GEOG 340
Day 9: Why
Neighbourhoods
Change
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Housekeeping Items
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A mea culpa regarding the urban assignment. I
thought I had sent it out, but apparently in the mad
scramble I did not. It was on my flash drive which went
missing in Nantes, but I will check my laptop tonight
and see if it’s on there, in which case I will send it out.
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Housekeeping Items
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Just a reminder that the outlines are due on Thursday.
How did you like Bill Derby last Thursday? Any specific
feedback? Unfortunately, numbers were fairly low that day.
Today, Dominique will be presenting on material covered last
week, and Natasha will present on housing issues. Doug #1
can either present today or on Thursday, as he chooses.
Here are the criteria I’m using to evaluate the presentations:
1)Did the presentation give a brief, but useful, overview of the
chapter or section thereof? 2( Were the slides, if used, wellorganized and attractive – i.e. not text-heavy, having
appropriate graphics, and aesthetically pleasing, not bland?
3)Was the presenter’s voice clear, without mumbling or tripping
over words, and was their presence centred and confident? 4)
Did they maintain eye contact with all parts of the room and
not overly rely on reading? 5) Were the questions a useful
starting-point for discussion, and was the discussion skillfully
facilitated? [also whether you kept to time limits]
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Chapter 9 – Neighbourhood Change
 On
p. 209, the authors make the statement that
“for fragments of the urban fabric… 50 to 60
years can be considered to be a reasonable life
expectancy.”
 Having just come back from Europe, where
buildings and houses date back 100s and, in
some cases, 1000s of years, this is a very different
reality.
 The depreciation curve is caused, they say, by
quality of initial construction and by ability of
current residents to maintain their properties,
including the role played by municipal
maintenance.
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Chapter 9 – Neighbourhood Change
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Housing and other structures can become obsolete
because of new needs – for instance, for garages or
other parking, or changes in desired residential
appurtenances, such as kitchen layouts/ appliances,
swimming pools, backyards, decks, etc.
Also: empty nesters may choose to move into condos
with less maintenance requirements, and new families
may take their place or, in areas that have become
rundown and deteriorated, ‘urban pioneers’ may
move in, such as artists and students who can’t afford
expensive rent and who like the ‘edgy’ atmosphere.
See Figure 9.2. on p. 209 regarding the role of
disinvestment, often aided in the past by red-lining.
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Chapter 9 – Neighbourhood Change
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See Figure 9.4 for a visual continuum of the household
life-cycle. What experience do you have with this
process in terms of yourself, your family members,
friends and acquaintances?
Last chapter we talked about the ‘political economy’
of urban development. Since incentives initiated
under the Trudeau government to build rental
apartments were discontinued, reasonably priced
rental apartment units have become scarce in major
Canadian housing markets. In addition, in Vancouver,
many former rentals have been ‘condo-ized’ and
sold off as private units.
Some neighbourhoods may be ripe for investment
because of location – such as the Downtown Eastside
– but have a population in place which is not keen to
be pushed out of the way.
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Chapter 9 – Neighbourhood Change
 Authors
proposed model for neighbourhood
change:
 suburbanization (low-density single-family);
 in-filling (multifamily and rental additions
increase density and socioeconomic diversity);
 downgrading (slow and steady deterioration);
 thinning out (high population turnover;
conversion and demolition);
 renewal (public housing) or gentrification.
 In the latter case, new residents or gentrifiers will
often occupy old houses and invest sweat
equity to renovate them to a new standard.
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Chapter 9 – Neighbourhood Change
 Indian
Village:
an old wealthy
Neighbourhood
close to downtown Detroit.
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Chapter 9 – Neighbourhood Change
 In
addition, industrial precincts are often rezoned
and converted to residential uses, as occurred
with my neighbourhood in Vancouver, and with
Concord Pacific and the Yaletown warehouseto-loft conversions.
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Chapter 9 – Neighbourhood Change
 Another
factor that can influence neighbourhood change is seniors cashing out their homes
in a high-price market and moving into a lowerprice market. Can you think of examples of that?
 Also: seniors may move to the Sun Belt for part or
all of the year. (In Europe, the equivalent would
be Brits buying apartments in Portugal or
elsewhere and driving up the price of real
estate).
 In general, housing serves four main needs: ·
shelter and privacy; · as a status good; · in an
area with social and environmental amenities; ·
accessibility (to work, schools, shopping,
entertainment, etc.) and convenience.
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Chapter 9 – Neighbourhood Change
 One
could also add affordability, and as a
revenue source both short-term and long-term.
What are the main factors that determine your
housing choices?
 While owning a home (or, less frequently, an
apartment or condo) is the desired norm in North
America, in Europe it is quite common for people
to spend their whole lives renting.
 Promoting home ownership tends to make
people more conservative, and thus promoting
home ownership has tended to be a key strategy
for North American governments. In the U.S.,
owner-occupied dwellings went from 20% in 1920
to 68% in 2010.
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Chapter 9 – Neighbourhood Change
 The
increase in home ownership and the decline
of rentals was due, according to the authors, to
four factors: · increasing affluence; · increasing
perception of the benefits of home ownership,
especially when it enabled one to live in
neighbourhoods of one’s peers; · importance of
homeownership to political and economic
stability and its various multiplier effects, and · a
sharp decline in the profitability of the rental
sector (see detailed description on p. 213).
 On Thursday, we’ll deal with public housing in the
U.S. and Canada, and also with key agents that
act to facilitate residential segregation.