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Community Redevelopment in Los Angeles: Institutional Performance & the Reasons for Success & Failure
Term Paper ID:27427
Essay Subject:
Examines the demographic characteristics of the city of Los Angeles & uses this a foundation for evaluating the performance of redevelopment activities.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Examines the demographic characteristics of the city of Los Angeles & uses this a foundation for evaluating the performance of redevelopment activities.
Paper Introduction:
Community Redevelopment in Los Angeles:
Institutional Performance and the Reasons for Success and Failure
Background of the Problem
Any analysis of redevelopment in the city of Los Angeles must be sensitive not only to institutional performance of the Community Redevelopment Agency but also to the broader social context in which that agency operates. Robert Putnam (1993), in his most recent work, has argued persuasively that when evaluating a particular institutions performance, it is important to view its functioning as a dependent as well as an independent variable. Thus this study will conjecture that the practical performance of
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W., & Vaiana, M. Income rose 22% for those near the top in L.A. Did the CRA redevelopment projects react comprehensively,coherently, and creatively to the issues at hand? Secondly, the 17 CRA project scores could then be used asdependent variables in order to explore how the success or failure of theseprojects might have been influenced by the social context within which eachof these projects has evolved. During the more affluent times in the city the CRA dominated thedirection of redevelopment, concentrating on rebuilding the centralbusiness district. (198 ). Prentice Hall.Steinber, J. In South Central L.A. Los Angeles Times.----------------------- 12 Among the Anglo population there has been ancontinuing movement from more urban neighborhoods into the suburbs. In June of 1989 only 11 percent of registervoters bothered to vote in a mayoral election (City in Crisis, 1992).Statement of the Problem This social and economic environment has lead, especially since theApril 1992 civil unrest, to increasingly urgent demands for therevedevelopment of the city. 127-135.Putnam, R. The Afro-American population of South Los Angeles actually decreased by 2 % duringthe decade, while the Afro-American population in the rest of the cityincreased slightly (City in Crisis, 1992). City-wide 18.5% live below the poverty level, with a quarter ofhousehold having incomes below 15, and 14% with incomes above $75, .The poverty rates for families with children under 18 is 38% in SouthCentral L.A. Times, December 9,1992).And a national panel of urban experts has suggested that the CRA becomepart of a city super-agency dealing with economic development citywide.Such a new agency would supposedly streamline the permit process, andcreate a long-range economic development strategy for the city. Community Redevelopment in Los Angeles: Institutional Performance and the Reasons for Success and FailureBackground of the Problem Any analysis of redevelopment in the city of Los Angeles must besensitive not only to institutional performance of the CommunityRedevelopment Agency but also to the broader social context in which thatagency operates. (1992, January 22). & Rabinovitz, R. Thus this study will conjecture that the practicalperformance of the CRA is partially shaped by the social context withinwhich it operates This social context in Los Angeles, in both its soci-economic andsociocultural dimensions, has undergone dramatic change in the last tenyears. Urban Policy- Making and Subjective Service Evaluations: Are They Comparable. (1993). (1992). comparing movement into and movement out of each project area byAsian-Americans, African-Americans, Hispanic and Anglo populations. E. A Report by the Special Advisor to the Board of Police Commissioners on the Civil Disorder in Los Angeles, pp. Policy implementation would look at the degree to which each of the17 redevelopment projects were successful in using the available resourcesto create specific outputs: jobs, housing, community servics, andindustrial, commmercial and residential structures. In 199 4 % of the population of the city of Los Angeles was Hispanicup from 28% in 198 . A special state Senate Committe has called for the replacement of theCRA with a statewide Economic Development Financing Authority to issuebonds and facilitate development activities in the city's impoverishedcommunities (L.A. Indicatorsof demographic instability will be 198 and 199 census data for the cityof L.A. Break Up the CRA to Best Rebuild L.A. Rebuilding L.A: Trickle-Down vs. (1992, November 14). In 1965, schools in the Los Angeles School District were 7 % Anglo;today enrollement is approximately 64 percent Hispanic, 15 percent African-American, 13 percent Anglo, and eight percent Asian-American and PacificIslander. In Putnam's study on Italy he discovered that civiccommunity was a better predictor of economic growth, than economics itself. Comparative Ubran Policies: A Performance Approach. Indicies of