School of Policy, Planning, and Development



USC Price School of Public Policy

University of Southern California

PPD 439: Housing & Community Development (Fall 2012)

Section 51132, 4 units

Instructor: Janis Breidenbach, PhD

Time and Classroom: Monday/Wednesday, 4:00 – 5:50 pm. Room 150, VKC

Office: Room 107-A, 1st Floor, Lewis Hall Office Hours: By appointment

Email and phone: breidenb@usc.edu. (323-662-7512)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

PPD 439 emphasizes the evolution and present status of federal, state and local housing and community development policy and practice, including how policies regarding credit and mortgage finance, the role of public subsidy and land use impact the housing and job choices we have. There are several recurring threads woven through the semester: a) the impact of climate change on our land use does, and will, inform our housing policies for the foreseeable future; b) the present economic recession was triggered by a collapse of the U.S. mortgage finance system and this collapse will influence housing policies now and in the future; and c) development policies change due to contesting, and sometimes contradictory, forces and these forces stem not only from different interests and needs but from the clash between the ideas of “individualism” and the collective “community”—both ideas that we hold dear in our culture.

The course objectives and goals include increasing students’ understanding of how housing is related to issues of the larger economy, employment, education, health, transportation and opportunity; as well as improving students’ research and analytic skills.

REQUIRED TEXTS AND READINGS

University courses are a three-legged stool of learning: one is the reading, another is the classroom interaction and the third is the outside assignment. Together they provide the learning experience of the course, they complement one another, they are not exclusive of one another.

In this course, the weekly readings are a combination of academic articles, book chapters and reports. In some cases, these are supplemented with, for example, a series from a major newspaper or information sheets from a government agency. This combination of readings allows you to learn from a wide variety of writing styles and types of information. Additionally, it allows for flexibility and the ability to read up-to-date research and information.

The readings are in an electronic reader and posted weekly to Blackboard. From time to time a new report or article is published that is more pertinent to our topic so the syllabus may change slightly. The readings that are posted for the week are the readings you are responsible for. In addition, other material may be posted, such as power points, video links, etc. so make sure you pay attention to Blackboard.

Although each class session includes time to discuss the readings, answer questions, etc. I do not lecture to the readings. Class discussions complement the readings, they do not repeat them.

ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING

The course meets twice/week. Your grade will be determined by a combination of attendance and completion of assignments. Because students learn in different ways, there are a variety of assignments. They all have points that are equal to their percentage of the total grade (100 “points”).

LATE work is reduced by a number of points, depending on the amount of time past due, up to 10% of the grade (a full grade level).

The course will include two field trips.

NOTE: Graduate students may exchange the course assignments for a graduate level research paper. If you wish to do this, make an appointment no later than the second week of the course.

Attendance & Participation (7%)

To purpose of grading attendance & participation is to encourage both. I realize that some students are vocal participants and some learn more quietly, so participation is evaluated by attendance as well as participation. However, participation includes talking with me about the material, office visits, email exchanges—interactions that indicate to me that you are engaged in the course and the learning involved.

Grading: I take attendance in the course. If you will miss class, notify me by email, otherwise it is an unexcused absence. Any more than two unexcused absences or three excused absences results in loss of all seven participation grade points.

Note: If you will miss class or otherwise require an accommodation due to religious observance, please notify me to make any necessary accommodations.

