January
17, 2007
PUAF 698D
SELECTED TOPICS IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Urban Policy
Mondays, 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM, Spring 2007
Contact Info:
Edward M. Meyers, Ph.D., 202-250-7001,
edmeyers23@aol.com Call or write anytime; extended discussions
by appointment.
Course Objectives
In this course, we will gain a
comprehensive understanding of socioeconomic conditions of our nation’s central
cities, including historical and current trends. In particular, we seek to appreciate the structural
obstacles that impede urban progress. We
will discuss the policies and societal actions that have caused these
conditions and continue to do so. We
will examine demographic changes taking place in urban America today, and how
these changes affect not only cities as an integrated whole, but the people in
poverty who face displacement in an urban economic resurgence.
Moreover, we will explore policy options for
improving urban conditions at the local, regional, state and national levels,
from the perspective of overall quality of life for all urban residents, and
also from the vantage point of urban residents who are not well equipped to
emerge successfully from the changes taking place in urban
Books
Thomas
J Sugrue, The Origins of the Urban Crisis:
Race and Inequality in Postwar
Charles
E. Euchner and Stephen J. McGovern, Urban Policy Reconsidered: Dialogues on the Problems and Prospects of
American Cities, Routledge, 2003.
David
Rusk, Inside Game/ Outside Game: Winning Strategies for Saving Urban America,
Brookings Inst. Press, 1999.
Other
Resources
National
League of Cities (nlc.org)
National Urban League (www.nul.org)
U.S.
Conference of Mayors (www.usmayors.org)
Brookings Institution (www.brookings.org)
Urban Institute (www.urban.org)
Council of Great City
Schools (www.cgcs.org)
National Governor's
Association (www.nga.org)
U.S.
Census of Governments (www.census.gov/govs/www/index.html)
The Washington Post, ten editorials on inequality
www.washingtonpost.com/inequality
There are many other sites
of course, but most of them simply list publications you can buy. The above sites provide studies for free.
Week 1, Jan. 29: Overview. Beginning discussion of urban issues.
“The Economic Potential of
Cities” by Bruce Zatz, October 2006
http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20061002_economicpotential.htm
Alan Berube and Bruce Katz, “Katrina's
Window: Confronting Concentrated Poverty Across America,” October 2005
(9 pgs + charts)
http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20051012_concentratedpoverty.htm
Amy Liu, Matt Fellowes, and Mia Mabanta, “Special
Edition of the Katrina Index: A
One-Year Review of Key Indicators of Recovery in Post- Storm New Orleans,” August 2006 (13 pgs)
http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20060822_katrina.htm
Week
2, Feb. 5: Overview, part II. A comprehensive review of urban issues and
status.
Read: Rusk, ch.
1,2, 3;
Margery A. Turner, Deborah Kaye, “How Does Family Well-Being Vary across Different Types of Neighborhoods?” May 10, 2006 (21 pgs + charts) http://www.urban.org/publications/311322.html and click PDF link
Paul
A. Jargowsky, “Stunning Progress, Hidden Problems: The Dramatic Decline of Concentrated Poverty
in the 1990s,” May 2003
http://www.brookings.edu/es/urban/publications/jargowskypoverty.htm
click
Full Report (13 pgs + charts)
Paul
A. Jargowsky and Rebecca Yang, The "Underclass" Revisited: A Social
Problem in Decline,” May 2005 (19 pgs)
http://www.brookings.edu/views/papers/200505jargowsky.htm
Week 3, Feb. 12: The Urban Context: Cities in their Regions. Continued urban poverty, affluent but
changing suburbs, sprawl and race, socioeconomic conditions and trends.
Read: Euchner, ch.1; Rusk, ch. 4;
Todd
Swanstrom et al., “Economic Segregation among Suburbs and Central Cities in
Major Metropolitan Areas”; Oct. 2004 http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20041018_econsegregation.htm
and click Full Report. (11 pgs + charts)
Robert
Puentes and David Warren, “One-Fifth of
And
click Full Report (17 pgs + charts)
Alan
Berube and Elizabeth Kneebone, “Two Steps Back:
City and Suburban Poverty Trends 1999-2005,” December 2006 http://apps89.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20061205_citysuburban.htm
And click PDF link (12 pgs + charts)
Week 4, Feb. 19: Urban Poverty. Family structures, poverty and income class;
issues and policy options.
