Affordable Housing and Civic Participation: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Journal of Public Law, Vol. 22, No. 1
40 Pages Posted: 13 Mar 2007
Date Written: March 10, 2007
Abstract
Over the past several decades, America's inner cities have deteriorated socially, economically, and politically. Simultaneously, civic engagement, almost by any measure, has been on the decline: Americans vote less and volunteer less, go out to dinner with friends less and attend PTA meetings less.
In this Article, I argue that the two phenomena are linked, at least from the perspective of remedies. Specifically, by rebuilding our inner cities to promote mixed-use, mixed-income development, we can revitalize some of the most impoverished neighborhoods in our country while simultaneously engendering the mechanisms to foster increased civic engagement in our participatory democracy.
Keywords: affordable housing, community development, civic engagement, urban policy
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