|Reading summaries (33%) |

|The purpose of this assignment is to make you do the reading. Readings for this course are to be completed on a weekly |

|basis. On Wednesdays, students will submit to me a short summary of that week’s readings. These summaries should be no less than a few paragraphs and no |

|more than a page. They may be in outline form. The submissions are to be done through |

|Blackboard. Do not email them to me. Each reading must be summarized individually, but any overall comments/questions |

|may stem either from an individual reading or the collection. When there are very short articles, e.g., newspaper pieces, they |

|will be grouped together and count as one reading for the purposes of the summaries—this is noted here and will be added |

|to Blackboard when the reading is posted). |

| |

|Grading: Each summary is graded with either a check or check-minus. A check-minus means that you did not provide enough |

|of a summary for me to conclude you did the reading or you otherwise did not complete the assignment. |

| |

|Each complete summary (a check) is worth 3 points. Each incomplete summary (check-minus) is worth 1 point. Each |

|complete but late summary is worth 2 points. An incomplete and late summary is worth 0 points. Because emergencies can happen, you automatically have a |

|“pass” for three weekly summaries (these will apply to check-minuses as well in the final |

|grade). Complete, on-time summaries are one-third of the total grade. |

|1st In-class Exam: (20%) |

|There will be two mid-terms; the first is similar in form to the final—there will be several essay questions, you will choose |

|which ones to answer. Each essay will be worth a certain number of points, that reflect the number of concepts sought in the answer. The first mid-term |

|will be focused on the history and context for national housing policies; you will be expected to understand how our present system of shelter was formed |

|over the decades and what kinds of policy interventions have been undertaken. It will be in-class on Monday, October 8. |

|2nd Out-of-class Exam (20%) |

|The second mid-term will be a policy memo written outside of class. Students will choose a policy topic and write a 3-4 page memo about your topic: |

|explaining what the policy is, where it came from, what problem it addresses and what the proposal covers. You may do this memo as if you were writing to |

|an elected official, as if you were submitting a grant proposal to work on the policy, or some other format. You must be specific in your policy, its |

|context and expected outcomes. The memo will be due Monday, November 12. |

|3rd In-class Exam - Final (20%) |

|There will be an in-class final, consisting of several essay options, you will choose which ones to answer. Each essay question is worth a certain number|

|of points that reflect the number of concepts sought in the answer. The final exam will be focused on state/local housing policies and community |

|development. I do not provide a “study guide” but the last class is dedicated to a review of the entire semester. The final exam is scheduled for |

|Wednesday, December 12 at 4:30. |

Important information on written assignments. All written assignments must meet the following criteria:

• Do not add a cover page. You may print on both sides of the paper or re-use paper.

• Bring your assignments to class. Do not email them to me.

• Late assignments are reduced by one-half grade for every class meeting that passes.

• Spelling, punctuation and grammar are important in policy and planning. Grades can depend on writing. If your writing is not up-to-par, please make use of the USC Writing Center.

CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS

There is an expectation that students will come to class prepared and will conduct themselves in class in a professional manner. If you know you are going to miss class, notify me by email. From time to time everyone might be a bit late, but consistent late arrival will reduce your participation grade. If you come from another class and have little time you may bring food or drink.

Computers and cell phones must be turned off during class-time. If I see any student texting during class, it is an automatic reduction of 5 points off grade. I prefer not to give “warnings” as I am quite serious about this prohibition. If there is a need to access a computer I will tell students to get them out. Requirements for notetakers for students with disabilities will be accommodated.

OVERALL COURSE GRADING

In this course, all assignments, and participation, are graded on a point system correlating to the percentage of the grade. Letter grades and the USC definition are as follows:

A: Excellent Quality B: Good quality C: Fair quality D: Minimum passing quality

A 95 – 100 B+ 87 - 89 C+ 77 - 79 D+ 67 - 69

A- 90 - 94 B 83 - 86 C 73 - 76 D 63 - 66 B- 80 - 82 C- 70 - 72 D- 60 - 62

F: Failure to meet adequate quality or failure to complete all course work, 59 or below.

INTEGRITY

USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to abide by these principles. SCAMPUS, the Student Guidebook, contains the Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A: . Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and community Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be found at: .

DISABILITIES

Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open from 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday - Friday. The DSP phone number is (213) 740-077.