Austin Nichols, “Understanding Recent
Changes in Child Poverty,” August 25, 2006, http://www.urban.org/welfare/index.cfm?page=2
and click PDF (7 pgs.)
Urban Institute, “Children
of Immigrants, May 16, 2006 (4
pgs), http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=900955
Brookings, “Kids
in the City: Indicators of Child Well-Being in Large Cities
from the 2004 American Community Survey,” August
2006 (11 pgs) http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20060810_kidscity.htm
Harry
Holzer, “Does Immigration Help or Hurt Less-Educated Americans?”
April 25, 2006 (4 pgs) http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=900954
Class Discussion:
Does immigration help or hurt the chances of long- standing low-income families to
climb out of poverty?
Week
5, Feb.26: Poverty and Welfare Policy
Read: Euchner, pp. 67-91, Sugrue, ch. 3.
Urban
Institute, “A Decade of Welfare Reform: Facts and Figures,” July 26, 2006 (4 pgs) http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=900980
David Edie, Toward a New Child
Care Policy, July 18, 2006 (6 pgs) http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=311347
Elaine Maag, “Tac Credits, the
Minimum Wage and Inflation,” Dec. 29, 2006, (8 pgs.) http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=311401
read for policy only
(not for detailed facts)
Optional (although please read Executive Summary v to
x and Summary and Implications 47-50) Pamela
J. Loprest, Sheila R. Zedlewski, “The Changing Role of
Welfare in the Lives of Low-Income Families with Children,” August 30, 2006 (50 pgs) http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=311357 click PDF
Class discussion for Week 5: What about the minimum wage? (1) What is the current minimum wage and how
well has it tracked inflation over the last few decades? (2) What are state minimum wages, and how do
they interact with federal minimum wage laws?
(See http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm
; http://www.toolkit.cch.com/text/P05_4046.asp)
(3) How does the minimum wage interact with other work support programs, (4)
What are “living wages”? (5) What are the pros and cons of substantially
increasing the minimum wage? (6) What are your views on how this policy should
be approached and decided? Should
policies primarily be set at the state or federal level?
Week 6, Mar. 5: Urban Employment Issues. Employment issues, the working poor and
policy options.
Read: Sugrue,
ch. 4, 5, 6,
Gregory Acs, Pamela J. Loprest, “Who are Low-Income
Working Families?” September 2005 (15 pgs)
http://www.urban.org/publications/311242.html
and click on the PDF file
Harry Holzer, David Neumark “Affirmative
Action: What Do We Know?” January 5,
2006 (41 pgs) http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=1000862
Class
discussion: What about affirmative
action? (1) What is affirmative
action? Giving preference to minorities
and women over more qualified majority and male applicants? Or a corrective measure when a company has
demonstrated a long history of favoritism toward majority males? Or is it both
of the above? (2) What are the pros and
cons of affirmative action? (3) What are
your views?
Week 7, Mar 12: Urban Finance, Intergovernmental
Structures. Budgets, tax base and
structure; policy implications of intergovernmental structures. Downtown as an economic driver for
cities. DC’s political structure and
policy options.
Read: Rusk, ch. 7;
Bruce A. Wallin, “Budgeting for
Basics: The Changing Landscape of City
Finances,” August 2005; for this paper, go to http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20050823_budgetingbasics.htm
and click on Full Report.
March 19: SPRING BREAK
Week 8, Mar.26: Economic and Community Development. Business trends, urban obstacles and
opportunities, downtown and neighborhood development, economic development
policies and tax base implications
Read:
Euchner, ch. 3, Rusk ch. 8, 9 and 10;
Karen D. Brown, “Expanding Affordable Housing
Through Inclusionary Zoning: Lessons
from the
Week 9, April 2: Housing and Economic Development. Federal, state and local housing
policies. Links between housing and
economic development. Public housing.