newspaper readership and electoral turnoutcould also be used. (1983, March). (1992, December 2 ). Historically education has played an important role in supportingthe foundations of community. ReferencesBoyarsky, B. 2 , 1992). L.A. However, some residents and local politicians have suggested that theCRA be broken down into three or four smaller entities including a separateredevelopment agency for South Central L.A. poverty rates are higher for both single andtwo-parent families,reaching 51% for female-headed black famililes and 64%for female-headed Hispanic families. If it would, in fact, bediscovered that the cultural antecedents of economic development areprimary, then redevelopment planning through an institution such as theCRA, and in its broader context in Los Angeles, may have to be totallyrethought. and the poverty rates for Hispanics (24%) and Blacks (26%) inLos Angeles is twice as high as for whites (12% and Asians (13%), (Rand,1992). We will be looking at socieconomic factorsas well as socicultural factors in each of the 17 redevlopment projects. (City in Crisis, 1992). Agency on Economic Issues Urged. Of primary importance will beeconomic affluence. In thatyear 74% of poor household were spending more than half their income onrent. Wealth eases burdensboth public and private and facilitates social accomodation. Brudney, J. In the Los Angeles School district recent immigrant children(those in the U.S. Social stability will be a second independent variable. Times,December 2 ,1992). Los Angeles Times.Corwin, M. The final portion of this section of the analysis would then comparethis "objective" measure of CRA project performance with the view ofleaders and citizens within the respective project communities. (L.A. Political sociologists have long argued that theprospects for a stable democratic and institutions depends on social andeconomic modernization (Freid and Rabinovitz, 198 ). C, Fried, R. Indicators will includewhether the redevelopment plan covered a broad or narrow range of needs,whether it was internally consistent and whether it identified new needs(Putnam, 1993). Los Angeles Times.Fulton, W. TimesNov. The correlations conducted in this portion of the inquiry will helpto answer the question of the degree to which the performance of the CRAin the 17 areas is dependent on the nature of the social, economic andcultural enviornment which surrounds each project. Urban America: Policy Choices for Los Angeles and the Nation. A smaller agenecy wouldsupposedly be able to work more closely with residents and busineses in away that would respond directly to grass-roots needs (Los Angeles Times,Dec. L. An indicator could be the fraction of thepopulation in the project area that had more than a high school education. E. According to a recent Rand study (1992) the income and wageinequality gap in the city of Los Angeles has grown wider than the nationalaverage. Unfortunately the Community RedevelopmentAgency of Los Angeles has a 3 year record of controversy which has left itwith little credibility among many of its citizens. & Pavoniello,F. It functioned as a small government, having the rightto condemn buidings, relocate tenants, buy and resell land, plan shoppingcenters and other construction, install streets and sidewalks, create jobsand raise money by issuing bonds. Thus the future of economic development in Los Angelescannot only be summarized with the the phrase "which way L.A." but alsowith the phrase " "which way CRA." This latter question is the issue whichthis analysis hopes to resolve.Purpose of the Study The inquiry which follows will first attempt to create an "objective"measurement of the instututional performance of the CRA by simultaneouslycomparing 17 CRA projects spread across the city on multiple dimensions(Eckstein, 1971, Putnam, 1993). 1-43.Weinstein, H. In other words it assumes that context matters a great deal forthe way an institution performs (Putnam, 1993). Explaining Institutional Success: The Case of Italian Regional Governments. Communityleaders (possibly 15 for each project) might include businessmen, unionleaders, bankers,journalists, and developers. Such indicators will include staff stability, budgetpromptness, and knowledge of the project area. Thedecrease in the Afro-American population during the 198 's suggests that asimilar pattern is occurring among middle-class blacks who are leaving theinner City in search of more hospitable living environments. The number of units renting for under $5 per month (in1985 dollars) fell from 35% of the market in 1974 to 16% by 1985. The voting population of the city has become increasingly white,older, more affluent and educated, while the City's population was movingin the opposite direction. Agency to Aid Poor Communities Proposed. (1992, October 21). And immigrants account for more than 6 %of metropolitan Los Angeles's growth of three million over the lastdecade. Indicators of civic engagement might be the number of civicassociations in the area, i.e., clubs, sports organizations, politicalgroups and lodges. (eds.). Robert Putnam (1993), in his most recent work, has arguedpersuasively that when evaluating a particular institutions performance, itis important to