Urban Growth Boundary and Segregation

Discussion:

(too old to reply)

George Conklin

2007-04-16 13:05:29 UTC

Urban Growth Boundaries are set up to stop cities from the dreaded "sprawl,"
even as human populations are concentrating in fewer and fewer places. What
effect do UGB's have on segregation?

A recent dissertation project presented at SSS showed the following:

Multiple Regression (OLS) Analysis of Black-White Residential
Segregation (Index of Dissimilarity), 2000

Variables Black-White Segregation
b
Beta
Constant 16.19*
Urban Growth 6.38
Boundary .24**
% Black or Hispanic .58
1990 .35***
% Paying 35%+ .31
for rent .12
Housing Units Built -.12
in 1990s as % of -.13
2000 Units
Region -6.52
West -.25*
Region -2.06
South -.06
Adjusted Rsquare .152

Notes: *p<.10, **p<.05, ***p<.01

Midwest is reference category for regions.

So, at the .05 level, urban growth boundaries increase
residential segregation.

Since the author has not yet published her findings, I am not going to go
into moe details but it is a good example of how research based on actual
behavior is progressing in its analysis of the policies of urban planning.
The black-white segregation index is well-documented in the literature, by
the way. It is a standard tool and not put together for this analysis.

Pat

2007-04-16 15:11:31 UTC

Permalink

What is SSS. First I was thinking it was Satan's State College, but
that would be SSC. Maybe Secret Service College, but nope, again
SSC. Up here in NY if a school was SSS, we'd immediately call it Some
Shitty School (while the President walked around calling it a Super
Sophisticated School). I suppose it's not the Susan Saranda School.
Okay, I give up.

Post by George Conklin
Multiple Regression (OLS) Analysis of Black-White Residential
Segregation (Index of Dissimilarity), 2000
Variables Black-White Segregation
b
Beta
Constant 16.19*
Urban Growth 6.38
Boundary .24**
% Black or Hispanic .58
1990 .35***
% Paying 35%+ .31
for rent .12
Housing Units Built -.12
in 1990s as % of -.13
2000 Units
Region -6.52
West -.25*
Region -2.06
South -.06
Adjusted Rsquare .152
Notes: *p<.10, **p<.05, ***p<.01
Midwest is reference category for regions.
So, at the .05 level, urban growth boundaries increase
residential segregation.
Since the author has not yet published her findings, I am not going to go
into moe details but it is a good example of how research based on actual
behavior is progressing in its analysis of the policies of urban planning.
The black-white segregation index is well-documented in the literature, by
the way. It is a standard tool and not put together for this analysis.

Saying that drawing a line around a urban area and saying it increases
racial separation is like drawing a line around a city and saying it's
chaulk. Of course it does. Duh. It you get a PhD for that, then
2+2=4 so give me one in Math. White people tend to live in rural and
suburban areas. Even Mr. Cool knows that. So if you draw a line and
put the whites on one side and a more diverse group on the other,
guess what, you have increased separation of the races.

If you want the perfect example of this, go to the Adirondacks and
find "the Blue Line". They put an "anti-sprawl" line around the
Adirondack park sometime about a hundred years ago -- and the area is
huge, larger than Connecticut. The land inside the Blue Line is a
mixture of public and private land within the State Park, so all of
the land has park status, even the private land. The Blue Line is the
mother of all Sprawl Boundaries. You could go there and easily find
the racial characteristics of the area: hint, my betting is that it
is well over 90% white and home ownership is very, very high.

Okay, can I have my PhD now?

George Conklin

2007-04-16 20:00:44 UTC

Permalink

Post by Pat

Post by George Conklin
Urban Growth Boundaries are set up to stop cities from the dreaded "sprawl,"
even as human populations are concentrating in fewer and fewer places.

What

Post by Pat

Post by George Conklin
effect do UGB's have on segregation?