Market forces.
Read:
Euchner, ch. 4
Katrina (cont.): The Brookings Institution,
Metropolitan Studies Program, “
http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20051012_neworleans.htm
Diane Levy et al., “In the Face of
Gentrification: Case Studies of Local
Efforts to Mitigate Displacement,” March 17, 2006, (82 pgs). Just
read the Conclusion section, pgs. 76-82, to get a sense that gentrification and
displacement are not inevitable.
http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=411294
If you are interested in further retention (anti-displacement)
strategies, please refer to a related handbook, published on the same date
http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=411295
Week 10, April 9: Urban
Education. Educational disparities,
financing urban education, choice and educational vouchers, concentrations of
poverty and their impact on educational attainment.
Read: Euchner, ch. 5
The Education Trust, Funding
Gaps 2006, December 2006. Go to
http://www2.edtrust.org/EdTrust/Press+Room/Funding+Gap+2006.htm
and click on report.
Jonathan Kozol, “Still
Separate, Still Unequal:
http://www.learntoquestion.com/resources/database/archives/000711.html
Week 11, April 16: Regional Policies. Regional policy options and political
restraints. Crime, causes and
levels of crime. Policy responses.
Read:
William H. Frey,
“Diversity Spreads Out: Metropolitan Shifts in Hispanic, Asian, and Black
Populations Since 2000,” March 2006 http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20060307_frey.htm
Week 12, April 23: Energy, Transportation, and the
Environment in Urban Centers.
Read: Sugrue, p. 179 through conclusion
Class assignment and discussion: Please bring in a one page discussion piece
on the relationships between a sound energy policy for
Week 13, April 30: The
Future of Cities. Putting it all
together, with an outlook toward the future.
Read: Euchner,
ch.7
Margery Austin Turner and Lynette
A. Rawlings, “Overcoming Concentrated
Poverty and Isolation: Ten Lessons for Policy
and Practice,” July 2005 (9 pgs +
charts)
http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=311204
Week 14, May 7: Class Discussion: Your Five-Point Plans for
Week
15, May 14: Final Examination
Paper:
Papers are due May 7, 2007. The paper consists of your Five-Point Plan
for
If you like you may add your
own original idea as one or more of the five points, or perhaps draw from proposals
you have seen elsewhere; for example, from a think tank or in Congress. And feel free to use ideas developed in class
discussions as well, modifying them if you like. Of course, please identify the source or sources of each proposal that you
use. Papers do not need to be
long—10 pages or less will likely do just fine.
Your five points should not
be a “laundry list”; that is, it should not be merely a compilation of all the
things you think are needed, with many subpoints. Rather, you should provide five tangible ways
to improve urban conditions, without attempting to cover everything. Some of the points in your plan should
address urban poverty, not just making cities as a whole healthy.
Here is the premise: You are the director of domestic policy in
the White House. The President (any
president, real or imagined) calls you into the Oval Office and says: “I want to propose a Five-Point Plan for
cities and their people, to improve urban social and economic conditions. Part of this plan must help get urban people
out of poverty, or at least get them pointed in the right direction. Give me this Five-Point Plan. Don’t worry about the politics of this—I’ll
take care of that. At the end of this
plan, if you can add a few words of wisdom that I can give U.S. governors,
mayors, and county executives, as to what they can also do to help their
cities, then that’s so much the better.
I want the ideas, the concepts. I’m not looking for great detail here. I don’t need a speech. I’ll get my speechwriters to do that from
what you give me.”
In developing your response
for the President, include:
A. Your Five
Point Plan for Urban America; provide supporting data for each idea and the
problems it addresses.
B. Actions
Beyond the Federal Government: suggestions
for governors, mayors, and county executives, beyond what the
C. Approximate Cost (very rough, just the
general magnitude) of your proposals, near and long-term;
D. Political Feasibility (with reasoned
explanation);
E. Approximated
(guesstimated) Projected Outcomes of Plan
Adoption.
25% Class participation, including your participation in policy discussions and attendance.
35% Paper, including the May 7 discussion of your
policy proposals for urban
40% Final Exam