Portland’s African American Leadership Forum

1. Portland’s African American Leadership Forum john a. powell Executive Director, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity Williams Chair in Civil Rights & Civil Liberties, Moritz College of Law Northwest Area Foundation Portland, OR April 22, 2010

2. Today’s Discussion • Geography of Opportunity, and the current landscape of opportunity in Portland region • Systems and structures • Transformational change and bringing equity into planning, creating communities of opportunity • Framing

3. Understanding the Geography of Opportunity

4. Our understanding has changed over time…. From Single- Dimensional understanding… • One variable can explain why opportunity has been restricted

5. …to a multi-dimensional understanding…. • Structural Inequality • Example: a Bird in a cage. Examining one bar cannot explain why a bird cannot fly. But multiple bars, arranged in specific ways, reinforce each other and trap the bird.

6. ...to an understanding of processes and relationships • Understanding the relationships among these multiple dimensions, and how these complex intra-actions change processes • Relationships are neither static nor discrete

7. In 1960, African-American families in poverty were 3.8 times more likely to be concentrated in high-poverty neighborhoods than poor whites. In 2000, they were 7.3times more likely. Opportunity is “racialized”

8. Opportunity is “spatialized” Structural racialization involves a series of exclusions, often anchored in (and perpetuating) spatial segregation. Historically marginalized people of color and the very poor have been spatially isolated from opportunity via reservations, Jim Crow, Appalachian mountains, ghettos, barrios, and the culture of incarceration.

9. Opportunity is “globalized” • Our world today is more complex and interconnected. • Current and future changes will not be only driven by local/national issues, but influenced by systemic global trends and challenges • Examples • globalization • climate change • the credit and foreclosure crisis • growing diversity and widening inequality

10. Systems and Structures

11. We must adjust our lens of analysis to reflect these changing conditions, • And move towards a systems approach of problem solving and identifying solutions

12. INTRODUCING SYSTEMS THINKING • Discussions about regions are enhanced by thinking about opportunity – both structurally and socially. • We need to think about the ways in which the institutions that mediate opportunity are arranged – systems thinking. • The order of the structures • The timing of the interaction between them • The relationships that exist between them

13. Historic exclusion is perpetuated through our institutions…System Interactions Source: Barbara Reskin. http://faculty.uwashington.edu/reskin/

14. Structural Racialization Adapted from the Aspen Roundtable on Community Change. “Structural Racism and Community Building.” June 2004

15. The Cumulative Impacts of Spatial, Racial and Opportunity Segregation Segregation impacts a number of life-opportunities Impacts on Health School Segregation Impacts on Educational Achievement Exposure to crime; arrest Transportation limitations and other inequitable public services Job segregation Neighborhood Segregation Racial stigma, other psychological impacts Impacts on community power and individual assets Adapted from figure by Barbara Reskin at: http://faculty.washington.edu/reskin/

16. The outcome of structural racialization is a highly uneven Geography of Opportunity… Some people ride the “Up” escalator to reach opportunity. Others have to run up the “Down” escalator to get there. 16

17. People are “differentially situated” Not only are people situated differently with regard to institutions, people are situated differently with regard to infrastructure People are impacted by the relationships between institutions and systems… …but people also impact these relationships and can change the structure of the system. 17

18. Contrasting Low & High Opportunity Areas Where would you want to live? It’s more than just a matter of choice.

19. Who’s to blame?

20. Historic Government Role • A series of mutually reinforcing federal policies across multiple domains have contributed to the disparities we see today • School Desegregation • Suburbanization/ Homeownership • Urban Renewal • Public Housing • Transportation

21. Today, Institutions continue to support, not dismantle, the status quo. This is why we continue to see racially inequitable outcomes even if there is good intent behind policies, or an absence of racist actors. (i.e. structural racialization)

22. Portland’s Landscape of Opportunity

23. Housing Opportunity • As of January 2010, 1 in 377 houses within Portland MSA were in foreclosure Source: http://diversitydata.sph.harvard.edu/Data/Profiles/Show.aspx?loc=1092

24. Gentrification: A New Form of Exclusion From 1990 to 1999, the average home price in the Portland region rose 97% from $96,000 to $188,600. In some previously redlined areas prices increased 150 or 200% in five years.  Source: K. Gibson and C. Abbott. “City Profile: Portland, Oregon.” Cities Vol.19, No.6 December 2002.

25. Housing Opportunity contd. • Home prices have been increasing more rapidly than household income • Between 1990-2000, median price for SF homes increased 75% (2005, average median price was $232,000) • In 2008, median household income ($48,993) was substantially less than 1/3 of median home price ($293,300) • Home price appreciation uneven across the region • Strong growth in Portland-area neighborhoods, especially Northeast Portland Source: Coalition for a Livable Future. Regional Equity Atlas: Housing.

26. Out of reach… • Minority homeownership gap has been increasing over time; homeownership is becoming further out of reach given the steep home price increases relative to median income. • In Clark, Multnomah, and Washington counties, homeownership rates for people of color lag not only whites, but national rates for the same racial groups. Source: Coalition for a Livable Future. Regional Equity Atlas: Housing.

27. Education Opportunity • The poverty of a school, more than the poverty of the individual, determines students’ educational outcomes. Source: http://diversitydata.sph.harvard.edu/Data/Profiles/Show.aspx?loc=1092

28. Health Opportunity • Low birthweight babies are more likely to suffer from impaired physical and cognitive development, and decreased health overall throughout childhood. Source: http://diversitydata.sph.harvard.edu/Data/Profiles/Show.aspx?loc=1092

29. Economic Opportunity • Increases in child poverty, homelessness, and temporary relief indicate that children across the U.S. are experiencing “a quiet disaster.” • “We are seeing the emergence of what amounts to a ‘recession generation.’” Bob Herbert, “Children in Peril.” New York Times Op-Ed published April 20, 2009. Herbert is quoting Dr. Irwin Redlener, president of the Children’s Health Fund in New York.

30. Neighborhood Opportunity • Living in a disadvantaged neighborhood is equivalent to missing a full year of school, and these effects continue on even after a family has moved. Sampson, et.al. Source: http://diversitydata.sph.harvard.edu/Data/Profiles/Show.aspx?loc=1092

31. Some neighborhoods became integrated between 1980 and 2000, especially White/Hispanic integration…

32. …but opportunity segregation is still an issue, especially in the African American community, and the geography of segregation has changed over time. Source: http://diversitydata.sph.harvard.edu/Data/Profiles/Show.aspx?loc=1092

33. How to make transformational change?

34. Transformative Thinking transformative thinking to combat structural racialization we need to find new approaches. personal and social responsibility are important: we should maintain them in our advocacy and analysis approaches should consider the structures that are creating and perpetuating these disparities and work to reform them for lasting change. 34

35. Role of Leadership • