COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to help students explore the complexity of housing and housing-related issues from a planning perspective. You will develop a basic understanding of the housing market, its relationship to community development, and its importance to communities and the U.S. economy.

A wide variety of topics will be discussed, including the use and meaning of housing; the development of Federal, State, and local housing policy: the changing dynamics of housing policy; the housing market; housing finance; the challenge of providing affordable housing; and the relationship of housing to community development/neighborhood transformation. Class time will be devoted to lectures, guest lectures, class discussions, group discussions, role playing and movies.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
At the conclusion of this course, students should be able to:

• define housing and its various uses
• discuss Federal, State, and local housing policy in an educated manner
• explain affordable housing issues and associated methods of analysis
• enumerate selected tools of city and regional planning
• demonstrate the connection between housing and community development

REQUIRED READING

Alex Kotlowitz There are no Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America (New York, 1992). (available at Long's Bookstore)

Other class readings are on electronic reserve under http://library.ohio-state.edu/search. Instructions can be found under http://reserves.lib.ohio-state.edu/current/Eres/classprint.pdf.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Reading Assignments
Students are expected and required to familiarize themselves with and understand the class readings before each class.

Writing Assignments
Writing Assignments are expected to be professional (checked for spelling, grammatical errors, fluidness of composition, etc.). Please use 1.5 space, 12 point font, 1” margins at the top and at the bottom, 1.25” margins on the left and on the right. Please insert page numbers and staple multiple pages together. Your name should be on the first page. Please do not use a 1-page title page. Printing on the front as well the back page is encouraged but not required.

Missing or Late Assignments
There are two types of assignments that are assigned in this class. First, there are assignments that need to be submitted on paper. These paper assignments are due at the beginning of the class period (i.e., at 6:30 pm sharp). However, there is a grace period of 15 (fifteen) minutes. Assignments that were handed in after 6:45 pm on the day the assignment is due are considered as late assignment. You will lose 10% per day, starting from 6:45 pm at the day the assignment is due. Late assignments are only accepted until the beginning of the next class period. You may submit late assignments to my mailbox in Brown Hall 131 (if the office is not open during office hours please request help in Brown Hall 109). You may also submit late assignments by sliding them under my office door in Brown Hall 378d. Late or missing assignments/exams may be made up by presenting a valid written doctor's excuse within one week of the deadline/exam date. No make-up assignments/exams will be given without a valid written doctor's excuse.

Second, there are assignments that need to be submitted via e-mail. These assignments are very time critical, as specified below. Students will lose 10% per hour, starting from the specified time. Late assignments are only accepted via e-mail until ten hours after the assignment was due.

Evaluation/Grading
Grades for this class will be based on the following work:

• Homework Assignments (25%)
• Midterm (25%)
• Book Report (25%)
• Final (25%)

Final grades will be curved.

Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct of any kind will not be tolerated or permitted. All students will be held responsible for following and abiding by the University's policy on academic misconduct. The Ohio State University Code of Student Conduct handbook (Chapter 3335-23-04) provides a detailed description of the University's policy on academic misconduct. Copies may be obtained on the web at http://studentaffairs.osu.edu/info_for_students/csc.asp.

Disability Statement
Any student who feels he or she may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the instructor privately to discuss his or her specific needs. Please contact the Office for Disability Services at 614.292.3307 in 150 Pomerene Hall to coordinate reasonable accommodations in case of documented disabilities.

Break (10 minutes)

Lecture: What is Public Policy (in the context of housing and community development)? (20 minutes)
Group Activity: Your Neighborhood – What can public policy do to improve your neighborhood? (20 minutes)
Class Discussion: Your Neighborhood – What can public policy do to improve your neighborhood? (20 minutes)

Topic: Introduction to Housing and Community Development (part 2)
Guest Lecture and Class Discussion: Urban Renewal/Downtown Housing
Guest Speaker: Marc Conte, Columbus Downtown Development Corporation (60 minutes)

Break (10 minutes)

Reflection (10 minutes)
Class Business (10 minutes)
Lecture: Gentrification (20 minutes)
Group Activity/Role Play: Gentrification (60 minutes)

Dan Williamson, “Mister Coleman's Neighborhood” Columbus Monthly (October 2002) 48-52, 137-139. (available online)

John A. Jakle and David Wilson, Derelict Landscapes: The Wasting of America's Built Environment (Lantham, 1992) 1-30. (available online)

Alex Kotlowitz, There are no Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America (New York, 1992) 1-56 (Section: Summer 1987).

http://downtownplan.columbus.gov/
http://www.columbusinfobase.org/
http://www.oldetowne.org/

Writing Assignment due April 6th, 6:00 pm (2.5% of grade)
Please read the articles written by Williamson and Jakle and Wilson. Also, take a look at the websites mentioned above. Write down three educated questions that you would ask our guest speaker in a polite and diplomatic manner on April 7th. Submit these questions via e-mail by April 6th, 6:00 pm (e-mail message, no attachments, please).

Topic: History of U.S. Housing and Urban Policy
Guest Lecture and Class Discussion: Housing Policies
Guest Speaker: George Mattei, MCRP, Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing (60 minutes)

Break (10 minutes)

Reflection (10 minutes)
Class Business (10 minutes)
Lecture: Federal Housing Policy (20 minutes)
Movie: “HUD – America's Slumlord” (50 minutes)
Movie courtesy of Dr. Jennifer Evans-Cowley
Class Discussion: “HUD – America's Slumlord” (20 minutes)

Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, The State of the Nation's Housing 2002 (Cambridge, 2002). http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/publications/markets/Son2002.pdf

Dennis Read, “Creating Housing, and Peace.” Columbus Monthly (February 2003) 70-72. (available online)

Alex Kotlowitz, There are no Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America (New York, 1992) 57-116 (Section: Fall 1987 – Spring 1988).

http://www.occh.org
http://www.hud.gov

Writing Assignment due April 13th, 6:00 pm (2.5% of grade)
Please read at least one chapter of your choice of The State of the Nation's Housing 2002 and Read's article. Also, please take a look at the websites given above. Write down three educated questions that you would ask our guest speaker in a polite and diplomatic manner on April 14th. Submit these questions via e-mail by April 13th, 6:00 pm (e-mail message, no attachments, please).

Week 4 - April 21

Topic: History of U.S. Housing and Urban Policy (Example):
Guest Lecture and Class Discussion: Columbus University District
Guest Speaker: Steve Sterrett, Campus Partners (60 minutes)

Break (10 minutes)

Reflection (10 minutes)
Class Business (10 minutes)
Movie: “Holding Ground: The Rebirth of Dudley Street” (60 minutes)
Group Activity: “Holding Ground: The Rebirth of Dudley Street” (20 minutes)
Class Discussion “Holding Ground: The Rebirth of Dudley Street” (20 minutes)

Reading Assignments for April 21st:

Peter Medoff and Holly Sklar, Streets of Hope: The Fall and Rise of an Urban Neighborhood (Boston, 1994) 7-35. (available online)

Dan Williamson, “The Lost Neighborhood: The Survival and Revival of the American Addition,” Columbus Monthly (March 2003) 114-122. (available online)

Eric Lyttle, “The First Signs of Rebirth,” Columbus Monthly (April 2001) 36-42. (available online)

Alex Kotlowitz, There are no Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America (New York, 1992) 117 – 190 (Sections: Summer 1988, Fall 1988 – Winter 1989).

http://www.osu.edu/org/osucp/
http://facweb.arch.ohio-state.edu/jevanscowley/crp852/crp852.htm

Topic: Housing Markets and Housing Finance (part 1)
Midterm (45 minutes)

Break (15 minutes)

Class Business (10 minutes)
Lecture: Spatial Models (20 minutes)
Group Activity: What are the Push and Pull Factors of (Sub)urbanization? (20 minutes)
Class Activity: What are the Push and Pull Factors of (Sub)urbanization? (20 minutes)
Movie: “Middletown – Continuity or Change?” (30 minutes)

Nancy Kleniewski, Cities, Change, and Conflict: A Political Economy of Urban Life (Belmont, 1997) 26-32.

Alan D. Miller, “A Polarization of People: Poverty, Decay Spread in Columbus' Core as Outer Ring Prospers,” The Columbus Dispatch (September 10, 1996) 01A. http://www.dispatch.com/news/special/priceofprogress/progress3.html

Alex Kotlowitz, There are no Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing up in the Other America (New York, 1992) 191-313 (Sections: Spring 1989, Summer 1989 and September 29, 1989).

http://www.brookings.org/es/urban/urban.htm

Writing Assignment due April 25th, 6:00 pm (5% of grade)
Please submit three educated questions that you would like to see on the midterm. Submit these questions via e-mail by April 25th, 6:00 pm (e-mail message, no attachments, please).

Topic: Housing Markets and Housing Finance (part 2)
Lecture: Homeownership (20 minutes)
Class Discussion: What are the advantages and disadvantages of
homeownership? (20 minutes)

Break (10 minutes)

Class Business (10 minutes)
Lecture: Secondary Mortgage Market (20 minutes)
Group Activity: Housing/Mortgage Calculation (20 minutes)
Movie: “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” (95 minutes)
Movie courtesy of Dr. Jennifer Evans Cowley

John B. Corgel, David C. Ling and Halbert C. Smith, Real Estate Perspectives: An Introduction to Real Estate (Boston et al., 2001) 405-417. (part of Chapter 16: Sources of Funds for Residential Mortgages). (available online)

Kenneth T. Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States (New York et al., 1985) 190-218. (Chapter 11: Federal Subsidy and the Suburban Dream: How Washington Changed the American Housing Market). (available online)

National Association of Home Builders, Housing Facts, Figures and Trends (Washington, 2001). http://www.nahb.org/../assets/docs/publication/fft2001_8142002101506AM.pdf

http://www.fanniemae.com/index.jhtml

Writing Assignment due May 5th (25% of grade)
Please read Alex Kotlowitz' There are No Children Here.
1. Describe the neighborhood (use specific quotes/page numbers).
2. Describe the housing situation (use specific quotes/page numbers).
3. What can planners/public policy analysts do in order to improve the neighborhood? (please be specific)
4. What can planners/public policy analysts do in order to improve the housing situation? (please be specific)
Maximum length: 5 pages.

