Intro to Urban Studies Exam II

Summarize the movie "Waiting for Superman." According to your instructor, why is it a propaganda piece instead of a thorough and comprehensive examination of issues pertaining to urban education in the US?

"Waiting for Superman" is a 2010 film about the disparities of the American School System. It follows the lives of 5 inner-city children all facing the difficulties of over packed classrooms, troubled homes, and the little care faculty has in trying to get students to graduate. As you follow their school experience throughout the movie you come to find out that each are hoping to win a spot in different elite charter schools across the country via raffle. Some schools have hundreds of students in the raffle with very limited spots. It is a propaganda piece because it makes it seem like charter schools are the solution to the public school crisis. It does not talk about the negative affects of charter school. such as pulling funding away from regular public schools.

What is the state of roads and bridges in Michigan? Describe fully with relevant details.

- 26% of our bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obselete. - 25% of our roads are in poor condition. - Our road conditions cost motorist an average of $440/year.

Fully describe the various forms of housing discrimination faced by Black people in 1940s Detroit.

- Housing Acts of 1948 brought about Urban Renewal Programs that led to the displacement of minorities. - Displacement by interstate & Lodge freeway construction - Battle over public housing placement - Landlord discrimination (high rents) - Housing Lending & Finance Practices (high down payments - Racial deed restrictions (outlawed after 1948) - Predatory land contracts. - redlining / FHA wouldn't lend for homes in black areas. - steering/ realtors steer buyers into areas based on race rather than buyer requirements. -block busting/ realtors use racial division to scare whites families into selling quickly, and black families into paying more.

What did Arsen and Plank find regarding the financial effects of Proposal A on school districts in Michigan? Describe fully.

- Rural districts are better off because State Foundational Allowance increased per pupil funding. - Suburban districs are better off because of rising enrollments. - Most city & low income suburban districts are worse because enrollments have fallen.

According to the assigned reading "Benefit of the Redoubt," in what ways were Black People discriminated against in pre-1967 Detroit?

-75% of Detroit's African American population lived in Paradise Valley and Black Bottom districts, until they were declared blighted and razed under urban renewal and the Interstate Highway Act, resulting in a lack of housing for African Americans and demonstrating a lack of respect for the property of African Americans. -Rampant police brutality "enforced" racial status quo to ensure social order was kept in favor of whites. -In 1947, less than 10% of housing was available to African Americans, despite the population of Detroit being 40% African American. The disparate rate of housing availability is demonstrated by the 1941 six foot concrete wall which was erected to separate the African American citizens on one side of the Eight Mile Wyoming neighborhood from the new white housing development on the other side of the street. -Furthermore, workplace discrimination was exhibited in both employment rates and the quality of job that was offered. Most times the "meanest and dirtiest" jobs were reserved for African Americans. -Schools and recreation were also racially segregated, reserving funding and priority for white citizens because of the power disparity in representation in local politics.

fully describe the six types of mayoral leadership styles.

-Ceremonial little policy, the face of the community -Caretaker Puts out fires (ex. Bloomberg in NYC) -Individualists Fails to build coalitions, populist enough to get elected but nothing more (Cleveland mayor of 1970s) -Executive Managerial skills(Dennis Archer, mayor of Detroit 1994-2001) -Entrepreneur Broad, clear goals to enact a major impact on the city. Builds coalitions -City-manager Mayors (New Public Manager Mayors) Tend to behave like CEOs, pay closer attention to money, not as popular nowadays

Fully describe the four theories of how cities are governed.

-Elitism Cities and urban areas are managed primarily by the business and landed gentry class (Floyd hunter, 1950s Atlanta) -Pluralism Urban decision-making emanates primarily from numerous interest groups and political factions (Robert Dahl, New Haven, CT 1980s) -Growth theory Cities compete with each other on "Products" (Schools, Taxes, Quality of life, etc..) classic, market-based approach (Tiebout 1950s), Cities are torn between redistributional and developmental policies, severely limited in terms of redistributional policies (Iron law of Upgrading) -Regime Theory Tries to explain how governing coalitions come into being - and how especially sensitized those coalitions are to local economic and social conditions. It studies the relationships - good and bad- between the governing coalitions and business interests (Clarence Stone study of Atlanta 19080s-90s)

Describe the ways that Black People are economically and socially disadvantaged in contemporary times.