The Southern Sociological Society

http://www.msstate.edu/org/sss/

Post by Pat

Planners say it HELPS racial diversity.

drydem

2007-04-19 10:38:22 UTC

Permalink

Post by George Conklin
Urban Growth Boundaries are set up to stop cities from the dreaded "sprawl,"
even as human populations are concentrating in fewer and fewer places. What
effect do UGB's have on segregation?
Multiple Regression (OLS) Analysis of Black-White Residential
Segregation (Index of Dissimilarity), 2000
Variables Black-White Segregation
b
Beta
Constant 16.19*
Urban Growth 6.38
Boundary .24**
% Black or Hispanic .58
1990 .35***
% Paying 35%+ .31
for rent .12
Housing Units Built -.12
in 1990s as % of -.13
2000 Units
Region -6.52
West -.25*
Region -2.06
South -.06
Adjusted Rsquare .152
Notes: *p<.10, **p<.05, ***p<.01
Midwest is reference category for regions.
So, at the .05 level, urban growth boundaries increase
residential segregation.
Since the author has not yet published her findings, I am not going to go
into moe details but it is a good example of how research based on actual
behavior is progressing in its analysis of the policies of urban planning.
The black-white segregation index is well-documented in the literature, by
the way. It is a standard tool and not put together for this analysis.

fyi... here is a detailed study I found that directly
addressed UGB and segregation.

URBAN CONTAINMENT AND RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION:
A Preliminary Investigation
Arthur C. Nelson, Casey J. Dawkins, Thomas W. Sanchez
Metropolitan Institute (Virginia Tech)
January 2003
http://www.mi.vt.edu/Files/segregationMI.pdf

abstract
A fundamental purpose of traditional land use controls is to exclude
undesirable land
uses from residential communities. However, such regulations have been
shown to
limit the ability of low-income households and people of color to find
suitable
housing in decent neighborhoods. Urban containment is an attempt to
regulate land
uses in ways that reduce if not eliminate social exclusion. This paper
uses
information from a nationwide survey of metropolitan planning
organizations to
identify metropolitan areas with urban containment programs in place.
A theory is
developed and a model is applied to 242 metropolitan statistical areas
to test the
hypothesis that areas with urban containment witnessed greater
reductions in
residential segregation than those without. Preliminary statistical
investigations
show this to be the case.

=============
earlier research appears to be more focused on economic viablity
and of type of housing than segregation.

SPRAWL, SMART GROWTH AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
The Urban Institute, 2100 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037
June 2002
http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/410536_SprawlandEquity.pdf

excerpts:
Proponents believe that in order to implement smart growth that a
metropolitan area
needs to embrace some form of metropolitan or regional planning. One
planning tool embraced
by smart growth advocates is the urban growth boundary. Urban growth
boundaries essentially
limit new development at the fringes of a metropolitan area in an
attempt to limit the loss of open
space by forcing reinvestment in the core of metropolitan areas. While
several states have
implemented growth boundaries, the most well known example of urban
growth boundaries has
been in Portland, Oregon....
While smart growth promises to address environmental and growth
management
concerns, it is less clear about its impact on existing patterns of
social inequity. For example, it
appears that growth boundaries in Portland and other Oregon cities may
be contributing to
substantial increases in housing costs for low-income families as well
as the gentrification of
existing low-income communities.6 It's also unclear whether smart
growth will reduce existing
racial and class isolation or improve low-income residents' access to
employment.

===========

HOLDING THE LINE: URBAN CONTAINMENT IN THE UNITED STATES
Rolf Pendall and Jonathan Martin of Cornell University
and William Fulton of the Solimar Research Group
The Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy
August 2002
http://www.brookings.edu/es/urban/publications/pendallfultoncontainment.pdf

excerpts:
In sum, considerable evidence indicates that urban containment
policies do increase
densities and in some cases promote multi-family construction, which
is often their intention. But
the overall impact of these changes on the metropolis as a whole
depends on the way that
containment policies work together and the level to which they direct
growth into specific areas.
(page 32)

==============

hth

George Conklin

2007-04-19 21:24:48 UTC

Permalink

Post by drydem

Post by George Conklin
Urban Growth Boundaries are set up to stop cities from the dreaded "sprawl,"
even as human populations are concentrating in fewer and fewer places.

