Jenny Schuetz

Bodegas or Bagel Shops? Neighborhood Differences in Retail & Household Services

Social scientists studying the disadvantages of poor urban neighborhoods have focused on the quality of publicly provided amenities. However, the quantity and quality of local private amenities, such as grocery stores and restaurants, can also have important quality-of-life implications for neighborhood residents. In the current article, the authors develop neighborhood-level metrics of “retail access” and analyze how retail services vary across New York City neighborhoods by income and by racial composition. The authors then examine how retail services change over time, particularly in neighborhoods undergoing rapid economic growth. Results indicate that lower income and minority neighborhoods have fewer retail establishments, smaller average establishments, a higher proportion of “unhealthy” restaurants, and in certain cases, less diversity across retail subsectors. In addition, the rate of retail growth between 1998 and 2007 has been particularly fast in neighborhoods that were initially lower valued and experienced relatively high housing price appreciation compared with the city overall.

Silver Bullet or Trojan Horse? The Effects of Inclusionary Zoning on Local Housing Markets in the United States

Many local governments are adopting inclusionary zoning (IZ) as a means of producing affordable housing without direct public subsidies. In this paper, panel data on IZ in the San Francisco metropolitan area and suburban Boston are used to analyse how much affordable housing the programmes produce and how IZ affects the prices and production of market-rate housing. The amount of affordable housing produced under IZ has been modest and depends primarily on how long IZ has been in place. Results from suburban Boston suggest that IZ has contributed to increased housing prices and lower rates of production during periods of regional house price appreciation. In the San Francisco area, IZ also appears to increase housing prices in times of regional price appreciation, but to decrease prices during cooler regional markets. There is no evidence of a statistically significant effect of IZ on new housing development in the Bay Area.

Do rail transit stations encourage neighbourhood retail activity

Over the past 20 years, California has made substantial investments in intra-metropolitan passenger rail infrastructure, expanding existing systems and building new ones. According to advocates of New Urbanism, such investment should encourage the growth of mixed-use transit-oriented development, defined as a high-density mix of residential and commercial uses within walking distance of rail stations. Little research to date has examined whether rail investment stimulates retail activity, which is a key component of mixed-use development. In this paper, I test whether the opening of new rail stations across California’s four largest metropolitan areas is associated with changes in retail employment near the stations. Results indicate that new rail stations were located in areas with previously high employment density, somewhat outside the city centres. New station openings are not significantly associated with differences in retail employment in three of the four MSAs, and negatively associated with retail in the Sacramento MSA. There is weak evidence that areas around new suburban stations serving commuter rail lines are more likely to gain retail employment, while centrally located, intra-city rail stations see decreases in retail activity.

Do Art Galleries Stimulate Redevelopment

New York City is often held up as a successful example of arts-led economic development. Case studies have documented the influx of avant-garde artists and galleries into several neighborhoods, including Greenwich Village, SoHo, and Chelsea, followed by yuppies and boutiques. Some researchers have used these examples to argue that artists and galleries can spur gentrification. An alternative hypothesis is that galleries locate in neighborhoods with higher levels of amenities. In this paper, I examine whether concentrations of galleries are associated with redevelopment of surrounding neighborhoods, conditional on initial neighborhood amenities. Results suggest that while physical conditions do affect gallery location choices, the presence of galleries has little impact on subsequent changes in the built environment. Historic districts, museums, parks and commercial-friendly zoning are positively associated with new gallery openings, although the relationships vary across neighborhoods. Proximity to prior galleries is strongly predictive of new gallery openings. Using historic gallery locations to instrument for current galleries, the analysis finds little evidence that gallery presence is associated with neighborhood redevelopment.

Have Distressed Neighborhoods Recovered? Evidence from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program

During the 2007–2009 housing crisis, concentrations of foreclosed and vacant properties created severe blight in many cities and neighborhoods. The federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) was established to help mitigate distress in hard-hit areas by funding the rehabilitation or demolition of troubled properties. This paper analyzes housing market changes in areas that received investments during the second round of NSP funding, focusing on seven large urban counties. Grantees used NSP to invest in census tracts with high rates of distressed and vacant properties, and tracts that had previously received other housing subsidies. The median NSP tract received quite sparse investment, relative to the overall housing stock and the initial levels of distress. Analysis of housing market outcomes indicates the recovery has been uneven across counties and neighborhoods. In a few counties, there is some evidence that NSP2 activity is correlated with improved housing outcomes, primarily increased sales volume.

