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Our latest segregation report unveils strategies for a racially integrated Bay Area
Last week we released the fifth and final installment of our "Racial Segregation in the San Francisco Bay Area" report series, this one focusing on remedies, solutions, and targets for a racially integrated region. The report reveals the correlations between neighborhoods with restrictive, singe-family zoning, non-single-family zoning, and their levels of segregation, and suggests opening up restrictive communities to multiplex housing as a foundational strategy to promote integration.
The researchers mapped every jurisdiction in the region to show their proportion of single-family zoned housing. The illuminating set of maps of dozens of cities across six Bay Area counties shows the regions and proportions of the cities that are zoned for single-family homes, other residential zoning, and non-residential zones. What they reveal is stunning: Nearly all the cities' residential areas are overwhelmingly zoned for single-family homes, including denser cities.
And in the graph you see below, we found that as the percentage of single-family zoning increases, so does its white population, while Black and Latinx populations diminish.
In addition to opening up exclusive communities to multiplex housing, the report recommends a set of policies which data shows can promote or preserve integration when properly implemented. Those include:
- The adoption of specific rent control and rent stabilization policies depending on the context of an individual city to prevent displacement from integrated communities
- Mobility strategies that open up predominantly white communities to people of color
- Inclusionary zoning ordinances and statewide fair share laws that mandate a specific level of economic integration
- Affordable housing policies and direct subsidies such as housing vouchers
Based on past census data, the report also provides predictions for the levels of segregation in the Bay Area over the next 10 years. Alarmingly, it shows that overall, segregation will continue to rise in the region, as has been the case in most counties over the past several decades. Using those predictions, the report suggests goals to reverse this trend. Visit this page to access the report. You can also access the press release summarizing the report here.
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On Bridging: Evidence & Guidance from Real-World Cases
As the pace of change in our world intensifies, humanity is confronting unprecedented global challenges. There are many paths we can take to respond to this moment: some encourage greater cooperation, collaboration, and solidarity, while others incite fear, polarization, and competition. A new memo by researcher Rachel Heydemann and Director john a. powell looks at an array of case studies around bridging as a response to the profound othering we witness today. Through the examples explored in this memo, we seek to understand what is required, from an individual to an institutional level, to strengthen practices and principles that offer a path forward towards a world where all belong. Click to download a copy of this paper.
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Podcast: Can social housing provide a solution to a looming mass eviction crisis?
In this episode of Who Belongs?, we speak with Carroll Fife, an organizer, mother, and director of the Oakland office of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE). Earlier this year, she was involved in coordinating the #Moms4Housing campaign in which the five Black women took over a vacant home on Magnolia Street in Oakland. In our interview Fife talks to us about the history of speculative housing and its impacts on the Black community, the looming eviction crisis, houselessness, police violence, and her vision for fair and just housing. Visit this page to listen to the interview and read a transcript. |
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New poll shows Californians confident in mail-in voting
This week we released a new poll we conducted in partnership with Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies which found that Californians overwhelmingly reject the idea that mail-in votes are more likely to be compromised, and trust the USPS to deliver their ballots. The poll surveyed 8,328 registered California voters and found that in 84 percent of cases, respondents said they agree with the statement, “I trust the U.S. Postal Service to deliver my ballot safely and on time to be counted.” See more results from this survey here. And see a mention of our poll in the Sacramento Bee. |
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Only one day left to apply to our Artist-in-Residence program!
This is your last chance to apply to our 2021 Artist-in-Residence program: Deadline is tomorrow!
The residency will support one artist or artist collective whose work can offer deep insight into the radical transformation of elements of society towards belonging. The application is open to all artistic forms. Click here to learn more and to apply.
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News & Media
OBI Senior Fellow Richard Rothstein authored an op-ed in the New York Times entitled, "The Black Lives Next Door," detailing how historical redlining continues to impact how we live today.
The Mercury News mentioned our report, "Roots, Race, and Place" in an op-ed, "This legislation addresses needed housing and racial justice."
Faculty scholar Jesse Rothstein commented on Trump's so-called "eviction protection order" in Salon. "My understanding is that it does not actually provide any protection at all from evictions," Rothstein says. "It directs a couple of federal agencies that are studying what they could do to protect you. That's the sort of thing you might have thought they would figure out before he issued the order, not afterward. But it was just to study. It isn't gonna do anything."
Faculty scholar Emmanual Saez was quoted in a San Francisco Chronicle article, "California wealth tax could become first of its kind in US under new proposal."
Research co-authored by faculty scholar Karen Chapple on housing in Menlo Park was featured in The Almanac. The study examined the areas of Belle Haven, East Palo Alto, and North Fair Oaks and found that "those three communities are experiencing disproportionate pressure in the housing market compared to the rest of the San Mateo County."
Faculty scholar Cristina Mora was quoted in the LA Times about a new poll released by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies finding that a majority of Californians back police reform.
Research co-authored by faculty scholars Rachel Morello Frosch and Mahasin Mujahid on how historical redlining is linked to premature births was covered in Berkeley News.
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Opportunities at the institute
We have the following positions open at the institute:
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