view its functioning as a dependent as well as anindependent variable. This willbe defined as the pattern of civic involvement and social solidarity ineach CRA project area. RandThe city in crisis. It will assume that the practical performance of a CRAredevelopment project is shaped by the social context within which itoperates. Indicatorsfor each project area might be such things as per capita income, meanhousehold income, unemployment rate, automobile ownership and % of projectarea below poverty level. A third variable will be civic community (Putnam, 1993). B., Lyon, D. Times, January 22, 1993) Consequently since April of 1992 the future direction, structure andeven existence of the CRA has been called into question. Since the civlunrest the CRA itself has adopted the rehtoric of empowerment seeing itselfas one of an array of resources at the communities disposal. Trickle- Up. Policy pronouncements would attempt to evaluate if the CRA projectswere able to identify social needs and innovative solutions in the projectareas. Policy processes refers to how the CRAprojects in each of the areas managed their essential internal affairs.Indicators would seek to discover how the institution is conducting itsinternal operations. Radical demographic shifts, trends toward greater income andwage inequality and declining political participation have increasinglybuffeted the city. He argued in particular that civic traditions may have a powerfulconsequence for institutional performance. Educational level within the project area might be a fourthindependent variable which could explain the performance of the CRAproject. (Rand, 1992) Finally, throughout the 198 's the number of voters droppeddramatically in many sections of the city. A number of socieconomicand socicultural factors will be examined. A sample of ordinarycitizens from each project area might also be interviewed to gauge citizensatisfaction and create an index of citizen satisfaction to correlate withthe CRA project performance index.Explaining CRA Project Performances This portion of the inquiry would attempt to discover what it is thatdifferentiates the successful projects from the unsuccessful projects.Insights for this portion of the analysis are again taken from Putnam(1993). One of the most powerful indicators of institutionalperformance is wealth. Real income fell 17 percent between 1973 and 199 for a family offour near the bottom of the income distribution compared, with a 9% dropnationally. D. This "objective " CRA performance index canthen be compared to views of community leaders and residents in each of the17 project areas to see the degree of correspondence between theperformance index and constituency evaluation (Brudney and England, 1982). But, according to critics, many of thesethings were done at the expense of needy neighborhoods to the north, south,east and west of City Hall (L.A. Since the 198 census there has been a significant decline in thenon-Hispanic white population in the city, a lesser decline in the Afro-American population and a dramatic increase in the Hispanic and Asian-American populations. Creating such a measureof CRA project performance would make it possible to see how stable andreliable the assessement is over time and if certain project areas move upor down in the standings based on the evolution of the project (Putnam,1993). Combined with such poverty has been the dramatic decline in low-income housing. R. Those moving in were primarilyHispanic immigrants and those moving out were middle-class Anglo andAfrican Americans, who were more likely to participate in the politicalprocess. for three years or less) make up 1 percent of totalenrollement and, under current trends, will increase by 1 % a year (Rand,1992). 45% of South Central Los Angles is now Hispanic. (1992, December 9). (L.A. Inthe most damaged areas of the civil unrest of April 1992 (which includesKoreantown and Westlake/Pico Union as well as South-Central), thepopulation is now 49% Hispanic. American Political Science Review, pp.56-67.R. Rapiddemographic change increases social strain, dissolves social solidarity anddisrupts existing norms and organizations ( Putnam et al,1983). 14, 1992). The nature of this inquiry will require survey techniques as well asmultiple regression and factor analysis.Measuring CRA Institutional Performance For each of the 17 (CRA) projects in Los Angeles we will seek toevaluate (1) policy process; (2) policy pronouncements; and (3) policyimplementation (Putnam, 1993). The high rate of poverty among female-headed black families has an especially large effect since, in Los AngelesCounty,the percentage of black female-headed household (48%) is three timesthe rate for whites (16%) and more than double the rate for Hispanices(19%) (Rand, 1992). Public Administration Review, 42, pp. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Putnam, R.D., Leonardi, R., Nanette, R. C. (1982, March-April). Los Angeles Times.J.L. & England, R. compared with12% nationally.For wages, the trend was similar to the national pattern with sharp dropsin real wages for male workers both at the bottom and in the middle wagedistribution.
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