-There are higher crime rates in black areas as well as insurance premiums -Mortgage lending was another problem, people of color faced, home ownership was low for black people -Poor schools and housing in black communities -The criminal justice system is set up to oppress black people -economic structure of the inner city collapses, leading to social collapse, when industries leave cities. Lost jobs lead to poverty, crime rates rise, broken families become more frequent.

What is housing market filtering? How does it hurt central cities in the US?

-market filtering is when people move from starter homes into larger homes. Typically further from the central city. - housing continues to get built out of central cities, leading to abandonment of homes. Filters out of central city - over subsidization of housing development, further out from central cities, housing value go up and make more money, . Land acquisition- easier to get a bigger land in urban sprawl vile than in central cities, its less time consuming

What does the Southeast Michigan Council of Local Governments (SEMCOG) have to say about the future costs of providing water and sewer services to SE Michigan? What does your instructor think about this forecast?

-said that developed areas, households and population will expand, and they will have a big bill to pay by 2030, (water and sewer needs) will cost 14-26 billion dollars. 42% of this bill will be new construction. Instructor thoughts: why are we including new construction, should of left out new construction, Morally they should've because theyre a regional planning organization that aren't thinking regionally.

Fully describe and explain the six factors complicating central city school performance as discussed in lecture.

1) public education problems only account for 1/3 of variation in student achievement meaning home life factors play a large role in student success 2) Classrooms are severly overcrowded should have 20 students but most have 35 3) Charter schools take away students away from public schools and thus funding 4) Vouchers: a coupon of public $ to fund private (religious) schools - students use these to attend private and get some or all of it paid for 5) School of choice is not consistent - places like grosse pointe do not allow students from neighboring districs - kind of elitist 6) Intransigence - "no child left behind" when students perform well the school get more funding. When the schools do bad they get less funding.

What are the settlement histories of the five historically Black areas in metro Detroit?

1. Black Bottom/Paradise Vally 2.Rosa Parks Blvd./Clairmount 3. 7mile/Conant 4. 8mile/Wyoming (Baker's Lounge) 5. Inkster- Mass-produced housing by Ford, charged cheap rent, and got many of them jobs.

According to Chapter 12 of the Palen text, what is the author's critique of urban homesteading? Be sure to describe what urban homesteading is in your response.

According to Palen, Urban Homesteading is a set of programs which were designed to turnover abandoned and foreclosed homes to people who would agree to stay at these homes for a minimum of three years and bring them up to standards. In Palens opinion, while urban homesteading sounds good on paper, it has been mostly ineffective. Most homes that get put up for Urban Homesteading are already past the point of being rehabilitated. A large number of homes are also in less desirable areas, where most of the other houses around are still dilapidated and rundown.

What is Dillon's Rule? What does it have to do with urban autonomy, pre-emption laws, and neo-federalism?

Dillon's Rule states that local governments only exercise powers expressesly granted by the state. This is related to urban autonomy because cities were at the will of State Legislation to handle problems of their growing populations - now local issues were being weighed out by state legislators or non locals. This follows pre-emption laws because these laws allow upper levels of government to restrict lower level government from self-regulating. Home rules were created to give more power to cities however due to neo-federalist trends (powers back to the state - meaning state rules over cities) these powers are continuing to shrink. Example: Ann Arbor trying to elimiante plastic bags but upper state powers not allowing it

What did the Boston Fed study of 1992 reveal about lending discrimination? Exactly how did it arrive at this conclusion?

Even after 'correcting" discriminatory lending by banks and financial institutions, the Boston Fed study still found a 24% disadvantage for minorities and black people.

How did the Flint water crisis emerge? What could've been done to prevent it

Flint's water was originally sourced through Detroit by way of a pipe from Lake Huron. In 2014, Flint's state-appointed emergency financial manager switched the city back to Flint River water to save money. There was brown water coming from the taps and eventually, independent agencies discovered dangerously high levels of toxic lead in the water. And cases of legionnaire's disease. Officials failed to treat the water correctly. This could have been prevented by having professional consultations, improved water testing, and investing in their infrastructure.

