Urban Studies Commons^™

The Subprime Mortgage Crisis And Local Government: Immediate And Future Challenges, Alan C. Weinstein

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

No abstract provided.

How To Avoid A "Holy War" -- Dealing With Potential Rluipa Claims, Alan C. Weinstein

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article discusses how local government can seek to avoid a claim being brought against it under the Religious Land Use & Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Thus, the focus is not on what steps a local government should take when a RLUIPA claim is brought - or threatened to be brought - against it, but focuses instead on what steps local governments should take to seek to avoid a RLUIPA claim in the first place. After reviewing both the changing context of religious observance in the United States, and RLUIPA decisions to date, the article concludes that we are clearly …

Affordable Housing And Civic Participation: Two Sides Of The Same Coin, Goutam U. Jois

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

Responding To Foreclosures In Cuyahoga County: An Assessment Of Progress, Alan C. Weinstein, Kathryn W. Hexter, Molly Schnoke

Law Faculty Reports and Comments

In August 2006, Cleveland State University was asked to conduct an initial assessment of the Cuyahoga County Commissioners' Report and Recommendations on Foreclosure that would assist the county in planning for future phases of the project. This report presents the findings of this initial assessment of the first 18 months of the initiative. It documents the process undertaken by the county, assesses the progress made toward reaching goals, identifies successes and concerns, and offers some preliminary recommendations about program operations. It also offers suggestions for a more formal evaluation process going forward

Freedom Of The City: Canadian Cities And The Quest For Governmental Status, Ron Levi, Mariana Valverde

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Until recently, Canadian cities were limited to the legal powers explicitly prescribed by provinces (the U.S.-based Dillon's Rule). Despite much talk about a "new deal for cities," recent changes to municipal legislation do little to empower municipalities to define and govern local problems, although courts appear somewhat willing to expand the scope of cities' authority. Through two case studies involving the City of Toronto, we demonstrate that even after the overhaul of provincial municipal acts, cities still lack the necessary legal tools and the legal flexibility to respond to pressing urban needs.

The Market For Change: Community Economic Development On A Wider Stage, Peter R. Pitegoff

Faculty Publications

Community economic development (CED) is distinguished by a specific agenda for broader development and accountability - for building local resources, economic capacity and political clout in lower- and moderate-income communities. Organizing and development of low-income communities must take account of microenterprise as the locus of substantial economic activity.

Kelo: One Year Later, Alan C. Weinstein

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

June of 2006 marked the first anniversary of the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Kelo v. City of New London, making this a good time to analyze the past year's flurry of activity and assess what it means for local governments. As of mid-May of 2006, more than forty states were considering legislation in reaction to the Kelo ruling, and fifteen have already enacted such legislation.

Examining The Basis For Change In Clark County Non-Conforming Zone Change Process, Was It Needed?, Maria D. Kaseko

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study reviews Clark County's non-conforming zone change process from 1990 to 2002. A non-conforming zone change, sometimes known as a non-conforming zone boundary amendment is a proposed request that is not within the range of residential densities and/or non-residential intensities indicated on the applicable land use plan map, master plan, or concept plan. This research explores and examines two questions raised by the Clark County's new implementation plan, which was approved in April 2003 to amend the non-conforming zone change process. 1) Clark County assumed there was a public perception that non-conforming zone changes were being approved without regard …

Rluipa: Where Are We Now? Where Are We Heading?, Alan C. Weinstein

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Over the past three years, hardly a week has gone by without at least one news-story announcing that a church, synagogue, or religious school-I'll use the term “church” from here on as a shorthand for all houses of worship or other religious institutions—is claiming that its right to religious freedom is being infringed by local government land use regulations in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. RLUIPA, a federal statute signed into law in September 2000, was enacted to restore to full vigor legal protection for religious freedoms that the Act's proponents argue had been seriously …

All Party Oireachtas Committee On The Constitution Ninth Progress Report, Tom Dunne

Reports

Ireland, like many other countries with high rates of economic growth, is urbanising rapidly. There has been considerable emphasis on planning for this through the National Development Plan, the National Spatial Strategy, development guidelines and other measures. Through these the state intends that a proper planning process will lead growth rather than leaving it to market forces to drive development in what are regarded as undesirable directions. The latter it is feared will lead to unsuitable social, economic or physical outcomes. Unintended results have flowed from the implementation, or flawed implementation of many of these policies and have given rise …

Community Policing In Portland, City Club Of Portland (Portland, Or.)

City Club of Portland

No abstract provided.

