NIMBY wrap-up for the week of Tuesday, August 20th

Cheers to the New Yorker for this wonderful piece of data visualization about income inequality and New York City's subway.

This story about an upper west side development with a "poor door"--a separate door for the 55 tenants who make 60% or less of area median income--has certainly been making the rounds this week, and even solicited comments from Christine Quinn, who, in a letter to state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and state Senate Majority Leaders Dean Skelos and Jeffrey Klein, said that the building's plan “negates the inclusiveness the program seeks to create." The silver lining here is that this egregious exclusionary practice sparked Councilman Robert Jackson to propose legislation that would require that developers who get any form of city affordable-housing subsidy would be required to provide the same services — including entrances, amenities and utilities — for all tenants.

We will admit that we had never heard of the NUISANCE PROPERTY ORDINANCE until the NYTimes wrote this horrific piece about it on Friday. This is definitely worth a read.

Also from the NYTimes, here's a fascinating piece about the trials of being Hasidic in a modern metropolis. In our forthcoming book we take up this issue in essays about the ERUV, the SUKKAH BALCONY, and the AUTOMATIC ELEVATOR--all tactics that enable Hasids to stay true to their Orthodox beliefs (for example, not operating machinery or carrying things across property lines on the Sabbath)--but this article suggests more tactics, from the more or less benign (the use of well water to make matzos) to the egregious (gender-segregated buses).

NIMBY wrap-up for the week of Tuesday, August 13th

Here's the NIMBY wrap-up for the week of Tuesday, August 13th.

First off, RIP STOP AND FRISK! Here is the NYTimes on Judge Scheindlin's 195-page decision, here is a good op-ed, also fron the NYTimes, and here is a good NYTimes editorial. 

Secondly, Interboro is one of ten teams recently selected by HUD and the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force to participate in an initiative called "Rebuild by Design." As part of our research, we have been doing a lot of research about beach access in New Jersey. Access to New Jersey's beaches is protected by the PUBLIC TRUST DOCTRINE, but this doesn't stop towns from trying their hardest to restrict access, by restricting parking, not building paths, posting phony signs, and even disguising access points as front yards. Superstorm Sandy actually offers an opportunity to better enforce the doctrine: After Superstorm Sandy, State Senators Steve Sweeney and Mike Doherty proposed legislation that would force municipalities that accept state or federal aid to rebuild storm-damaged beaches to provide beach access and beach restroom facilities to the public free of charge. Anyway, in spending a few days researching, we came across some good links:

-On the elusiveness of access

-On an interesting plan for complying with the accessibility mandate

-A message from NJDEP on post-Sandy accessibility

-We had never heard of "Beachapedia" but we're happy to know about it now! Here's a handy summary of accessibility rules.

-C.R.A.B. is a good beach-access advocacy group. Check out their "Beachwheels!"


Here's an article in Huffington Post about "No Muslim Parking" Signs posted in a shopping center in Texas.

Here's another random story about a family that is trying to make their neighbors remove a handicapped ramp from in front of their home because they claim it lowers their home's property value. 

NIMBY wrap-up for the week of Tuesday, August 6th

Here's the NIMBY wrap-up for the week of Tuesday, August 6th.

From the NYTimes, here's an interesting and mostly inspiring article about Richmond, VA's use of EMINENT DOMAIN to stop foreclosures and keep people in their homes. This is one of many "hacks" that appear in our forthcoming book (hacks describe weapons that are designed for one purpose but used for another). We will definitely be watching this story.

From the "land use squabbles of the wealthy" archive, here's a funny article about "shock rocker" Rob Zombie's beef with a neighborhood skate park.

From Urban Oasis, here is a downloadable, pdf copy of the 1936 FHA Underwriting Manual. We had actually been scouring the interwebs for this for a while. Thanks Urban Oasis!

A few weeks ago, we posted an excellent piece by Robert Reich on Detroit. It's excellent because it pinpoints something that has been missing in the debate about Detroit's bankruptcy, but that is absolutely central to it, namely, the fact that as a metropolitan area, Detroit is actually doing OK. From the NYTimes Sunday Dialogue, here's a back and forth about how suburbs can help cities that echoes some of Reich's points.

From Gothamist, here's a good defense of RENT STABILIZATION.

Finally, here's a really inspiring story about Portland's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, which began an initiative to identify neighborhoods on the verge of, or in the process of, gentrifying.

Arsenal on WYPR Baltimore's "Lines Between Us"

Last week, Dan had the honor of being a guest on WYPR Baltimore's amazing "Lines Between Us" program. Dan led Host Sheilah Kast and Senior Producer Lawrence Lanahan on a tour of some exclusionary and inclusionary spots around Baltimore's Penn Station.  

Archives of HOLC Residential Security Maps

Here's a veritable goldmine: an archive of 35 scanned RESIDENTIAL SECURITY MAPS, courtesy of Urban Oasis. Check out Flint's map, which reverses a familiar pattern by having blue in the center and lots of red at the periphery. Oakland's is also interesting for the stark north / south divide. But really, we're just getting started analyzing these.  

Here is another archive of 14 maps from 14 cities in Ohio, courtesy of the Ohio State University Library. 