What

Post by drydem

Post by George Conklin
effect do UGB's have on segregation?
Multiple Regression (OLS) Analysis of Black-White Residential
Segregation (Index of Dissimilarity), 2000
Variables Black-White Segregation
b
Beta
Constant 16.19*
Urban Growth 6.38
Boundary .24**
% Black or Hispanic .58
1990 .35***
% Paying 35%+ .31
for rent .12
Housing Units Built -.12
in 1990s as % of -.13
2000 Units
Region -6.52
West -.25*
Region -2.06
South -.06
Adjusted Rsquare .152
Notes: *p<.10, **p<.05, ***p<.01
Midwest is reference category for regions.
So, at the .05 level, urban growth boundaries increase
residential segregation.
Since the author has not yet published her findings, I am not going to go
into moe details but it is a good example of how research based on actual
behavior is progressing in its analysis of the policies of urban planning.
The black-white segregation index is well-documented in the literature, by
the way. It is a standard tool and not put together for this analysis.

fyi... here is a detailed study I found that directly
addressed UGB and segregation.
A Preliminary Investigation
Arthur C. Nelson, Casey J. Dawkins, Thomas W. Sanchez
Metropolitan Institute (Virginia Tech)
January 2003
http://www.mi.vt.edu/Files/segregationMI.pdf
abstract
A fundamental purpose of traditional land use controls is to exclude
undesirable land
uses from residential communities. However, such regulations have been
shown to
limit the ability of low-income households and people of color to find
suitable
housing in decent neighborhoods. Urban containment is an attempt to
regulate land
uses in ways that reduce if not eliminate social exclusion. This paper
uses
information from a nationwide survey of metropolitan planning
organizations to
identify metropolitan areas with urban containment programs in place.
A theory is
developed and a model is applied to 242 metropolitan statistical areas
to test the
hypothesis that areas with urban containment witnessed greater
reductions in
residential segregation than those without. Preliminary statistical
investigations
show this to be the case.

Since every city in Oregon must have a UGB, including Orgeon in a study
means that you are really correlating the state as a whole against
individual cities. The study I cited mentioned that point and used matched
cities in similar regions. I sometimes wonder if advocacy groups are the
ones to evaluate their own policies. The policies come first.

Post by drydem
=============
earlier research appears to be more focused on economic viablity
and of type of housing than segregation.
SPRAWL, SMART GROWTH AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
The Urban Institute, 2100 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037
June 2002
http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/410536_SprawlandEquity.pdf
Proponents believe that in order to implement smart growth that a
metropolitan area
needs to embrace some form of metropolitan or regional planning. One
planning tool embraced
by smart growth advocates is the urban growth boundary. Urban growth
boundaries essentially
limit new development at the fringes of a metropolitan area in an
attempt to limit the loss of open
space by forcing reinvestment in the core of metropolitan areas. While
several states have
implemented growth boundaries, the most well known example of urban
growth boundaries has
been in Portland, Oregon....
While smart growth promises to address environmental and growth
management
concerns, it is less clear about its impact on existing patterns of
social inequity. For example, it
appears that growth boundaries in Portland and other Oregon cities may
be contributing to
substantial increases in housing costs for low-income families as well
as the gentrification of
existing low-income communities.6 It's also unclear whether smart
growth will reduce existing
racial and class isolation or improve low-income residents' access to
employment.

Since very city in Orgeon must have a boundary, there is no control
group.

Post by drydem
===========
HOLDING THE LINE: URBAN CONTAINMENT IN THE UNITED STATES
Rolf Pendall and Jonathan Martin of Cornell University
and William Fulton of the Solimar Research Group
The Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy
August 2002

http://www.brookings.edu/es/urban/publications/pendallfultoncontainment.pdf

Post by drydem
In sum, considerable evidence indicates that urban containment
policies do increase
densities and in some cases promote multi-family construction, which
is often their intention. But
the overall impact of these changes on the metropolis as a whole
depends on the way that
containment policies work together and the level to which they direct
growth into specific areas.
(page 32)
==============
hth

Brookings concludes that little or no work has been done on racial effects
of Smart Growth. Sorry, but the study I cited has been done in an effort to
study the neglected area.

drydem

2007-04-20 02:20:29 UTC

Permalink

The following paper argues that the black-white segregation index is
obsolete and racially-biased.