Book Review, W Dennis Keating

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Reviewing L. Vale, Reclaiming Public Housing: A Half Century of Struggle in Three Public Neighborhoods, Harvard University Press (2002)

Rhetoric And Realities Of Gentrification: Reply To Powell And Spencer, J. Peter Byrne

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Gentrification represents one of the most encouraging trends in city life since the 1960s. That may be a sad commentary on the fate of American cities or on our urban policies, but it is nevertheless true. The return of affluent people to urban living offers the possibility of reversing declining populations and municipal revenues, permitting enhanced spending on basic services, and increasing employment and educational opportunities. It also brings greater ethnic and economic diversity, which can contribute to a more humane social and cultural life. The great drawback to gentrification is that increased demand for housing increases rents, at least …

Two Cheers For Gentrification, J. Peter Byrne

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The very word "gentrification" implies distaste. Advocates for the poor and ethnic minorities see affluent whites bidding up the prices for urban housing to levels that force poor families out, depriving them of affordable housing, perhaps rendering them homeless, and changing the character of a neighborhood from one that reflects distinct ethnic and class needs and cultural traditions into a bland emporium for expensive consumer goods. Sometimes historic preservation laws are indicted as particular culprits in setting this dynamic in motion. A result of these perceptions is that the legal literature on gentrification, in general, and historic preservation both reflect …

Legal Issues In The Regulation Of On-Premise Signs, Alan C. Weinstein, Mary Morris, Douglas Mace, Mark L. Hinshaw

Law Faculty Contributions to Books

No abstract provided.

Case Commentary - Martin V. Corporation Of The Presiding Bishop: Should Zoning Accommodate Religious Uses Or Vice Versa?, Alan C. Weinstein

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In Martin v. Corporation of the Presiding Bishop, 747 N.E. 2d 131 (Mass. 2001), the highest court in Massachusetts rules that the Dover Amendment, a state statutes that denies local government the authority to "prohibit, regulate, or restrict the use of land or structures for religious purposes..." authorized the town of Belmont to grant a church special permission to build a steeple for a newly built Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints temple that was taller than the local zoning provisions would normally allow. Since Martin involved a Massachusetts statute, normally the decision would evoke limited interest, and …

Conflicts In Regulating Religious Institutions, Alan C. Weinstein

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Over the past 25 years, religious institutions have greatly increased their claims of violation of religious freedom when they are denied zoning approval or subjected to historic preservation regulations. While no one can definitively explain the causes of this increase in First Amendment challenges, it can partially be traced to recent changes in both our society and the way our political/legal system conceptualizes religious freedom.

The Dilemma Of Old, Urban Neighborhoods, W Dennis Keating

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In his recounting of the suburban migration from America's cities, journalist and broadcaster Ray Suarez laments the loss of the "old neighborhood". He extols its virtues while explaining its decline. Suarez's nostalgic examples recall the virtues of the extended family kinship, neighborliness, and other features of the "urban village." These are often associated with those urban neighborhoods populated by recent immigratns. These urban villages were thought to have peaked in the decades between the American Civil War and the onset of the First World War, when many U.S. cities industrialized and grew very rapidly. However, a continuing movement of migrants …

The "Race-Neutral" Option For Local Government Contracting Programs, Alan C. Weinstein

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Despite the dismal record cities have compiled of late in defending their race-conscious contracting programs, this article seeks "to dispel the notion that strict scrutiny is 'strict in theory but fatal in fact.'" If a local government follows the course outlined above, and combines the ability to monitor and analyze all relevant contracting data with the enactment and implementation of a multi-faceted race-neutral program, it has laid a sound foundation for the subsequent enactment of race-conscious remedies that are narrowly-tailored to address statistically valid disparities in utilization of specific categories of MBEs that remain after the race-neutral program has been …

Zoning Ordinances And "Free Speech", Alan C. Weinstein

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Over the past two decades there has been a marked expansion in legal challenges to local land use regulations claiming violations of the free speech clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. First Amendment claims can arise whenever government enacts or enforces zoning or other regulations that deal with uses such as billboards or adult entertainment businesses. This article discusses why this litigation is taking place, provides an overview of First Amendment law, and offers local officials some guidelines to help avoid potential legal challenges.

Zoning Restrictions On Location Of Adult Businesses, Alan C. Weinstein

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This year's report concentrates on recent legal developments concerning regulation of the location of "adult entertainment businesses." Such regulations raise serious constitutional issues because the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of expression extends to non-obscene sexually oriented media. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, has established that local government may single out adult businesses for special regulatory treatment in the form of locational restrictions if the local government can show a substantial public interest in regulating such businesses unrelated to the suppression of speech and if the regulations allow for "reasonable alternative avenues of communication," which essentially translates into a reasonable …

Urban And Environmental Planning In Nepal, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

This collection of essays deals with issues related to housing, and urban and environmental planning in Nepal. Specific focus is on the planning and environmental problems related to the towns of the Kathmandu Valley.