NIMBY wrap-up for the week of Tuesday, July 30th

Here's the NIMBY wrap-up for the week of Tuesday, July 30th.

The big news this week: HUD issues a proposed rule (FR–5173–P–01) on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. Here is the proposed rule, and here is a good summary in Atlantic Cities. The new rule 1) refines what "affirmatively further fair housing" really means, and 2) outlines how HUD will help grantees affirmatively further fair housing by publishing extensive local data on patterns of integration and segregation. As Shaun Donovan put it in a speech to the NAACP earlier this month: "Make no mistake: this is a big deal."

From the AP: The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch can't enforce a law that bans immigrants in the United States without legal permission from renting apartments. The ordinance is one of many LOCAL IMMIGRATION ORDINANCES we discuss in our forthcoming book.

Here's a poignant piece from Bloomberg's James S. Russell about the fortress-ification of downtown Manhattan.

There have been so many excellent pieces about Trayvon Martin that it's hard to know what to post. Here is an important perspective from an educator on "Race, Space, and Trayvon Martin," from the Society of Architectural Historians.

Stuck in Place by Patrick Sharkey is very high up on our reading list. Here is a good interview Sharkey did with Richard Florida in Atlantic Cities.

From Bettery: some good, creative thinking about how to make cities less lonely for the elderly, a topic that figures fairly prominently in our forthcoming book.

On a lighter note, there's an interesting debate raging in lower Manhattan about ferry horns that pits kayakers against residents of battery Park City. Be sure to check out the comments.

Tuesday morning NIMBY wrap-up

Here's the Tuesday morning NIMBY wrap-up:

From Salon, Here's a fascinating story about a couple who tried to build affordable housing in fancy-pants Darien, CT. Lisa Prevost's book Snob Zones: Fear, Prejudice, and Real Estate is currently very high up on our reading list!

From the NY Times, here's an excellent piece whose headline could be a great subtitle for this blog:
"In Climbing Income Ladder, Location Matters."

From the Huffington Post, here's a piece about Detroit by Robert Reich that hits the nail on the head.

And from Atlantic Cities, here's a timely story on a TEEN CURFEW in Greensboro, NC. We discovered this while doing some research for our own essay about TEEN CURFEWS, which will appear in our forthcoming book.

Happy reading!

Detroit and 47 Suburbs

Robert Reich nails it on Detroit: "In other words, much in modern America depends on where you draw boundaries, and who's inside and who's outside. Who is included in the social contract? If 'Detroit' is defined as the larger metropolitan area that includes its suburbs, 'Detroit' has enough money to provide all its residents with adequate if not good public services, without falling into bankruptcy."

In other words, Detroit is surrounded by 47 suburbs, as this old street guide we found in an Ann Arbor bookstore reminds us:

LOITERING ORDINANCE

What is loitering, anyway?

Woe is the poor bureaucrat whose job it is to write this chapter of the municipal code. Not quite all loitering definitions are as comically tautological as New York's ("A person is guilty of loitering when he: loiters"), but almost all of definitions evidence a considerable amount of struggle and provoke a very basic question: how can such vague language be enforceable? (To say nothing of the murky First Amendment issues in play here.) 

Here is a sampling of some of our favorite loitering definitions, taken from ordinances around the country:

-"'loiter' means to delay or linger without a lawful purpose for being on the property and for the purpose of committing a crime as opportunity may be discovered."

--California Laws, Penal Code

http://law.onecle.com/california/penal/647.html

" a person commits the defense of loitering or prowling when he is in a place at a time or in a manner not usual for law-abiding individuals under circumstances that warrant a justifiable and reasonable or immediate concern for the safety of persons or property in the vicinity."

--Legal definition of loitering in Georgia

http://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-16/chapter-11/article-2/16-11-36/

"Loitering--remaining idle in essentially one location, and includes the concept of spending time idly, to be dilatory, to linger, to stay, to saunter, to delay, to stand around and shall also include the colloquial expression "hanging around."

--Township committee of the Township of Barnegat, Ocean County, New Jersey

http://www.barnegat.net/GeneralCodes/Loitering.pdf

"If a person is said to be loitering, it means that he/she is standing around idly, delaying, wandering around, remaining, or tarrying in a public place."

--Colorado state's definition of loitering  

http://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts/Education/Youth/Laws.cfm

“Loiter: to idle, stand, remain, tarry or collect, gather or be a member of a group or crowd of people who are gathered together on any commercial or public premises (a) without conducting any lawful business or communication with the owner or operator thereof or (b) having completed such business or commencement, to remain on such premises an unreasonable length of time where prohibited by signs or after having been directed to leave by such owner, operator or authorized agent or a police officer."

--City of District Heights, Maryland's definition of loitering

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze2zdg7/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/dhordinance07-02.pdf

"Loitering defined...F. Returns, for no apparent lawful business or purpose, to the same public or private property from which the person was asked to leave within the previous 24 hours."

--City of Glenarden, Maryland's definition of loitering

http://ecode360.com/11473692

"Loiter- To sit, stand, loaf, lounge, wander or stroll in an aimless manner or to stop, pause or remain in an area for no obvious reason."

--Village of Albany's definition of loitering

http://www.albanywi.org/uploads/images/chapter_173.pdf