Racial inequities in US housing ownership continue as a new report shows minorities pay more for their homes and are almost 30 percent less likely to own a home than Caucasians. Maps show that special segregation is still the norm in most cities.
For a pdf version of the full stories, contact Bo McCarver at bmccarver@austin.rr.com
Home Prices Continue To Rise Across The Nation
By Mark Memmott NPR April 30, 2013
There were solid increases in home prices during the month of February across all 20 major cities where that data is tracked, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices report.
“Despite some recent mixed economic reports for March, housing continues to be one of the brighter spots in the economy,” economist David Blitzer, who directs the work done by S&P Dow Jones Indices, says in the report.
Some of the data:
— The average home price in the 20 cities rose 9.3 percent from February 2012 to February 2013.
— From January to February alone, prices rose 0.3 percent.
— “Phoenix continued to stand out with an impressive year-over-year return of 23 percent.”
— There were also significant year-over-year price increases in Las Vegas (17.6 percent), Atlanta (16.5 percent) and Detroit (15.2 percent).
Bloomberg News says the report is another sign that “the U.S. housing market is strengthening.”
End of story: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/04/30/180031602/home-prices-continue-to-rise-across-the-nation
Black and Latino Homeowners Pay More Than Whites, Study Finds
By Matt Bevilacqua Next City April 25, 2013
The days of overt redlining — that nasty practice of corralling people of different races and ethnicities into different parts of a city — may be over, but evidence of de facto, neighborhood-based segregation persists everywhere you look. A number of maps showing the racial makeup of Chicago, Philadelphia and dozens of other U.S. cities portray our urban areas as divided along neat racial boundaries.
When juxtaposed with other maps showing class indicators such as income level and educational attainment, you begin to get a picture of the economic forces that keep city populations separated by race. And here’s an interesting stat: Blacks and Latinos are almost 30 percent less likely than whites to own a house. A study in last September’s issue of the Urban Affairs Review found a connection between homeownership, mobility and personal investment in a given neighborhood.
Now, researchers have found another economic barrier to minorities who want to buy a house: Blacks and Latinos pay an average of 3.5 percent more for homes than whites, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research report that was re-released this month.
Full story at: http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/black-and-latino-homeowners-pay-more-than-whites-study-finds
How Dallas Killed Farmers Markets
Dallas leads the nation in over-regulating farmers markets — which is why we have so few of them.
By Scott Reitz Dallas Observer April 25, 2013
On the surface, Sarah Perry seems like an unlikely advocate. She has a quiet, almost passive demeanor and no interest in whipping up conspiracy theories even though the city of Dallas has given her a good reason to have some. All she wants to do is run a simple farmers market, but City Hall has made that very hard. In fact, it was once illegal.
Perry was born in Dallas and spent 10 years in New York City before returning in 1998. During her time in Manhattan, shopping at the Saturday farmers market in her West Village neighborhood was just a matter of course. In the heart of one of the densest urban environments in the country, she could meet face to face with scores of farmers who traveled to Union Square to sell fresh produce and meats. “They had a program called Green Market,” Perry said, “which nurtures and teaches small farmers to make it possible for them to succeed and come and sell at the market.”
Full story at: http://www.dallasobserver.com/2013-04-25/restaurants/how-dallas-killed-farmers-markets/
Plan to redevelop southeast Fort Worth public housing complex near completion
By Scott Nishimura Fort Worth Star Telegram April 28, 2013
FORT WORTH — The city and Fort Worth Housing Authority are getting ready to take the veil off a 10- to 15-year, $100-million-plus plan to redevelop the aging Cavile Place public housing complex in Stop Six.
The two entities joined forces two years ago on a $400,000 study that they expect to present to the City Council and the housing authority commissioners within 4-6 weeks, said Ramon Guajardo, a consultant who’s been working on the project.
Cavile Place now has 300 apartments, and 800-900 people live there, Guajardo said.
The plan takes in the neighborhood bounded by Stalcup Road on the east, Ramey Avenue on the south, Edgewood Terrace on the west, and railroad tracks to the north.
It reduces the density of the main complex, distributes some units within the neighborhood and moves some to other locations.
Full story at: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/04/27/4808671/plan-to-redevelop-southeast-fort.html#my-headlines-default
