Group items tagged

Immergluck, Dan. "Neighborhood in the Wake of the Debacle: Intrametropolitan Patterns of Foreclosed Properties." Urban Affairs Review 46,1 (2010): 3-36. A key aspect of the U.S. subprime crisis was the accumulation of vacant, foreclosed properties in many neighborhoods and localities. This article describes zip-code-level patterns of foreclosed homes, or what are typically called "real estate owned" (REO) properties, at the peak of the subprime crisis in late 2008 and estimates a model of REO accumulation from 2006 to 2008. Three key findings emerge. First, during the peak of the subprime foreclosure crisis in late 2008, large central cities, on average, experienced higher levels of REO per mortgageable property than suburban areas. This contradicts some suggestions that the crisis was primarily centered in suburban or exurban communities. Second, the suburbanization of REO varied across two key types of metropolitan areas, with boom-bust regions experiencing more suburbanization than weak- or mixed-market metros. Finally, determinants of zip-code-level REO accumulation included high-risk lending activity and the age of housing stock. After controlling for these and other variables, neither the central city versus suburban location of a zip code nor the proportion of residents commuting over 30 minutes was significantly associated with REO growth. The intrametropolitan location of a zip code appears to have been a less important factor in REO growth than the fact that a large amount of development in newer communities was financed during the subprime boom.

Keating, W. Dennis and Thomas Bier (2008). "Greater Cleveland's First Suburbs Consortium: Fighting Sprawl and Suburban Decline." Housing Policy Debate. 19(3), 457-477. Abstract: "This article addresses the problems of older suburbs bordering central cities; these suburbs are now experiencing many of the same symptoms of decline as the central cities themselves. We analyze this issue by recounting the experience of the inner (or first) suburbs of Cleveland and the First Suburbs Consortium (FSC), which was formed in 1997 to counteract sprawl in the metropolitan region. We analyze the impact of FSC both on its suburban members and also on state policies affecting older suburbs. FSC can point to several programs that it has developed to improve housing and commercial development among its 16 members. It also has joined with other similar Ohio suburbs to advocate and to lobby for changes in state policies (so far unsuccessfully) to provide more assistance to older suburbs. Nevertheless, FSC has been recognized as a national role model."

Wiechmann, Thorsten (2008). Errors Expected - Aligning Urban Strategy with Demographic Uncertainty in Shrinking Cities. International Planning Studies, 13(4), 431-446. Abstract: "At the beginning of the 21st century, the majority of Europe's cities experienced a population decrease. Dealing with the results of demographic, economic and physical contraction processes and planning for the future of considerably smaller but nevertheless livable cities presents some of the most challenging tasks for urban Europe in the near future. This article highlights the example of Dresden in Eastern Germany, where the breakdown of the state-directed economy caused economic decline, industrial regression, and high unemployment rates. Due to out migration and decreasing birth rates, the city lost 60,000 of its 500,000 residents within one decade. As a consequence, there were housing and office vacancies as well as infrastructure oversupplies. Yet the administrative system was still directed towards growth objectives throughout the 1990s. Only after 2000 this situation changed dramatically. The new strategic plan for Dresden is no longer growth oriented. Instead, it focuses on a model of the compact 'European city', with an attractive urban centre, reduced land consumption, and a stable population. However, in another unexpected turn of events, within the last seven years the city has experienced an unexpected growth of 25,000 residents. Surprisingly, processes of suburbanization have turned into processes of reurbanization. Today in Dresden, areas of shrinkage and decline are in close proximity to prospering and wealthy communities. The strategic challenge is to deal with this patchwork while accepting that the future remains unpredictable. Hence, strategic flexibility becomes more important than the strategy itself. To a certain extent rational analysis and error prevention is displaced by preparedness, robustness, and resilience as key qualifications of planning in shrinking c

Hanlon, Bernadette (2008). "The Decline of Older, Inner Suburbs in Metropolitan America. Housing Policy Debate." 19(3), 423-456. Abstract: "This article develops an index of suburban decline for 3,428 U.S. suburbs. The results of this index were used to measure the prevalence and extent of decline for older, inner suburbs and newer suburbs across the nation and in different regions from 1980 to 2000. The general pattern is one of decline in selected older, inner suburbs, especially those with housing built between 1950 and 1969 and those with increasing minority populations. Regional analysis reveals that the South and the Midwest had the highest proportion of older, inner suburbs in crisis. Suburbs with housing built before 1939 emerged as areas of continuing affluence."

Coulton, Claudia, Kristen Mikelbank, and Michael Schramm. "Foreclosure and Beyond: A Report on Ownership and Housing Value Following Sheriff's Sales, Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, 2000-07." Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, 2008. "This study focuses on the cumulative effects of increasing foreclosure rates in Cleveland neighborhoods and suburban municipalities of Cuyahoga County and attempts to answer a number of questions: What entities take ownership of these foreclosed properties and for how long do they hold them? Who purchases these homes next, and how do the sales prices compare to the value of the homes prior to the time they entered the foreclosure process? And have these patterns changed as the number of properties being auctioned at sheriff's sale has skyrocketed?"