1 I give permission for public access to my thesis and for any copying to be done at the discretion of the archives librarian and/or the College librarian. _____________________________________ Marcella M. Jayne 2 More House Than They Could Afford: The Cumulative Civic Implications of Housing Markets and Policies By Marcella Jayne (Adviser Preston H. Smith II) Submitted to the Department of Politics In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Bachelor of Arts With Honor Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, Massachusetts February 1, 2013 3 More House Than They Could Afford: The Cumulative Civic Implications of Housing Markets and Policies TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface……………………………………………………………………………8 Introduction…………………………………………………………………….19 A Brief History of Stratified Housing: Chapter 1 Homeownership……………………………………………………………..…32 Chapter 2 Public Housing…………………………………………………………………47 Chapter 3 They Should Have Known Better…………………………………………………………………………….74 Chapter 4 They Should Have Done Better………………………………………………..98 Chapter 5 Apply Pressure-Seize Power………………………………………………….123 4 Figures: Figure 1. National Realtor’s Association Advertisement…………………….21 Public Advocacy Campaign: Moving Pictures. Photograph. National Association of Realtors. (accessed November 11, 2012). Error! Hyperlink reference not valid./movingpictures. Figure 2. Homeownership Rates from 1900-2010.……………………………36 Homeownership rates from 1900-2010. Photograph. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. (accessed November 24, 2012). http://www.philadelphiafed.org/ research-and- data/events/2011/macroeconomics-across-time-and- space/papers/chambers-garriga -schlagenhauf.pdf. Figure 3. Appraisal Map Ranking by “Hazard”……………………………..40 Home Owners’ Loan Corporation Residential Security Map for Philadelphia, 1937. Photograph. University of Pennsylvania Scholarly Commons. 2003. (accessed November 24, 2012). http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi? article= 1008&context=cplan_papers&sei-redir=1&referer=http:// www. google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=historical%20 redlining %20maps %20scholarly%20articles&source=web&cd=1&ved= 0CC0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Frepository.upenn.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcont ent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1008%26context%3Dcplan_papers&ei=3mOxUIvDE6jl 0QHj0YGABQ&usg=AFQjCNE _IAab0vLi2OOMedpImejXYyYz_w. Figure 4. Map Ranking by Percent of “Colored” People…………………..41 Percent of “Colored” Households in Philadelphia by Census Tract, 1940. Photograph.University of Pennsylvania Scholarly Commons. 2003. (accessed November 24, 2012). http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=cpl an_papers&sei-redir=1&referer=http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct =j&q=historical%20 redlining%20maps%20scholarly%20articles&source= web&cd=1&ved=0CC0Q FjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2 Frepository .upenn.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1008%26co ntext%3Dcplan_papers&ei=3mOxUIvDE6jl0QHj0YGABQ&usg=AFQjCNE _IAab0vLi2OOMedpImejXYyYz_w. Figure 5. Aerial View of Lyman Terrace……………………………………51 Arial View of Lyman Terrace. Photograph. Masslive. June 19, 2008. http://www.masslive.com/localbuzz/index.ssf/2008/06/the_future_of_lyma n_terrace.html. 5 Figure 6. Robert Taylor Homes and the Dan Ryan Expressway……………53 The Robert Taylor Homes open. Photograph. African American Registry. 2000. (accessed November 11, 2012). http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/robert-taylor-homes- opens. Figure 7. HOPE VI Rebuild of Jackson Parkway……………………………60 Churchill Homes. Photograph. The Community Builders Inc. (accessed November 11, 2012). http://www.tcbinc.org/what_we_do/projects/churchill_ homes.htm. Figure 8. Lyman Terrace Exterior……………………………………………63 Lyman Terrace exterior. Photograph. Que Viva Lyman Terrace. November 11, 2012. (accessed August 13, 2012). https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=258816310902 280&set=pb.245814112202500.-2207520000.1357266628&type=3&theater. Figure 9. Kitchen in a Lyman Terrace Unit…………………………………65 Kitchen in a Lyman Terrace unit. Photograph. Que Viva Lyman Terrace. August 9, 2012. (accessed November 11, 2012).Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.10902860&set=pb.245814112202500.- 2207520000.1357266630&type=3&theater. Figure 10. Bathroom wall in Lyman Terrace Unit…………………………66 Bathroom wall in Lyman Terrace Unit. Photograph. Que Viva Lyman Terrace. August 14, 2012.(accessed November 11, 2012). https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2603 76127412965&set=pb.245814112202500.- 2207520000.1357266628&type=3&theater. Figure 11. Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse in his Kitchen………………………68 Holyoke mayor Alex Morse in his kitchen. Photograph. Masslive. April 6, 2012. (accessed November 11, 2012). http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/04 /holyoke_mayor _alex_morse_shows.html. Figure 12. Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse in his Dining Room…………………69 Holyoke mayor Alex Morse in his dining room. Photograph. Masslive. April 6, 2012. (accessed November 11, 2012). http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/04 /holyoke_mayor _alex_morse_shows.html. 6 Figure 13. Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse’s Living Room………………………69 Alex Morse’s living room. Photograph. Masslive. April 6, 2012. (accessed November 11, 2012). http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/04/holyoke_mayor_alex_m orse _shows.html. Figure 14. Foreclosure Auctions, Bank/Real-Estate Owned (REO) Properties, SNOL’s Bank Tenant Association Members & White Population in Springfield MA: 2007-2012……………………………………………………87 Dunn, Ryan. “Foreclosure Auctions, Bank/Real-Estate Owned (REO) Properties, Bank Tenant Members & White Population in Springfield MA: 2007-2012.” University of Massachusetts, Amherst Archives. April 6, 2012. (accessed January 8, 2013). 7 Appendices: Appendix A. HHA Guest Memo to Tenants…………………………………138 Dean, Rosalie M. Letter, “MEMO re: guests,” July 2, 2012. Appendix B. HHA Annual Recertification Bank Verification Form………139 Dean, Rosalie M. Annual Recertification Application, “Bank Verification,” 2012. Appendix C. HHA Annual Recertification Asset Checklist………………...140 Dean, Rosalie M. Annual Recertification Application, “Asset Checklist,” 2012. Appendix D. Cover Page on Recertification Application…………………..141 Rohan, Sarah. Letter, “Tenants to be Recertified,” 2012. Appendix E. HHA Annual Recertification Release Form………………….142 Dean, Rosalie M. Annual Recertification Application, “Release Form,” 2012. Appendix F. HHA Pre-HUD Inspection Consultant Memo to Tenants…..143 Garcia, Josh. Letter, “Pre-REAC Inspections,” January 3, 2013. 8 PREFACE I have always dreamed of living in a single family home. More than a prestigious career, more than a happy marriage, more than wealth alone, in my mind’s eye homeownership has always been the most consequential criterion in determining success. And yet by my own standards, I am not a success. This is not the way I want to think, it is the way I do. The Single-Family Home I have only lived in a real house once in my life, for three weeks. My mother had been hospitalized for some time and social workers began creating stipulations for her return and maintaining custody of me and my siblings. My grandmother moved in with us to take temporary guardianship while my mother finished her treatment. Her first order of business was to move us out of public housing, a modest duplex on a dead end street near University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Our duplex would later seem like magnificent housing when I compared it to public housing in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Yet, my grandmother found every cubic inch unacceptable, the florescent flickering lights in the kitchen and living room, the institutional grey speckled linoleum floors, the bristly plastic threaded 9 wall to wall carpets, the thin walls, the leak from the bathroom to the kitchen ceiling, and the modestly sized bedrooms. She found and leased a new single-family home. She prepaid a month’s rent for my mother’s apartment so we could gradually move into the new house. However, as soon as we were almost entirely moved in, my grandmother decided she could no longer commit to guardianship. Immediately we had to move back into our duplex. But before we moved I overheard my mother begging my grandmother to let her assume the lease that was in grandmother’s name. My mother had a lump in her throat as she said “I will just find a way to pay the rent. When we first moved to Amherst I was paying 90% of my income in rent and we all survived,” but my grandmother was not convinced that it was a responsible choice. Indeed, we had first moved to Amherst into a non-subsidized apartment. Paying the rent often came at the cost of many other things like, clothing, heat/utilities, Christmas presents, birthday parties, and worst of all food. My mother would often sell her food stamps to help pay bills or for other necessities like laundry detergent, toilet paper and diapers. My siblings and I subsisted on the two free meals provided to us at school. And yet to my mother this trade seemed tolerable, even reasonable. Besides, our lot in public housing did not seem much better. The rent was calculated to be 30% of my mother’s income, but still we went without. I cannot remember a winter through the duration of which we had uninterrupted heat or electricity. 10 At the time I would have likely consented to any familial austerity measure that allowed us to stay in the house. When I was there I had a sense of infinite possibilities and self-potential, of expansiveness. For the first time in my life at fourteen I had my own bedroom. We all had our own space. When we were forced to move back into our duplex, I was crushed. That was the nicest place I ever lived. I have not yet