Provide a detailed summarization of the assigned reading "Detroit Public Transit, Past, Present and Future."

For much of the 1800s Detroit's public transit consisted of privately owned horse-drawn streetcars and privately operated horse-drawn streetcar lines, which were highly inefficient and unsanitary. Because of their automotive shortcomings, horses were replaced with electric railways. Despite private pushback, to improve transit services for the public the Detroit Mayor thought it best for the city to run the transportation. With considerable financial backing from taxpaying voters, the city was able to seize ownership of all street railway systems by 1922, which became wildly popular among inner city residents, but provided poorer transportation for those from the outskirts. This popularity resulted in overcrowding, especially with the explosion in the city population, and in spite of a constant increase in riding cost. Because of the increase in distance from urban sprawl, as well as the automotive boom, Detroit began moving to bus services which continue to this day. Furthermore, the people mover was built in 1987 to connect the downtown area with tourist destinations, but lacked residential use because of the limited area it covered. The QLine is a modernized light rail transit system meant to connect downtown and the New Center Area down the Woodward Corridor.

Why shouldn't government be run as a business? What does government do that business do

Government should not be run as a business because providing quality services and protection is not the same as profit-seeking. Governments provide services that the free market cannot like Fire Departments and public infrastructure projects like the Hoover Dam

Compare and contrast initiatives, referenda, and recalls.

Initiative - a certain % of signatures (Usually 10% of votes cast for the highest office in the most recent election) required to get a ballot proposal approved and put to vote. Referendum - referred to the voter by the Legislative body. Usually timed to coincide with an election that would be held anyway. The biggest problem with referenda is that Legislators don't have to decide potentially career-damaging issues (for example. Dove Hunting). Recall - very similar in process to an initiative with regard to approval requirements, however, different states have different laws regarding recalls. (ex. Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor of California after the recall of Gray Davis, Andy Dillon, speaker of the Michigan House of Reps, could've been recalled and re-elected on the same ballot.

Fully discuss the problems of and solutions to pre-1990 public housing projects.

Many pre-1990 housing projects were very unsafe and isolated as well as poorly managed by very overwhelmed city housing authorities. The way it was remedied was with mixed-income projects. The subsidized and unsubsidized housing was indistinguishable from one another. Another remedy was a Bush policy that limited the mortgage deduction cap. There was also a repeal of tax laws that disincentivized trading down in households.

Fully describe Massey and Denton's main causes of segregation in the US.

Massey and Denton talk about the difference between De Jure and De Facto Segregation. De Jure means segregation by law or a policy, while de facto means personal choice, or something unrelated to law. Massey and Denton's main causes of segregation are Disparities in neighborhood tipping points. Because of these disparities, many realtors would use a blockbusting tactic. This was when they would hire black families to walk around white neighborhoods to scare them into selling their houses at much lower than their value, and then in turn sell them to black families at a massive premium.

Fully describe the three major types of local city government, and how they are typically applied in cities. Be sure to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Mayor/Council - Typical for larger cities, very strong mayor. Council-Manager - Typical for cities under 100,000 in population (grand rapids is an exception) popular in Sunbelt cities, rose in popularity during the reform era. Council Managers view public administration more as a science than an art. Most administrative responsibilities are in one person's hands and there is usually a lack of responsiveness to the public (weak mayor). Commission Government - not used often, only about 2-3%. This often leads to disagreements over budgeting decisions and no effective leadership.

Fully describe how Proposal A changed public school education financing in Michigan.

Prop A (1994) - Established a state foundation allowance for all public school districts. Allowance was approximately $8100/pupil in 2020. - Financed State Foundation Allowance with 6 mills (.6%) State Education Tax - Limited ability of local taxing jurisdictions to levy taxes for local schools - Raised sales tax from 4% to 6%. 1.5% goes to State Foundational Allowance. - Cut local property taxes by 40%. Established two tax bases: State Equalized Value and Taxable Value. State Equalized Value and Taxable Value initially start the same but Taxable value has a 5% inflation cap meaning SEV can get to much higher rates.

Fully describe the defenses against housing discrimination in contemporary times.

