Neighborhood Upgrading

A Realistic Assessment

By David P. Varady

Subjects: Urban And Regional Planning
Series: SUNY series in Urban Public Policy
Paperback : 9780887063008, 184 pages, October 1986
Hardcover : 9780887062995, 184 pages, October 1986

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Table of contents

Figures

Tables

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Neighborhood Upgrading: A Literature Review

2. Urban Homesteading

3. Urban Homesteading and Socioeconomic Stabilization

4. Wynnefield: A Racially Changing UHD Community

5. Neighborhood Confidence

6. Residential Mobility

7. Housing Repairs

8. How Do the Elderly Fare in Homesteading Neighborhoods?

9. The Prospects for Neighborhood Upgrading

Appendix Table 1. Variables included in regression analysis

Appendix Table 2. Comaprison of means for regression samples, samples remaing between 1977 and 1979 and the totla sample

Appendix Table 3. Comparison of means for three regression samples (confidence, mobility, repairs)

Notes

References

Index

Description

Neighborhood Upgrading examines the effectiveness of government-subsidized housing rehabilitation programs in reversing patterns of neighborhood decline. Varady takes a realistic look at the dilemma facing policy planners attempting to effect changes on a local level. His is the first study to assess the impact of neighborhood ethnic and social class changes on mobility and investment decisions.

There has been little empirical research on neighborhood upgrading where improvement results from the efforts of existing residents aides by government assistance. Varady' study makes a major contribution in illuminating the variables of this process. Focusing on the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Urban Homesteading Demonstration (UHD), he presents disturbing findings that are applicable to other neighborhood preservation programs such as the Neighborhood Housing Service (NHS) and the Community Development Block Grant Program. He argues that the future success of such programs lies in the ability of planners and policy makers to develop and implement policies addressing the issues that cause neighborhood decline—poverty, crime, and discrimination.

David P. Varady is an Associate Professor in the School of Planning at the University of Cincinnati.