Rohe, W. and S. Mouw. “The Politics of Relocation: The Moving of the Crest Street Community.” Journal of the American Planning Association 57:1 (Winter 1991) pp. 57-68.

SESSION #13

TOPIC: The Economic Community.

Schramm, R. “Local, Regional and National Strategies.” Chapter 9 in S. Bruyan and J. Meehan (eds). Beyond the Market and the State pp. 152-170.

Bendick, M. and M. Egan. “Linking Business Development and Community Development in Inner Cities.” Journal of Planning Literature 8: 1 (August 1993).

Streets of Hope. Pp. 203-244.

SESSION # 14

TOPIC: Developing a plan. Dry-run of next week’s final presentation.

Jones, B. Neighborhood Planning. Chicago Ill.: Planners Press 1990. (Chapter 3) “The Substance of the Plan” pp. 39-100.

Peterman, Williams. 2000. pp. 153-174.

Streets of Hope. Pp. 245-287.

SESSION # 15

TOPIC: Final presentation

NOTE: ASSIGNMENT 4 DUE

SELECTED BIBIOGRAPHY ON NEIGHBORHOODS AND HOUSING

Altshuler, A.A. Community Control: The Black Demand for Participation in Large American Cities. New York: Pegasus, 1970, pp. 32-66.

Barry, James T. "The National Commission on Neighborhoods" in Urban Revitalization, Beverly Hills: Sage, 1980.

Bratt, Rachel G., Chester Hartman, and Ann Meyerson (eds.). 1986. Critical Perspectives on Housing. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Clark, Susan E. "Neighborhood Policy Options," JAPA*, Autumn, 1984.

Davidoff, Paul. "Advocacy and Pluralism in Planning," JAPA, Nov. 1965. And response "Longer View" in JAPA, Spring, 1994.

De Neufville, Judith and Stephen E. Barton. "Myth and Definition of Policy Problems," Policy Science, OLIC-0032. 1987.

Downs, Anthony. "Key Relationships Between Urban Development and Neighborhood Change," Journal of the American Planning Association, October, 1979, pp. 462-472.

Downs, Anthony. 1981. Neighborhoods and Urban Development. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1981.

Downs, Anthony. 1994. New Visions For Metropolitan American: Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.

Fisher, Robert. Let the People Decide: Neighborhood Organizing in America. Twayre Publishers, 1984.

Fox, Kenneth. 1986. Metropolitan America: Urban Life and Urban Policy in the United States, 1940-1980. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi.

Gans, Herbert. 1962. The Urban Villagers. New York: Glencoe Free Press. Galster, George. 1982. "Black and White Preferences for Neighborhood Racial Composition." AREUEA Journal. (Spring).

Galster, George. 1982. Federal Fair Housing Policy in the U.S.: The Great Misapprehension. MIT Center for Real Estate Development.

Galster, George. 1989. "Residential Segregation in American Cities: A Further Response to Clark." Population Research and Policy Review. 181-192 (vol. 8).

Galster, George and Mark Keeney. 1992. "Race, Residence, Discrimination, and Economic Opportunity." Urban Affairs Quarterly.

Goering, John (ed.). 1986. Housing Desegregation and Federal Policy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Grigsby, William, Morton Baratz, George Galster, and Duncan Maclennan. 1987. "The Dynamics of Neighborhood Change and Decline." Progress in Planning. 1-76 (vol. 28).

Goering, John M. "Neighborhood Tipping and Racial Transition." Journal of the American Institute of Planning, January, 1978, pp. 68-78.

Goetz, Rolf and Kent W. Colton. "The Dynamics of Neighborhoods," JAPA, April, 1980, pp 184-194.

Hallman, Howard W. Neighborhoods: Their Place in Urban Life. Berkeley Hills: Sage Publications, 1984. pp. 33-44.

Halprin, Robert. 1995. Rebuilding The Inner City. N.Y.C.: Columbia University Press.