Redlining is the process by which banks deny people of color especially black people loans and mortgages for a house. A modern-day protection against this form of discrimination is redlining policed by ordering unfavorable treatment in the regulatory process. - Eliminate housing shortage - Fair Housing & HUD - Civil Rights - Racial covenants outlawed - Redlining policed

What were the problems in the secondary mortgage market industry that led to the market bubble bursting leading to the Great Recession of 2008-09?

Secondary mortgage market lenders had little oversight, despite being quasi-public. In as early as 2004, the federal reserve chairman was scolding accounting regulators as they had 3-4 trillion dollars in assets but were unconcerned with rising housing costs. Around 2006-2007 the official collapse began. Affordable Mortgage products were being sold but were not affordable at all, and put too much money into the housing market. - Secondary mortgage companies would buy mortgages from the banks. Then they would bundle thousands of mortgages at a time and sell the "promises to pay" off to investors. - Fannie Mae started bundling bad mortgages (liar loans/no-doc loans) and selling them off, which led to the collapse in 2006-2007.

What are secondary mortgage markets? How do they work? What problem(s) were they intended to solve?

Secondary mortgage markets were meant to bring liquidy to the mortgage industry, they indented to make rates stable across the country by purchasing mortgages from mortgage organizers. - Secondary mortgage companies would buy mortgages from the banks. Then they would bundle thousands of mortgages at a time and sell the "promises to pay" off to investors.

As discussed in lecture, describe relevant issues regarding the Detroit Water and Sewer department as a regional entity.

The Detroit water and Sewer departments main issues are seen as Mistrust in terms of rates charged in suburban wholesale markets as well as rate increases being passed on to retail. There were also many political battles over the locationof the sewer treatment facility and financing of the Twelve towns Drain system, now known and the George Kuhn Drain. Most of the DWSD were managed by different regional authorities as opposed to one. In a research study conducted, the rates to suburban customers were very sensitive to distance and with decreasing population densities, rates began to sky rocket.

According to Chapter 8 of the Palen text, what is the "Broken Windows Theory" of crime control? Has it ever been used, and if so, where and when? What does it have to do with predictive policing?

The broken windows theory suggests the best way to control crime is to prevent it. Focusing on preventing minor quality-of-life offenses such as drinking in public and vandalism. It has been used in New York in the 90's. Predictive policing is another form of crime prevention that uses technology to mapping technology to show where crime is likely to occur in the future. It is used in LA.

What are the contemporary challenges to inner city housing development?

The current contemporary challenge faced by inner-city housing development is building market-rate housing. This is prevented by land acquisition being difficult as well as Title problems, which included tax-reverted properties. Cleaning expensive toxic,formerly industrial land. And the permitting and approval process.

What was the main issue with public school financing before Proposal A in Michigan? What set of circumstances led to the passage of Proposal A in 1994?

The main problem with school financing before Prop A in Michigan was that the funding for schools came mainly from local property taxes. Because of this areas with lower populations had to have higher property taxes, which made people move away. This poor funding practice was shown In full effect when The Kalkaska School District had to close in March 1994 of that year due to a lack of funds from the inability to pass school millage. The previous funding plan was voted away forcing the Michigan legislature to pass Prop A.

What is the broader moral argument made by the author in "Benefit of the Redoubt," regarding societal treatment of Black people in pre-1967 Detroit and the circumstances of the police raid that set off the 1967 Rebellion?

The treatment that caused the rebellion included: police practices(police brutality), Unemployment of Black Americans, Inadequate housing, bad education, lack of recreation programs, disrespectful white attitude, social justice issues, etc. The police raid: after the raid Black people in Detroit were sick of the police brutality, so Dr. James J. McClendon staged a mass protest. The next month the NAACP requested an investigation on Detroit police practiced, and that led to the firing of many police men, but the commissioner stayed on, and the riots happened soon after. The broader moral argument is that rioting isn't ok; but rebelling is.

What does William Julius Wilson have to say about post-Civil Rights race discrimination and segregation? What policies does he submit to address race discrimination?

WJW found that the main cause of 1980's black impoverishment was the loss of economic opportunity in cities. He coined the term "crisis of opportunity" and also said there are two types of racial discrimination: Historic and Contemporary (Systemic). He claimed that civil rights had little effect on racial poverty. He called for an end to affirmative action and to replace it with "means-tested" jobs programs.