Racial Integration in Urban America: A Block Level Analysis of African
American and White Housing Patterns
by Lois M. Quinn and John Pawasarat, Employment and Training
Institute, School of Continuing Education, University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee, December 2002, revised January 2003. [Report is also
available in PDF format]
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/ETI/integration/integration.htm

excerpts:

* The segregation index appears to represent an obsolete and racially-
biased approach based on a white majority view of segregation.
Historically concerned with "white flight" and "racial tipping," the
index ranks metropolitan areas on the degree to which the African
American population is evenly dispersed, with the goal of the same
white-black ratio in every census tract.(1) For the four-county
Milwaukee area, census tracts that are more than 16-18 percent black
are considered segregated by the index. For the Salt Lake City-Ogden
metro area, which is ranked as one of the best on the segregation
index and close to the "ideal," the desired goal is to have a less
than 2 percent black population in each census tract.(2)
* The index is based on a one-way concept of desegregation where
blacks are expected to move into white areas, but whites are not
expected to move into majority black areas. Milwaukee's metro ranking
on the index (82.16) is based on the "ideal" of moving 197,890 blacks
of the total 240,859 black population (or 82.16%) out of their "too
black" census tracts and into the remaining "whiter" tracts.(3)
* In urban areas with substantial black populations, the "ideal" of
the segregation index would require most of the black population to
move into neighborhoods with fewer black residents. While claiming to
be race-neutral, the index has historically been used to measure
progress toward the dispersal of blacks into geographic units where
they would remain in the minority. Each decade, after the black
population fails to move in the high percentages needed to become
"evenly" dispersed (i.e., "non-segregated" under the index), the
cities are declared continuingly resistant to integration.

The segregation index can only rank two races at a time, so that
diverse urban populations of Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans are
not factored into the black-white segregation rankings. First, all
Hispanics, regardless of stated race, are excluded. The remaining
black-white racial categories reflect 19th century definitions. Any
persons identified in whole or in any part as black or African
American are considered "black." Only those white persons with no
other racial identity are considered "white."

Amy Blankenship

2007-04-20 04:14:01 UTC

Permalink

Post by drydem

Post by George Conklin
Urban Growth Boundaries are set up to stop cities from the dreaded "sprawl,"
even as human populations are concentrating in fewer and fewer places.
What
effect do UGB's have on segregation?
Multiple Regression (OLS) Analysis of Black-White Residential
Segregation (Index of Dissimilarity), 2000
Variables Black-White Segregation
b
Beta
Constant 16.19*
Urban Growth 6.38
Boundary .24**
% Black or Hispanic .58
1990 .35***
% Paying 35%+ .31
for rent .12
Housing Units Built -.12
in 1990s as % of -.13
2000 Units
Region -6.52
West -.25*
Region -2.06
South -.06
Adjusted Rsquare .152
Notes: *p<.10, **p<.05, ***p<.01
Midwest is reference category for regions.
So, at the .05 level, urban growth boundaries increase
residential segregation.
Since the author has not yet published her findings, I am not going to go
into moe details but it is a good example of how research based on actual
behavior is progressing in its analysis of the policies of urban planning.
The black-white segregation index is well-documented in the literature, by
the way. It is a standard tool and not put together for this analysis.

That seems to be a rather strange view. If 82% of blacks move out and
nobody else moves in, are there actually enough white people there already
to make up the "ideal"? If not, there is no way that the ratio of blacks to
whites would balance. If so, it would only be in balance because nobody
lives there.