COURSE OUTLINE AND READINGS

|Wk |Date |Topic |Readings |Assignment |

|1 |8/27 |Introduction to course and | |

| | |students, review of syllabus & | |

| | |expectations. | |

| | | | |

| | |Income inequality and its impact | |

| | |on housing choice | |

| |8/29 |History of US national housing |Baar, Kenneth (1992) The National Movement to Halt the Spread of Multifamily Housing, 1890-1926, |

| | |policy – the role of land, |Journal of American Planning Association, 58(1), 39-48. |

| | |ownership and the process of |Von Hoffman, Alexander (2009). Housing and Planning: A Century of Social Reform and Local Power, |

| | |intervention |Journal of American Planning Association (JAPA), 75(2) 231-245. |

| | | | |

| | |SUMMARIES DUE | |

| |

|2 |9/3 |LABOR DAY |

| |9/5 |Financing housing: federal |Stone, Michael (2006). The Pernicious Problems of Housing Finance. In R2H, 82 – 104. |

| | |policies in mortgage finance |Schwartz, Alex (2010). Housing Finance. In Housing Policy in the U.S., |

| | |through the 20th century |51 – 87. |

| | | | |

| | |SUMMARIES DUE | |

| |

|3 |9/10 |The mortgage crisis and its impact|“This American Life” (2008. A Giant Pool of Money, Transcript from TAL radio show, 5/9/08. (NOTE:|

| | |on housing choice |you can listen to this broadcast at ) |

| | | |Watch “Inside Job” Documentary by Charles Ferguson (available from Leavey Library – but only one |

| | | |copy). |

| |9/12 |Impact of the crisis on our |Immergluck, Dan (2009). The Foreclosure Crisis, Foreclosed Properties, and Federal Policy: Some |

| | |ideology of ownership – or – where|Implications for Housing & Community Development Planning. JAPA, 75 (4), 406-424. |

| | |do we go from here? | |

| | | |Read, but do not summarize the following. Be prepared for a class “debate” on appropriate |

| | |SUMMARIES DUE |responses to the foreclosure crisis: |

| | | |Baker, Dean (2009). The Right to Rent 3 pp. |

| | | |Lowenstein, Roger (2006) Who Needs the Mortgage Interest Deduction? New York Times, 5 March 2006,|

| | | |p 1-4. |

| | | |LAHD (2009). Notice: Foreclosure Eviction Moratorium, 2 |

| |

|4 |9/17 |Creation of suburbia and suburban |Nicolaides, Becky & Wiese, Andrew (Eds) Postwar America’s Suburban Apotheosis . In The Suburban |

| | |housing |Reader. 258-290. |

| | | |Hanchett, Thomas (2001). The Other “Subsidized Housing”: Federal Aid to Suburbanization, |

| | | |1940s-1960s. In From Tenements to the Taylor Homes. 163-179. |

| |9/19 |Federal housing intervention for |Von Hoffman, Alexander (2000). A Study in Contradiction: The Origin & Legacy of the 1949 Housing |

| | |low-income families (public |Act. Housing Policy Debate 11(2), 299-323. |

| | |housing) |Schwartz, Alex (2010). Public Housing, In Housing Policy in the United States, 2nd Ed. 125 – 157.|

| | | | |

| | |SUMMARIES DUE | |

| |

|FIELD TRIP: A guided tour of East Los Angeles Public Housing sites will take place on Saturday, Sept. 22, 10:00 – 12:00. If you cannot participate,|

|you will submit a two-page essay on public housing. |

| |

|5 |9/24 |Federal housing intervention – |Orlebeke, C. (2000). The Evolution of Low-Income Housing Policy, 1949-1999 Housing Policy Debate,|

| | |market-based policies |vol. 11, #2, pp 489-502 |

| | | |Read, but do not summarize the following. Be prepared for a class exercise on federal housing |

| | | |programs: |

| | | |Nat’l low-Income Housing Coalition (2010). Description sheets for federal low-income housing |

| | | |programs |

| |9/26 |Affordable housing policy today – |Schwartz, Alex (2010). The Low Income Housing Tax Credit, In Housing Policy in the |