Topic: Current Issues in Housing and Urban Development (part 1)
Guest Lecture: Housing Affordability
Guest Speaker: James Harsany, MCRP, Ohio Department of Development (60 minutes)

Break (10 minutes)

Reflection (10 minutes)
Class Business (10 minutes)
Lecture: Housing Affordability and Rent Control (20 minutes)
Group Activity: What are the advantages and disadvantages of rent control? (20 minutes)
Class Discussion: What are the advantages and disadvantages of rent control? (20 minutes)
Movie: “Affordable Housing – The Crisis in Texas” (25 minutes)
Movie courtesy of Dr. Jennifer Evans-Cowley

Joe Blundo, “Large Houses, Large Yards Put Suburbs beyond Reach for Some.” The Columbus Dispatch (September 9, 1996) 6D. (available online)

John I. Gilderbloom and Richard P. Applebaum, Rethinking Rental Housing (Philadelphia, 1988) 15-42. (Chapter 2: Economic, Social, and Political Dimensions of the Rental Housing Crisis)

http://www.hud.gov
http://www.odod.state.oh.us/

Writing Assignment due May 11th, 6:00 pm (2.5% of grade)
Please read Blundo's article and take a look at the websites mentioned above. Write down three educated questions that you would ask our guest speaker in a polite and diplomatic manner on May 12th. Submit these questions by e-mail until May 11th, 6:00 pm (e-mail message, no attachments, please).

Topic: Current Issues in Housing and Community Development (part 2)
Lecture: Discrimination in Housing (20 minutes)
Individual Activity (10 minutes)
Movie: “The Eye of the Storm” (25 minutes)

Break (10 minutes)

Movie: “Blue Eyed” (95 minutes)
Class Discussion: “The Eye of the Storm”/”Blue Eyed” (20 minutes)

Reading Assignments for May 19th:

Jodi Nirode and Stephanie Brenowitz, “Home Inequity: A Dream Denied: Even with High Incomes, Blacks Face a Tough Time Getting Home Mortgages,” The Columbus Dispatch (June 3, 2001).
http://www.dispatch.com/news/special/homeloan/721170.html

Jodi Nirode, “A Question of Discrimination: Complaint to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission by a Black Minister and His Wife Reveals the Gray Areas,” The Columbus Dispatch (June 3, 2001).
http://www.dispatch.com/news/special/homeloan/721176.html

Stephanie Brenowitz, “Colorblind Business: The Mortgage Industry Blames Socioeconomic Differences – not Race – for Disparities between Whites and Blacks Seeking Loans,” The Columbus Dispatch (June 3, 2001).
http://www.dispatch.com/news/special/homeloan/721167.html

Stephanie Brenowitz, “Black Homeowners Face Obstacles in Refinancing,” The Columbus Dispatch (June 4, 2001).
http://www.dispatch.com/news/special/homeloan/722032.html

Jodi Nirode, “Paying a Steep Price: Blacks Likelier than Whites to Turn to High-Cost Lenders,” The Columbus Dispatch (June 4, 2001).
http://www.dispatch.com/news/special/homeloan/722050.html

Jodi Nirode, “The Possible Dream: New Efforts Promote Homeownership for Blacks,” The Columbus Dispatch (June 5, 2001).
http://www.dispatch.com/news/special/homeloan/722765.html

Stephanie Brenowitz, “Internet Can Remove Race from Mortgage Decisions,” The Columbus Dispatch (June 5, 2001).
http://www.dispatch.com/news/special/homeloan/722746.html

Writing Assignment due May 27th, 6:00 pm (5% of grade)
Please submit three educated questions that you would like to see on the final. Submit these questions via e-mail by May 27th, 6:00 pm (e-mail message, no attachments, please).

Memorial Day, no classes, offices closed

Topic: Current Issues in Housing and Community Development (part 3)
Guest Lecture and Class Discussion: Homelessness
Guest Speaker: Kent Beittel, The Open Shelter (60 minutes)

Break (10 minutes)

Reflection (10 minutes)
Class Business (10 minutes)
Video: “Neighborhood Safety” (30 minutes)
Group Activity: “Neighborhood Safety” (20 minutes)
Class Discussion: “Neighborhood Safety” (20 minutes)

Conclusion of Class: What have we learned?

Jennifer Egan, “To be Young and Homeless,” The New York Times Magazine (March 24, 2002) 32-37, 58, 59. (available online)

Dan Williamson, “Gimme Shelter,” Columbus Monthly (December 2002) 48-55. (available online)

Jeff Long, “Politics and the Homeless,” Columbus Monthly (November 2000) 96-107. (available online)

http://www.theopenshelter.org/

Writing Assignment due June 1st, 6:00 pm (2.5% of grade)
Please read Egan's, Williamson's and Long's articles and take a look at the website given above. Write down three educated questions that you would ask our guest speaker in a polite and diplomatic manner on June 2nd. Submit these questions by e-mail until June 1st, 6:00 pm (e-mail message, no attachments, please).

Final Exam