Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

A Resource Guide For Historic Sundown Town Resolutions, Zoning Code Updates, And General Plan Policies, Anna Rago

City and Regional Planning

James W. Loewen’s book Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism, released in 2005, calls out cities across the United States for their historically discriminatory practices of excluding Black and other non-white individuals from living within city borders, either through formal exclusionary policies or informal methods. Cities often enforced this exclusionary practice through violence and intimidation, leading to “all-white” communities throughout the United States. The belief was that these communities should be “sundown” or “sunset” towns, where people of color were not allowed after dark. Loewen’s book and the following movement awakened individuals, companies, and entire cities to take …

The Tragedy Of The Commons: A Podcast Exploring Solutions To The Housing Crisis In California, Delaney Li-Ming Faherty

City and Regional Planning

Affordable housing has become increasingly inaccessible across the United States, particularly in California. Because of its long history and far-reaching span, California’s housing crisis is a complexity that affects individuals at most income levels. Accordingly, opinions on solving the crisis vary among each public.

A popular solution is increasing the amount and scale of housing, however, barriers, such as single-family zoning, exist at the state and local level. While statewide legislation is working to counteract municipal zoning codes, local opposition is rampant. Because of this pushback, and the slow pace at which housing reliant on individual action is built, today’s …