Neighborhood Development in the Metropolitan Economy: A Policy Review

Abstract

This article introduces policymakers and scholars to several issues in the development of city neighborhoods and their residents. It constructs a literature review around a tree diagram ofproblems and solutions, arguing that this is a more useful way to organize information than the social science questions that typically interest academics. Following this structured overview, I make the following arguments about space and scale in neighborhood policy: ( 1 ) Even if we adopt an individualistic model of economic behavior, we do not necessarily need to choose "people" over "place. " (2) The rationale for the development of neighborhood export jobs remains weak. However, we may be able to identib a "preferred policy scale" for job development and placement connections. This is defined as the scale at which the problem of spatial mismatch is not solved at the expense of broader economic development considerations, and vice versa. The research agenda underlying this simple idea would require more sophisticated and policy-relevant work on commuting patterns and on the interaction behavior and other competitive advantages of firms situated in intra-metropolitan space.As the downtowns of America's historically distressed cities spring back to life, there has been renewed interest in neighborhoods that are outside of downtown but still within the city. Interest in these neighborhoods is, of course, as old as urban policy itself. What is new is the willingness of private sector elites (those traditionally concerned with the central

The Paradox between Community and Self-Interest: Local Government, Neighborhoods, and Media

“…Neighborhoods are commonly assumed to be the building blocks of community (Gottlieb, 1997;Hojnacki, 1979). But questions remain about the degree to which neighborhoods' actions and bonds translate into community well-being.…”

Quality dimensions in the public sector: municipal services and citizen’s perception

“…Therefore, to ensure that quality concepts are successfully transposed, it is important to establish how this can be done most effectively and the conditions for doing so. For example, high-quality local services and attention to an area's physical appearance can affect economic investment decisions (Sharpe 1990;Glaser 1991;Gottlieb 1997). Thus, the value created in local settings is directly affected by the quality of local service delivery.…”

Fighting Poverty with Mobility: A Normative Policy Analysis1

“…The latter pattern holds special significance in the historical development of the modern American metropolis. In this setting, the common pattern has been for the upwardly mobile to relocate farther from the core of the central city (Gottlieb, 1997, p. 168). Given this dynamic, Nicholas Lemann (1994, p. 28)—writing in his influential New York Times Magazine article—points out that many poor inner‐city neighborhoods historically have been merely “ transitional ” rather than “stable, self‐sufficient communities on the model of a village in Vermont” (emphasis added).…”

“…central cities and settling directly in the suburbs.” Therefore, the implementation of the residential dispersal strategy on a large scale would further depopulate many inner‐city neighborhoods. Such depopulation—which already has been considerable—exacerbates crime, social decay, and a host of other urban problems (Gottlieb, 1997, p. 168; Jacobs, 1961; Wilson, 1996, pp. 44–46; Wilson, 1987).…”

“…As alluded to above, the renewed enthusiasm for mobility policies raises the familiar question of whether antipoverty efforts should be targeted on either poor people or poor places—or, more precisely, on either the enhancement of the mobility of poor people or the social and economic betterment of poor places (see Bolton, 1992; Fischer, 1995; Gottlieb, 1997). While it is common for mobility advocates to argue for the pursuit of some mix of mobility and place‐based strategies (see Kasarda, 1992, p. 629; Downs, 1994, p. 123; Hughes, 1993, pp.…”