Gentrification Policy Brief
You will research a public policy, referendum, law, legislative act or court decision and write a policy briefing on its significance and impact on residents of a city or neighborhood. The legal act must be one that is currently proposed or recently implemented. You will provide a brief history of the new law or policy, its current status, the affected population and why such rule making was seen as necessary. You will provide specifics on the intent and purpose of the legal action.
Your analysis will address what the legal action will actually do (in contrast to the intent) and identify the affected population – what are the effects and the racial impact (the feedback loops)? For example, how does the problem affect future economic growth for the city or neighborhood you are researching? Does it result in social inclusion or social closure? Does the rule-making correct or compound a cumulative negative impact on a population or the opposite? Then state your position on the rule-making. Justify your position using the sociological concepts, real data or reference to it, and theories learned in the class (this is not optional). Demonstrate how your research relates to your understanding of class readings, course concepts and different theories used to explain race relations. Merely stating an opinion here does not meet the objectives of the assignment - I am not interested in your opinion. Opinions don’t count in the real world; solid, logical, well-structured fact-based argument does.
Data collection for the paper should be based on the following documentary resources: scholarly journals, newspapers, magazines, congressional testimony, archival material, planning department documents, government reports and analyses, census bureau data, books, and other written documents. I encourage the use of the internet as a source for information. However, Wikipedia and similar websites DO NOT count as references. Using these sources as references will result in a grade reduction. The objective is to seek information from the original source.
When writing your paper, assume that the audience is composed of public policy-makers who know nothing of the problem you present, the concepts you use and the data you have collected but must rely on your presentation and analysis to make decisions that affect city or neighborhood populations. Your conclusion should be a recommendation supporting or opposing the rule-making along with a brief justification for your position.
Elements of the policy brief: Policy briefs can be quite extensive and detailed and there are literally dozens of ways to draft a brief. To keep you focused on writing rather than searching through examples, you should follow the outline below. For the purposes of this course, you must include the following:
1. Problem Statement: A statement introducing the proposed policy or law and what the rule-making is intending to change and the implications of the policy. Why must we be concerned with what the policy change will do? Will the policy harm or help a particular group and what are the broader impacts that warrant our attention. The problem statement provides the context and importance of the problem and is both the introductory and first building block of the brief. This should not be more than one paragraph.
2. Background: A description of the problem addressed by the policy and a brief history of the problem that led to the rule change. Describe the historical turn of events that led to the proposed the rule change. Provide information on the interested parties and their particular political positions and state the claims/counter-claims being made. Consider the basic components of community power discussed in class and think about who is funding the interested parties and how they are organized. How is this problem being framed in the public arena and why?
3. Analysis: This is the heart of the brief. Provide the details of the policy and what exactly each part of the proposal will do. Identify the feedback loops and their positive or negative consequences on groups, communities, cities, etc. Provide the multi-scaled implications of this rule-making. This is the section of the brief where you show you have command of the course materials.
4. Position: State your position on the proposed policy. Expand upon your analysis and recommend a proposed course of action. Should the organization you are working for support or oppose the proposed legislation and provide an explanation for your position. Here, course materials should provide you with sufficient analytical and theoretical tools to formulate and articulate your position. Your position must be in sync with your problem statement.
5. Formatting: single-space with 12 point font. Your text is limited to 1500 words not counting references, charts or foot notes, which is approximately 3 single-spaced pages. You shall not exceed this length. Any tables, charts or graphs must go in the rear of the brief and referenced in the text. References shall follow your policy brief and must be formatted correctly. Please refer to the following website for formatting rules http://owl(dot)english(dot)purdue(dot)edu/owl/resource/560/01/.
The policy brief must be clear, concise, and succinct. This means that your paper is required to have a clear thesis statement that successfully organizes the rest of the paper. The thesis statement should be a claim or argument about the effects of the law/policy/event you are researching. To do this work, the thesis statement must be precise. Just so you know, it is generally impossible to write a precise thesis statement at the last minute. If your thesis is NOT a critical engagement of a specific policy, it does not fulfill the requirements of the assignment. If your brief does not have a thesis statement, then you have not completed the minimal requirements for a passing grade on the assignment. If you have a clear thesis statement but your paper actually deals with other issues, likewise you have not completed the assignment. Grammar, organization, spelling, and clarity all count.
Gentrification
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Problem statement
The Hope 6 program that was introduced to the US housing market in an effort to bring about the element of revitalized housing in areas that were considered to be poorly developed for housing needs of the people in the various parts of the nation. Although the policy may be more than ten years old, it has been recently revisited by the current government. While the intensions were quite positive in light of the fact that some of the places in the states do not meet the minimum requirements for habitable neighborhoods, there are some very subtle concerns that have come up in light of the implementation and the subsequent impact of the plans in San Francisco. Gentrification is an issue that needs to be addressed relative to the implementation protocols of the plans and the impacts that they have on the marginalized communities by virtual of their race and income (Glick, 2008). Thousands of Latinos and African American home owners have been displaced in the course of the plan implementation. The program is more focused on the economic returns of the projects than the actual benefits of the people in term of quality and affordable housing (Mirabal, 2009). San Francisco is one of the most affected areas by the program, especially with reference to the Latinos and the African Americans, where home owners are rendered homelessby a program that proposes hope to the people(Pitcoff, 1999).
Background
Most of the housing platform before the Hope 6 program was considered crowded as they housed lot of the low income citizens. However there’s also the fact that most of them did not have the basic amenities such hot or cold water. Other than the fact that there were low or none existent amenities, the tenements were also considered to be pockets that bred pestilence in the states, due to the level of crimes reported in the areas. By and large, these tenements housed the poor urban dwellers, most of who were from the Latinos and African American origin (WACQUANT, 2008). The housing projects from the Hope 6 program were thought of and intended to bring some form formality to the housing sector. These houses, most of which were built in the post war era sought to embrace the modernist architectural designs (Glick, 2008). They also sought to help the low income communities living in San Francisco and other areas to turn away from the street way of life, in a neighborhood that was respectable and offered quality standards of living. Much of the decay can be attributed to industrial era, when the economic boom did not have many effects on the housing projects. Most of the people working in the industries were forced to live in deplorable conditions (Kennedy & Leonard, 2001). The housing projects were constantly superseded by the population growth, and the housing projects were mostly directed towards more profitable areas. Most of the city residents fled to the suburbia (Pitcoff, 1999). Between the 80s and the 90s, the number of people that were living in poverty stricken residences in San Francisco rose significantly, with some of the areas experiencing up to 40% rise. Relative to the high concentration of poor population in some of the areas, crime beca...
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