| | |subsidized production |United States, 2nd Ed. |

| | | |Stone, Michael (2006). Social Ownership (R2H), 240-260. |

| | |SUMMARIES DUE | |

| |

|6 |10/1 | | |

| | |In-Class Mid-Term | |

| |10/3 |Devolution of housing policy: |Brookings Institution (2003). Rethinking Local Affordable Housing Strategies. 8 pp. |

| | |from the federal to the state and |Mueller, Elizabeth & Schwartz, Alex (2008). Reversing the Tide: Will State and Local Governments |

| | |local |House the poor as Federal Direct Subsidies Decline? JAPA 74 (1), 122-133 |

| | | |Public Policy Institute of CA (2000). Proposition 13: Some Unintended |

| | |Property taxes & the fiscalization|Consequences. 29 pp. |

| | |of land use, CA’s Proposition 13 | |

| | | | |

| | |SUMMARIES DUE | |

| |

|7 |10/8 |Land use, sustainability and |Nat’l Resources Defense Council (2009). Communities Tackle Global Warming. 32 pp |

| | |housing – SB 375, the Sustainable |So CA Association of Gvts (SCAG) (2012) Sustainable Communities Strategy |

| | |Communities Strategy | |

| |10/10 |The Regional Housing Needs |CA Affordable Housing Law Project (2009). Introduction & Overview: Housing Element Manual. 17 |

| | |Assessment & the CA Housing |pp. |

| | |Element |Myers, Dowell, et al (2011). California Roller Coaster: Income and Housing in Boom & Bust, |

| | | |1990-2010. 16 pp. |

| | |SUMMARIES DUE | |

| |

|8 |10/15 |Transit oriented development, |Pollack, Stephanie, Bluestone, Barry & Billingham, Chase. (2010). Executive Summary. Maintaining|

| | |recapturing value |Diversity in America’s Transit-Rich Neighborhoods: Tools for Equitable Neighborhood Change. 5 pp.|

| | | | |

| | | |Center for Neighborhood Technology (2010). Pennywise, Pound Fuelish: New Measures of Housing & |

| | | |Transportation Affordability 14 pp |

| |10/17 |Housing & health |Docs4Kids (1998) Not Safe at Home: How America’s Housing Crisis Threatens the Health of Its |

| | | |Children. 24 pp. |

| | | |Bashir, Samiya. (2007) Home Is Where the Harm Is: Inadequate Housing as a Public Health Crisis. |

| | |SUMMARIES DUE |American Journal of Public Health. |

| |

|9 |10/22 |Local land use and housing options|Calavita, N. & malalch, A (2010). Inclusionary Housing in International Perspective, |

| | |at the city level I: |chapter 1 & 2. |

| | | |Mukhija, vinit et al (2009). Can Inclusionary Zoning Be an Effective and Efficient |

| | |Inclusionary zoning/mixed-income |Housing Policy? Evidence from Los Angeles & Orange Counties. Journal of Urban |

| | |housing |Affairs, 32(2), 229-252. |

| |10/24 |Local land use and housing options|Dennis Keating et al (1998). Rent Control: Regulation and the Rental Housing Market, 1-14. |

| | |at the city level II: |Richman, Neal. & Pitkin, Bill (2003) Urban Slums Report: The Case of LA, 26 pp. |

| | | | |

| | |Rent control, | |

| | |Slum housing & code enforcement | |

| | | | |

| | |SUMMARIES DUE | |

| |

|10 |10/29 |Fair housing and local |Denton, Nancy (2006) Segregation and Discrimination in Housing, R2H, 61- 81. |

| | |exclusionary practices |McKenzie, Evan (2003). Constructing the Pomerium in Las Vegas: A Case Study of Emerging Trends in |

