Heather MacDonald

WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT AND COMMUTING: EXPLAINING THE LINKS

This article reviews recent research on the link between women’s commuting and labor force participation and identifies five key themes in the literature. Women’s shorter work trips have been explained in terms of women’s low wages, the need to coordinate dual roles as mothers and wage earners, and as a reflection of a more even distribution of jobs that traditionally hire women. Short work trips may also reflect spatial entrapment in highly localized labor markets. Finally, shorter work trips may reflect a spatial mismatch between low-income and minority women’s residential locations and entry-level jobs; thus, employment may entail much longer commutes for inner-city residents. This article evaluates research within each theme, identifies future research needs, and explores the implications for current policy debates over welfare reform.

The American Community Survey: Warmer (More Current), but Fuzzier (Less Precise) than the Decennial Census

Abstract The American Community Survey, which will replace data many planners rely on from the decennial Census long form, is finally in progress. The first nationwide data for places of 65,000 or more was released in the summer of 2006. It has several interesting implications for planning. On the one hand, more current data will eliminate many of the inaccuracies introduced by projection-based updates of stale census data. On the other, smaller sample sizes will mean we will have less precise estimates. Because the ACS will use averaged rather than point-in-time data, it will measure slightly different things than the decennial census. Finally, planners should be alert to the opportunities they will have to improve local data quality by improving the address file from which the sample is drawn.

Neighbourhood Valuation Effects from New Construction of Low-income Housing Tax Credit Projects in Iowa: A Natural Experiment

This paper estimates the valuation effects from new construction of low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) projects on neighbouring single-family homes in Polk County, Iowa. The evaluative models estimate the impact from LIHTC project locations on assessed values using a 1999—2007 panel of neighbours and their matches, while controlling for unobserved heterogeneity. The results suggest that the siting of new low-rise, concentrated low-income LIHTC projects is associated with a 2—4 per cent slower rate of nearby single-family home valuation and that these effects persisted for five or more years after project approval. On the other hand, no clear valuation effect is detected when the LIHTC project is high quality and targeted to mixed-income groups. It is also found that new construction LIHTC projects serving the elderly, including assisted living, are associated with a 2—4 per cent faster rate of growth in neighbouring single-family home values, although the acceleration appears to be short lived. It is concluded that concentrating low-income renters in subsidised housing projects has negative consequences for neighbouring property values that might be avoided with tenant income mixing and improved site planning and design.

The rise of mortgage-backed securities: struggles to reshape access to credit in the USA

One of the most important outcomes of federal reregulation of the financial services sector since 1989 has been the completion of the shift from locally organized flows of credit to the housing sector, to a national mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market. In this paper the way in which the rise of MBSs has reshaped access to credit across social and spatial divisions is examined, and the implications of battles to shape the MBS market and of the practices of the two principal agencies in that market for the geography of financial exclusion are explored. Although the reregulation of the government-sponsored secondary markets promises to help break down entrenched patterns of financial exclusion, the government-sponsored enterprises are placed in the complex position of mediating social demands for more inclusionary credit practices and investor demands for continued high returns and low risks. It is unclear whether reform efforts will be sustained in the new political and economic environment of the mid-1990s.

The Politics of Mortgage Finance: Implementing FIRREA's Reforms

Three reforms intended to expand access to credit in underserved communities were included in the savings and loan bailout bill of 1989 (FIRREA): the Community Reinvestment Act was strengthened, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting requirements were expanded, and the Federal Home Loan Banks were required to establish a subsidy program for affordable housing. This paper examines three political battles fought over the implementation of these reforms: the efforts of finance industry interests to pressure for legislative and regulatory rehef, which stimulated opposition from consumer advocates; the response of the regulatory agencies to their new mandate; and the extent to which FIRREAs priority goal—restoring safety and soundness—contributed to the credit crunch in the multifamily housing sector between 1990 and 1993.

Rental Discrimination in the Multi-ethnic Metropolis: Evidence from Sydney

Abstract Investigating differential treatment in rental housing markets is important to ensure that renters are not discriminated against based on their personal characteristics. However, little Australian research has focused systematically on this question. This paper reports the results of a study that used paired tests to estimate the extent of differential treatment of Anglo, Indian, and Muslim Middle Eastern renters in the Sydney metropolitan housing market. We find statistically significant differences in treatment on several measures, including the likelihood an agent will offer an individual appointment, will provide additional information about other housing, will provide additional information about completing the application form, and will contact a prospective renter after an inspection.

‘Fantasies of Consensus:’ Planning Reform in Sydney, 2005–2013

This paper examines the battle to reform and streamline the planning system in Sydney, Australia, between 2005 and 2013. It analyses the strategies the State of NSW has pursued to manage ongoing conflicts over development, and reflects on the challenges the State has encountered in its attempt to redefine democratic engagement, justify decisions, claim legitimacy and forge a consensus around a more pro-development planning system. While New South Wales’ planning reform strategies have pursued an apparently ‘post-political’ agenda (Swyngedouw, Apocalypse forever? Post-political populism and the spectre of climate change, Theory Culture and Society, 27(2–3):213–232, 2010), using policy solutions to depoliticize difficult decisions, the reform process has exacerbated rather than defused conflicts. The story raises questions about the extent to which the new governing strategies of a post-political era can offer effective forums to forge consensus, or to stage-manage agreement over metropolitan development conflicts.

Renegotiating the Public‐Private Partnership: Efforts to Reform Section 8 Assisted Housing

This article examines the federal housing policy implications of the 1997 legislation resolving the Section 8 contract renewal crisis. The history of housing policy prior to this new legislation is described. The political and economic forces shaping the debate over the new legislation are discussed and analyzed. The future of Section 8 assisted housing is critically evaluated. Several policy recommendations are derived from the critical analysis.

Mortgage Lending and Residential Integration in a Hypersegregated MSA: The Case of St Louis

Have mortgage lending reforms during the first half of the 1990s been associated with improvements in the home-ownership prospects of black residents? Have the spatial patterns of loan applications changed, to increase lending activity in lower-income tracts and to advance residential integration? This paper investigates changes in mortgage lending activity in the St Louis metropolitan area over the period 1990-94. Analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data suggests that the home-ownership prospects of black St Louis residents improved over that period, as a result of increases in loan application rates from blacks during the latter half of the period, and of steady improvements in loan approval rates for black applicants. Some increases were seen in the proportion of applications attracted to lower-income tracts. Black loan applicants became more likely to apply for a loan in a predominantly white tract. A detailed spatial analysis of loan application patterns suggests that trends towards greater residential integration have accompanied recent mortgage market reforms.

SPATIAL CONSTRAINTS ON RURAL WOMEN WORKERS

Rural women represent an increasingly differentiated labor force, but do they experience the “friction of distance” entailed by the emergence of distinct metropolitan and nonmetropolitan labor markets in different ways? This paper uses survey data to examine the differential impacts of spatial constraints on groups of women workers. Cluster analysis is used to differentiate the labor force experiences of our employed survey respondents; significant differences exist in the transportation resources and labor force participation decisions among the three clusters identified and there is some indication that these differences also pose problems for intermittent participants in the labor force. The paper presents conclusions about concrete ways that space intervenes to shape (rather than merely contain) labor-force participation.