OUP - Abstract

After Foreclosure: The Social and Spatial Reconstruction of Everyday Lives in the San Francisco Bay Area

Dissertation School: Regents of the University of California

Abstract:

In this dissertation project, I investigate the effect of foreclosure on households and the metropolitan region. I examine: 1) the geographies of post-foreclosure households by analyzing households' movement after foreclosure; and 2) households' recovery processes. This research employs a case study of a metropolitan region in order to examine household recovery experiences and how these differ across neighborhoods, how a diversity of social networks and individual strategies and tactics can contribute to processes of recovery, and how and why foreclosed households move across metropolitan space.

The specific purpose of the dissertation is to answer the following research questions: What are the geographies of post-foreclosure households? How does the experience of foreclosure continue to affect lives, and what are the coping mechanisms and behaviors, short-term tactics, and longer-term strategies employed by households that have experienced foreclosure? My findings will address gaps in research and policy, as discussed below.

This research uses a mixed-methods methodology, using GIS mapping for spatial and demographic analysis, and interviews to investigate post-foreclosure experiences at the individual and household scale. Using foreclosure data from 2006-09 for the nine-county San Francisco Bay area, I have matched foreclosed addresses to current addresses using the U.S. Postal Service's National Change of Address data. This data is used for spatial analysis, in combination with Census data, and a subset of these heads of households will be mailed an invitation to participate in interviews. I am also inviting interview participants through community-based organizations working with these households. Additionally, I am analyzing the cultural landscapes of post-foreclosure catchment neighborhoods, through photography and field observations. Together, the spatial, interview, and landscape analysis will provide a triangulation of investigation into the foreclosure recovery process and the meanings for foreclosed households and the broader metropolitan region.

Foreclosure researchers have focused on learning how the mortgage lending industry and housing policy produced this crisis, ignoring discussions of the equity and social implications of the foreclosure crisis. From 2006-10, this crisis has produced a wave of displacement, which still shows little sign of slowing, and according to researchers at the Ford Foundation, the crisis is projected to continue through at least 2012. Nationally, foreclosure-produced displacement has forced over a million households into a process of reconstruction of everyday life. This research will address gaps in the literature around foreclosure, housing equity, and opportunity. It will also address the gaps in the knowledge of policymakers and practitioners on how post-foreclosure households are reshaping the metropolitan region and how these households continue to be impacted after losing their homes.

As the crisis is still ongoing, this research will impact policy to reduce the crisis surrounding foreclosures and enable the household recovery process. Also, this research will inform planning and community development practitioners in addressing the unique needs of communities that are catchment areas for post-foreclosure households. It will additionally help to increase understanding and reduce stigmas around the process of foreclosure and recovery, opening up new dialogues and new possibilities for recovery.

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