This creative project has been initiated and researched out of the need for development of historic district guidelines for Anderson, Indiana's wonderous West Eighth Street and West Central Historic Districts. This study included the consultation, involvement and approval of the Anderson City Planning Department, the Anderson Historic Preservation Commission and district residents.In addition, this guideline document has intended to be used as a reference and resource tool in the legal development of district control of regulations and enforcement procedures. The purpose of this project has been to protect the integrity and maintain the character of Anderson's districts while providing education as to the importance and value of preserving our historical treasures. / Department of Urban Planning

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed April 9, 2009). Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 489-534).

Thesis (M. U. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M.U.R.P.)--University of New Orleans, 2004. / Title from electronic submission form. "A thesis ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Urban and Regional Planning in the College of Urban and Public Affairs."--Thesis t.p. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This three-article dissertation uses a mixed-method research design to examine a contemporary phenomenon related to grassroots resistance to urban gentrification. In New York City, Los Angeles, and other high-growth US cities, community-based organizations are utilizing National Register of Historic Places listing and local designation of historic districts as strategies to resist residential displacement in the context of gentrification and diminishing housing affordability. The central issue with this practice is quantitative research overwhelmingly finds that neighborhood socioeconomic trends follow indicators of gentrification after the implementation of historic districts. Qualitative studies also demonstrate that historic districts are most often associated with the interests of homeowners who seek districts to protect or increase property values. Therefore, the use of historic districts for anti-displacement purposes can appear counter-intuitive. Arguably, the few existing studies of this practice do not thoroughly analyze the value of publicly stating the intention of districts for anti-displacement purposes or how organizational entities hypothesize causal links between historic districts and the reduction of displacement by gentrification. This gap between research and practice presents an opportunity to examine the functions of historic preservation regulations and participatory venues within the uneven distribution of racial, political, and economic resources necessary to affect authoritative land use decisions. The three articles are sequential. The first article uses logistic regression to estimate the organizational, contextual, and neighborhood socioeconomic factors that influenced a sample of community-based organizations in New York City, NY, and the City of Los Angeles, CA, between 2000-2020 to state motivations for anti-displacement purposes at public hearings for new historic districts. The second article further examines organizations’ motivations through archived conference proceedings and focused interviews with the key informants of six (6) New York City community-based organizations on the political, socioeconomic, and racial processes that influenced their use of local and NRHP districts as anti-displacement strategies. The interviewed organizations were identified by the review of public hearing testimony and correspondence for Article 1. Finally, Article 3 uses a difference-in-differences statistical technique to test the neighborhood socioeconomic impacts of contextual rezoning in New York City between 1986-2020 as a type of non-FAR rezoning. Contextual zoning and historic districts are similar in that their implementation depends on the presence and maintenance of neighborhood character. Unlike historic districts, new development in contextual zones functions as an administrative process with the Department of Buildings without reliance upon discretionary review of proposals by a city agency. The articles find that community-based organizations pursue historic districts for a blend of procedural, regulatory, and financial benefits related to anti-displacement activism. Some organizations seek historic districts as substitutes for neighborhood-wide downzoning due to rezoning’s high financial and administrative costs, reflecting power inequalities in urban politics. The articles’ findings also suggest that there are causal links between regulatory restrictions on development and the exclusion of new socioeconomic groups, albeit in the interest of excluding residents of higher-socioeconomic status to resist gentrification. Ostensibly neutral, character-based discourse in urban development is implicated in preserving historical patterns of urban racial and economic isolation. Without state and federal interventions in the provision of urban growth, historic districts and character-based rezonings have limited influence on long-term urban equity.

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

The decline in patronage, decrease in building density, and loss in property values suffered by Downtown Muncie, Indiana is a result of competition from shopping malls. This deterioration will continue unless there is a concerted effort by citizens, property owners, and the city to promote commercial revitalization of this area.The National Trust for Historic Preservation's Main Street Center suggest that communities can achieve commercial revitalization through a four part program which combines organization, design, promotion, and economic restructuring. Mary Jo Ruccio of the National Development Council, suggests that commercial revitalization cannot be successful unless the approach includes a comprehensive plan that addresses a downtown's unique problems.In order to create a functional commercial revitalization strategy for Muncie's downtown, the commercial district's history was reviewed, the existing buildings were surveyed, published historic preservation plans and commercial revitalization plans ware reviewed, and a variety of funding sources were studied. These efforts led to the development of a commercial revitalization strategy that is patterned after the Main Street Center's program. A major component of this strategy is the Downtown Commercial Revitalization Network that is recommended to act as a steering committee for a Downtown Development Director whose sole purpose is to direct downtown revitalization. The strategy recommends residential adaptive-use of the second stories in downtown buildings to promote economic development, and to preserve the historic structures. Low-interest loans with design standards are recommended to provide funds to create this housing stock without damaging the historic fabric. This will supply downtown with regular customers, thus strengthening existing establishments, creating the need for new businesses downtown, and diversifying the economic base.This strategy can be applied to the current downtown revitalization efforts by the City of Muncie. The ideas and general theories can also be applied by small Indiana towns which suffer from economic problems. A comprehensive plan that is tailored specifically for a downtown which account for the organization, design, economic, and promotion needs of downtown will set the course for successful commercial revitalization. / Department of Architecture

This thesis investigates how proximity to parks, historic district designations, and water quality are valued at residential housing prices. The first essay argues that the negative influences of parks and historic districts, if not noticed, could promote negative externalities and unincentivized investments. I find a negative impact on housing values for a close proximity to a park, suggesting disamenities in park features. When the boundary discontinuity and park amenities are considered, I find a positive valuation for a park. Overall, these results imply a mixed influence of parks on homeowners. From the historic district standpoint, I find a positive valuation of the local historic districts over the surrounding neighborhoods. The latter findings indicate that the benefits of locally designated areas outweigh the negative impacts. The second essay researches a probable lead risk in the water supply on the residential market. I argue strongly for the possibility of hidden-type information relative to lead in water supplies. I find that the influence of lead risk in their water supply is not statistically significant. The test for asymmetric information validates the expectation that homes in the relatively high lead-risk neighborhoods might not be informed of the level of lead-risk in their water supply.

The Adair Park neighborhood in southwest Atlanta was designed as a residential enclave for working class whites that has evolved to what it is today: an area primarily inhabited by low-income minorities. Many of its residents have worked to preserve the area's distinctive architectural heritage. Low housing values and vacancies have attracted affordable housing developers such as the Atlanta affiliate of Habitat for Humanity. In response to specific plans for the development of affordable housing in the area, members of Adair Park organized themselves to petition the City of Atlanta to adopt architectural standards that preserved the existing housing stock, and ensured that any new construction would be compatible with the neighborhood's architectural character. This study explores the tensions between inner-city communities and affordable housing developers in the quest for affordable and architecturally significant neighborhoods. The conclusions from this research suggest that the desire of predominately low-income neighborhoods to preserve the architecture character of historically significant neighborhoods may be firmly rooted in middle class aspirations and values. Moreover, the conclusions from this research also suggest non-profit housing developers should consider these attitudes prior to constructing affordable housing in predominately low-income neighborhoods.