| | | |American Gated Communities. Housing Studies, 20(2), 187-203. |

| |10/31 |The other side of housing: |Culhane, D. & Metraux, S. (2008). Rearranging the Deck Chairs or Reallocating the Lifeboats? |

| | |homelessness |JAPA, 641), 111-121. |

| | | |LA Economic Roundtable (2009). Where We Sleep: Costs When Homeless and Housed in Los Angeles. |

| | |SUMMARIES DUE |(Chaps 2 & 3 only) |

| |

|11 |11/5 |CD history: From Urban Renewal to |Von Hoffman, Alexander (2008). The Lost History of Urban Renewal, Journal of Urbanism, 1 (3), |

| | |Community Development |281-301. |

| | | |O’Connor, Alice (2008). Swimming Against the Tide: A Brief History of Federal Policy in Poor |

| | | |Communities, In The Community Development Reader (DeFilippis & Saegart, Eds). 9-26. |

| |11/7 |Community Development Corporations|Peter Medoff & Holly Sklar (1994) Creating the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, In Street of|

| | | |Hope: The Fall and Rise of an Urban Neighborhood. 30 pp. |

| | |SUMMARIES DUE |Wim Wiewel, et al (2008). The Economic Development of Neighborhoods and Localities, In The CD |

| | | |Reader, 93-101. |

| | | | | |

|12 |11/12 |Community development and business|Nembhard, Jessica (1999). Community Economic Development: Alternative Visions for the 21st |

| | |creation |Century. 15 pp. |

| | |Field Trip: Class meets at the |Sevron, Lisa (1997). Microenterprise Programs in US Inner Cities: Economic |

| | |Mercado la Paloma |Development or Social Welfare? Economic Development Quarterly, 11(2), 166-180. |

| | | | |

| | |2ND MID-TERM – POLICY MEMO DUE | |

| |11/14 |Food as community development |LAANE (2008) Feeding Our Communities: A Call for Food Access and Job Quality in Los |

| | |policy and practice |Angeles’ Grocery Industry |

| | | |W.O.R.K.S. (2011) Affordable Housing and Food Access. |

| | |SUMMARIES DUE | |

| | | | | |

|13 |11/19 |Capital for community development:|Dreier, Peter (2003) The Future of Community Reinvestment, JAPA 69(4), 341-353. |

| | |The Community Reinvestment Act and|Green, Gary & Haines, Anna (2008) Finance Capital. In Asset Building & Community |

| | |Community Development Financial |Development, 2nd Ed). 149-164 |

| | |Institutions | |

| |11/21 |Alternative community development |Sauser, W. (2009). Sustaining Employee-Owned Companies: Seven |

| | |strategies: |Recommendation. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 84, 2009, 151-164. |

| | |Cooperatives, land trusts and more|Sazama, G. (2000). Lessons from the History of Affordable Housing |

| | | |Cooperatives in the United States (G. Sazama). Am. Journal of Economics & |

| | |SUMMARIES DUE |Sociology, vol. 59, 4, 573-608. |

| | | | | |

|14 |11/26 |Tying it all together: Regional |Truehaft, Sarah, Blackwell, Angela Y& Pastor, Manuel (2011). America’s Tomorrow: |

| | |growth, land use and equity. |Equity is the Superior Growth Model. |

| | | | |

| |11/28 |NO CLASS |

| | | | | |

|15 |12/3 |Community development and |Stoecker, Randy (2003). Understanding the Development-Organizing Dialectic. Journal of Urban |

| | |community organizing |Affairs, 25 (4), 493-512. |

| | | |Payne, Charles (1989) Ella Banker and Models of Community Change, Signs: Journal of Women in |

| | |SUMMARIES (weeks 14 & 15) DUE |Culture & Society, 14(4), 885 – 899. |

| |12/5 |Wrap-up and in-class review |Review of the semester’s material and discussion of the final, in-class evaluation. |

| | | | | |

| |12/12 |Final exam |Scheduled for Wednesday, December 12, 4:30 – 6:30 |

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