Hays, R. Allen. 1985. The Federal Government and Urban Housing: Ideology and Change in Public Policy. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Heskin, Allan David. "Crisis and Response," JAPA, Jan. 1980.

Jacobs, Jane. 1961. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Vintage Books.

Keating, Dennis, and Norman Krumholz. 1998. Rebuilding Urban Neighborhoods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Keating, W. Dennis, Keith Rasey, Norman Krumholz. "Community Development Corporations in the U.S.: Their Role in Housing and Urban Redevelopment," in van Vliet and van Weesep, Government and Housing: Developments in Seven Countries. Sage Publications, 1990.

Keating, W. Dennis. "Prospects for the Revitalization of Distressed Urban Neighborhoods Under Clinton and Cisnero's HUD." Journal of Urban Affairs. April, 1993.

Koller, M. Neighborhood Government: The Local Foundation of Political Life. Indianapolis: Bobbs Merrill, 1969, pp 27-50.

Krumholz, Norman. "A Retrospective View of Equity Planning." JAPA, Spring, 1982.

Kusmer, Kenneth L. 1976. A Ghetto Takes Shape - Black Cleveland 1870-1930. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Lemann, Nicholas, "The Myth of Community Development." New York Times Magazine, January 9, 1994.

Massey, Douglas. 1989. "American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass." Chicago: University of Chicago Social Demography Group. (June).

Medoff, P. and H Sklar. 1994. Streets of Hope. Boston: South End Press.

Mier, Robert. 1993. Social Justice and Local Development Policy. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Chapter 11.

Mier, Robert. 1989. "Neighborhood and Region: An Experiential Basis for Understanding." (May) 169-174 (vol. 3).

Needleman and Needleman, "Community Planning Dilemmas" in Guerillas in the Bureaucracy.

Perry, C. "The Neighborhood Unit Concept" in Housing for the Machine Age. New York: The Russell Sage Foundation, 1989. pp. 49-76.

Piven, Frances Fox. "Whom Does the Advocate Planner Serve?" Social Policy, May/June 1970, pp 32-37.

Rohe, William and Lauren B. Gates. Planning with Neighborhoods. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 1985. pp. 13-69.

Rosenthal, Donald B. 1988. Urban Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization. New York: Greenwood Press.

Salins, Peter D. (ed.). 1987. Housing America's Poor. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Silver, Christopher. "Neighborhood Planning in Historical Perspective," JAPA, Spring, 1985.

Smith, Richard A. 1993. "Creating Stable Racially Integrated Communities," Journal of Urban Affairs, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 115-140.

Solomon, Arthur, and Kerry Vandell. 1982. "Alternative Perspectives on Neighborhood Decline." Journal of the American Planning Association. 48:81-98 (vol. 1).

Squires, Gregory D. 1994. "Friend or Foe: The Federal Government and Community Reinvestment" in Keating, D., N. Krumholz, and P. Star Revitalizing Urban Neighborhoods. Lawrence, KA: University of Kansas Press.

Sugrue, Thomas J. 1996. The Origins of the Urban Crisis. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Sviridoff, Mitchell, 1994. "The Seeds of Urban Revival," The Public Interest, Winter, pp. 82-103.

Taub, Richard, Garth Taylor, and Jan Dunham. 1985. Paths of Neighborhood Change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (ch. 7).

Teitz, Michael B. 1989. "Neighborhood Economics: Local Communities and Regional Markets." Economic Development Quarterly. (May) 111-122 (vol. 2).

Van Vliet, Willem. 1997. Affortable Housing and Urban Redevelopment in the U.S. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage.

Wiewel, W. and J. Persky. 1994. "Urban Productivity and the Neighborhoods: The Case for a Federal Neighborhood Strategy." Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, Vol. 12, pp. 473-483.

Wurdock, Clarence J. "Neighborhood Racial Transition: A Study of the Role of White Flight," Urban Affairs Quarterly, Sept. 1981.

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