Which Way to Recovery? Housing Market Outcomes and the Neighborhood Stabilization Program

To help communities recover from the foreclosure crisis, Congress enacted a set of policies known as the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). NSP’s objective was to mitigate the impact of foreclosures on neighboring properties, through reducing the stock of distressed properties and removing sources of visual blight. This paper presents evidence on production outcomes achieved through the second round of NSP funding (NSP2), and discusses the housing market context under which the program operated from 2010 to 2013. Two key findings emerge. First, local grantees undertook quite different approaches to NSP2. The type and scale of activity, expenditures per property and spatial concentration vary widely across grantees. Second, census tracts that received NSP2 investment had poor economic and housing market conditions prior to the program, but generally saw improved housing markets during the program’s implementation period, as did non-NSP2 tracts in the same counties. Based on these findings, we outline topics and suggested approaches for additional research.

Inclusionary Zoning to Support Affordable Housing

Inclusionary zoning (IZ), also known as inclusionary housing or incentive zoning, is a class of policies that make use of land-use planning and zoning regimes to mandate or encourage the production of affordable housing from market-rate housing developers. The structure of programmes varies greatly within and across countries. IZ programmes are most common in the United States, but similar types of policies have also been adopted internationally. There exists little systematic research on the impact of these programmes on affordable housing production and local housing markets. Still, IZ has become a well-known and politically viable tool for locally driven social housing production.

Is the ‘Shop Around the Corner’ a Luxury or a Nuisance? The Relationship between Income and Neighborhood Retail Patterns

Affluent neighborhoods present a potentially attractive location for retail establishments because of their higher purchasing power and demand for a wide range of specialized goods and services. However, if high income households perceive retail in general – or certain types of retail, such as Big Box stores – as an undesirable use, they may be able to block commercial development through zoning and the political process. In thispaper we shed light on these issues by examining the relationship betweenneighborhood income and several different types of retail presence for 58 large U.S metropolitan areas. We combine detailed data from the National Establishment TimeSeries database on retail establishments and employment, by industry category and firm type, with Census data on ZCTA income and demographics. Results indicate that retail density varies with income for certain retail types, such as food service and chain supermarkets and drugstores. In addition, average establishment size increases with income for all retail types. Retail density increases with population density, as expected, and decreases with distance to CBD and with share of owner-occupied housing.

Does zoning help or hinder transit-oriented (re)development?

Despite its reputation as a car-oriented city, the Los Angeles metropolitan area has made substantial investments in developing rail transit since 1990. Most new stations were added to an already dense built environment, with auto-oriented zoning and established land use patterns. In this paper we ask whether redevelopment is occurring around Los Angeles rail stations, and whether zoning and related policies are facilitating or constraining transit-oriented development. We conduct case studies of five stations, documenting zoning near stations, as well as the amount and type of new development after stations opened. Results illustrate that incompatible zoning and related land use policies may constrain growth near stations, but TOD-friendly zoning alone is not sufficient to spur development.

Have distressed neighborhoods recovered? Evidence from the neighborhood stabilization program

During the 2007–2009 housing crisis, concentrations of foreclosed and vacant properties created severe blight in many cities and neighborhoods. The federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) was established to help mitigate distress in hard-hit areas by funding the rehabilitation or demolition of troubled properties. This paper analyzes housing market changes in areas that received investments during the second round of NSP funding, focusing on seven large urban counties. Grantees used NSP to invest in census tracts with high rates of distressed and vacant properties, and tracts that had previously received other housing subsidies. The median NSP tract received quite sparse investment, relative to the overall housing stock and the initial levels of distress. Analysis of housing market outcomes indicates the recovery has been uneven across counties and neighborhoods. In a few counties, there is some evidence that NSP2 activity is correlated with improved housing outcomes, primarily increased sales volume.