Week 4 Questions:

Old Questions Weeks 1-3

Things to keep in mind

Q: Tax-increment finance districts (TIFs). Do they work for financing long-term investments, or do you need to get the money out (raise real estate value) in a limited time to make it financially viable? Where does TIF $ come from? Basically, how does all this really work?!? (Try to get someone to help us out in next class.)

A: I have an uncle with wallstreet backgroud who would know about this. Sending him an e-mail. -T

Q: Who are the players in the Whittier NRP Action Plan? How was it written? (E, T)

A: Whittier Phase 1 Action Plan

Q: Is is fair to say renters are being disenfranchised in neighborhood orgs if they just don't care as much as property owners do?

A: I would say yes, because the frequent mobility of some renters means that they don't see the patterns that are happening everywhere. If they could see how they were progressively being priced out of different n'hoods, they would care and be more involved. Maybe we need a different kind of organization. People only care to learn about an issue if they feel they have the power to change something, and maybe n'hood orgs just aren't set up to give people that kind of power. - L

In the strict definition of the word, I do not think renters are being disenfranchised. The ability to get involved is always there for them. But the n'hood organizations do have a responsibility to reach out to renters and minoritie peoples. And since the boards are still made up of white property owners I would say that the renters are the victim of conflicting interests. Even though every n'hood had to write a Participation Agreement explaining how they would try to include all the residents, it wasn't a binding contract. Some n'hood do reseve board seats for renter and minorities, but only a few. -T

Q: What happened to the Whittier CDC, the business incubator at 28th and Garfield? (B)

Q: How does a building burning down affect neighboring property values? (M?)

Photo of recent Maxwell's fire by  Adam Levasseur.

A: Not really an answer, but a relevant quote from a fiction book I'm reading, Chango's Fire, about Spanish Harlem: "Once again I think about how, when I was a kid, fires were so common. A way of life even. Sometimes the date of when the landlord would set his building on fire did leak. The date of the fire had been thoughtfully sent around, so people could escape. Just like Eddie says. Kids would come up to the teacher and say, 'I can't be here for the test on Tuesday because that's when the fire is.' And the teacher was as lost as Oscar Lewis. But us kids knew that kid would not be back to the same school. I lost so many friends from relocation. Until it was my turn. Until me and my family were burnt out." "The real villain in all of this was the man behind the men who hired me. Moses. Robert Moses. He relocated people like cattle."

Q: Is development=gentrification true? Does building new housing units=gentrification? Get real financial data from CDCs. Start with Hope Communities, then learn about PPL and Aeon Homes. (L, then B)

Plan: Do some power mapping next week. Right now we're choosing to focus on CDCs because communities have a voice in them. It would be much more difficult to influence the Bob Luxes and Dick Brustads of the world. But we need to look at the energy involved and how much we'll be able to change.

Old Questions Weeks 1-3

Things to keep in mind