George Conklin

2007-04-20 12:47:48 UTC

Permalink

Post by Amy Blankenship

Post by drydem

Post by George Conklin
Urban Growth Boundaries are set up to stop cities from the dreaded "sprawl,"
even as human populations are concentrating in fewer and fewer places.
What
effect do UGB's have on segregation?
Multiple Regression (OLS) Analysis of Black-White Residential
Segregation (Index of Dissimilarity), 2000
Variables Black-White Segregation
b
Beta
Constant 16.19*
Urban Growth 6.38
Boundary .24**
% Black or Hispanic .58
1990 .35***
% Paying 35%+ .31
for rent .12
Housing Units Built -.12
in 1990s as % of -.13
2000 Units
Region -6.52
West -.25*
Region -2.06
South -.06
Adjusted Rsquare .152
Notes: *p<.10, **p<.05, ***p<.01
Midwest is reference category for regions.
So, at the .05 level, urban growth boundaries increase
residential segregation.
Since the author has not yet published her findings, I am not going to go
into moe details but it is a good example of how research based on actual
behavior is progressing in its analysis of the policies of urban planning.
The black-white segregation index is well-documented in the literature, by
the way. It is a standard tool and not put together for this analysis.

"New" minority groups apparently moving directly to where they want, and not
concentrating. We do not have "Little Bombays" like we used to have a (now
tourist attraction...) Chinatown.

George Conklin

2007-04-20 12:46:10 UTC

Permalink

Post by drydem

Post by George Conklin
Urban Growth Boundaries are set up to stop cities from the dreaded "sprawl,"
even as human populations are concentrating in fewer and fewer places.

What

Post by drydem

The following paper argues that the black-white segregation index is
obsolete and racially-biased.
Racial Integration in Urban America: A Block Level Analysis of African
American and White Housing Patterns
by Lois M. Quinn and John Pawasarat, Employment and Training
Institute, School of Continuing Education, University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee, December 2002, revised January 2003. [Report is also
available in PDF format]
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/ETI/integration/integration.htm
* The segregation index appears to represent an obsolete and racially-
biased approach based on a white majority view of segregation.
Historically concerned with "white flight" and "racial tipping," the
index ranks metropolitan areas on the degree to which the African
American population is evenly dispersed, with the goal of the same
white-black ratio in every census tract.(1) For the four-county
Milwaukee area, census tracts that are more than 16-18 percent black
are considered segregated by the index. For the Salt Lake City-Ogden
metro area, which is ranked as one of the best on the segregation
index and close to the "ideal," the desired goal is to have a less
than 2 percent black population in each census tract.(2)
* The index is based on a one-way concept of desegregation where
blacks are expected to move into white areas, but whites are not
expected to move into majority black areas. Milwaukee's metro ranking
on the index (82.16) is based on the "ideal" of moving 197,890 blacks
of the total 240,859 black population (or 82.16%) out of their "too
black" census tracts and into the remaining "whiter" tracts.(3)
* In urban areas with substantial black populations, the "ideal" of
the segregation index would require most of the black population to
move into neighborhoods with fewer black residents. While claiming to
be race-neutral, the index has historically been used to measure
progress toward the dispersal of blacks into geographic units where
they would remain in the minority. Each decade, after the black
population fails to move in the high percentages needed to become
"evenly" dispersed (i.e., "non-segregated" under the index), the
cities are declared continuingly resistant to integration.
The segregation index can only rank two races at a time, so that
diverse urban populations of Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans are
not factored into the black-white segregation rankings. First, all
Hispanics, regardless of stated race, are excluded. The remaining
black-white racial categories reflect 19th century definitions. Any
persons identified in whole or in any part as black or African
American are considered "black." Only those white persons with no
other racial identity are considered "white."

The index is still standard operating procedure for policy analysis. It
has not been replaced by anything else. It looks like my comments on your
first post did not get uploaded. But as Brookings stated in their last
article, up till now the effects of the UGBs have been poorly studied. The
study I cited did not include Orgeon because every city there must have a
UGB and so there is no matched pair to study in that state and you end up
with regional variations. The study I posted used matched pairs of similar
cities in the same region. I am not sure if I included that detail.
Further, since it was only a presented paper, I don't have her bibliography
yet. It will appear in print after the usual delays....