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Federal Funding and Community Development: An Evaluation of the Strategic Uses of Small Cities Community Development Block Grants in Upstate New York Author: Eileen A. Robertson-Rehberg Dissertation School: Cornell University Pages: 399 Publication Date: January 2003 Availability: Access Number: 10762 Abstract: Specific purpose of the dissertation Small cities in the Upstate New York region utilize funding allocated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through the Housing and the Community Development Act (HCDA) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to expand local economic opportunities through housing and jobs. Currently, many federal policies including CDBGs incorporate market principles to create more efficient programs and to reduce the dependency fostered by redistributive welfare programs such as the War on Poverty, Model Cities and the Housing Acts of 1961, 1965 and 1968. The dissertation research question is the following - How do the community development programs supported by CDBG funding address housing and employment with regard to the needs of those in lower income brackets in small cities in Upstate New York? This question is particularly relevant, given the demographic and economic changes in rural areas throughout the United States. As rural areas in the nation engage with structural changes in the economy there are associated increases in income disparities and housing deficiencies for lower income households. In addition, new welfare requirements may mean the increased participation of women in the labor market; therefore increased economic opportunities through CDBG funding may be critical. Methodology The method for the analysis will utilize a case study design. This approach is appropriate given the flexibility of CDBG program regulations. In this case, each municipality awarded a grant is potentially unique. The selection of the case study sites will be identified by categories of grants to include places (cities or villages) in Upstate New York that have utilized HUD CDBG funding for more than 5 years. The time qualification selects case studies that have a long-term commitment to a strategic plan for Community Development Programs. The variables included in the case study analyses are in two major sections of the research method design. The first section is an analysis of neighborhood change and this section utilizes indicators of change that describe changes in "economic opportunity" constructed from 1980 and 1990 decennial census data. The second section factors into the economic opportunity variables information from the Real Property Services (RPS) databases on property parcels. This information is from the approximate years 1988 and 1998. The RPS data can both update and inform census data with an analysis of property codes for parcels. The codes include information on the specific use of each parcel according to residential, commercial and industrial categories. The case study variables along with household surveys and municipal comprehensive plans can provide conclusive evidence of social and economic changes attributable to municipal planning that includes CDBG funds |
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