Nepal is facing several challenges in the areas of urban and environmental management and planning . Rapidly increasing population is exerting pressure in all aspects of urban infrastructure, services and housing. Traditional community support and planning systems are breaking apart due to several factors, such as changing societal values, urban consumption patterns and commercialization of traditionally household activities. On the other hand, Nepali society is not …

Managing The Central Artery/Tunnel Project: An Exploration Of Potential Cost Savings, Allan K. Sloan

McCormack Graduate School General Publications (active until 2013)

The John W. McCormack Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Massachusetts Boston is an institution whose primary mission is public service. Through public policy research, educational programs, policy practice and the dissemination ofknowledge, the Institute seeks to have a constructive impact on policy formulation, problem solving and public discourse concerning urgent civic challenges facing state and local government in the New England region.

In 1996, under Chapter 205 of the 1996 Acts and Resolves, the Massachusetts legislature authorized the Institute to undertake a study *to review and explore possible cost savings within the Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel project" …

The Challenge Of Providing Adequate Housing For The Elderly . . . Along With Everyone, Alan C. Weinstein

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Our patterns of land use and development have failed to accommodate the changed housing needs of an aging population. Primary among these needs is the desire of the elderly to be able to "age in place." To meet this need, America's suburban communities in particular will need to re-think their reliance on exclusive single-family zoning and begin planning and zoning for an increasingly large number of the elderly. Despite understandable concerns about maintaining housing values, this may well prove to be politically achievable simply because the very demographic changes that create the need will create a growing constituency in favor …

The Parma Housing Racial Discrimination Remedy Revisited, W Dennis Keating

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In 1980, the city of Parma, Ohio, Cleveland's largest suburban city was found guilty of violating the Fair Housing Act. Federal District Court Judge Frank Battisti imposed an extensive remedy upon Parma. Upon approval by the Sixth Circuit of the imposed remedy, its implementation began in 1982. Controversy surrounded much of the remedy, and fourteen years later following Battisti's death, Federal District Court judge Kathleen O'Malley approved a new settlment aimed at ending the court's supervision of the modified remedy after another two years. Along with the Gautreaux, Mt. Laurel, and Yonkers cases, the Parma case represents a longstanding remedy …

Land Use And The First Amendment, Alan C. Weinstein

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The past year saw no cessation in cases reporting on the conflicts that arise when local land-use regulation is applied to uses claiming protection under the First Amendment. This report highlights the major developments in this area.

Shelter Poverty: Housing Affordability Among Asian Americans, Michael E. Stone

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

Relatively little research has been conducted that focuses on the housing situation of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (hereafter generally referred to as Asian Americans), especially on the national level. From a review of about 30 articles and reports over the past decade that examine racial/ethnic housing situations nationally, only one specifically addressed housing problems of Asian Americans (Hansen, 1986) while two others included Asian Americans along with other populations of color. Of the remaining articles, most used the terms race, racial discrimination, or segregation in their titles, yet did not include Asian Americans in the studies. Of particular note, …

Revisiting The National Flood Insurance Program, Alan C. Weinstein

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article discusses the hazards proposed by floods, the options for their control, the operation of the National Flood Insurance Program, and the changes made by the 1994 amendments.

Report Of The Committee On Land Use, Planning And Zoning Law - Report Of The Subcommittee On Land Use And The First Amendment, Alan C. Weinstein

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The past year saw no cessation in cases reporting on the conflicts that arise when local land use regulation is applied to uses claiming protection under the First Amendment. This report highlights the two major developments in this area - the courts' the treatment of claims brought under the Religious Freedoms Restoration Act of 1993 and the latest decision of the U.S. Supreme Court concerning sign regulation, City of Ladue v. Gilleo, and discusses other cases involving regulation of religious institutions, adult businesses and signs.

Book Review Essay, Urban Politics, The City Liberal, Progressive, And Conservative, W Dennis Keating

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Reviewing Stella M. Capek and John I. Gilderboom, Community Versus Commodity: Tenants and the American City; Richard Edward DeLeon, Left Coast City: Progressive Politics in San Franscisco; Chis McNickle, To be Mayor of New York: Ethnic Politics in the City; John Hull Mollenkopf, A Phoenix in the Ashes: The Rise and Fall of the Koch Coalition in New York City Politics.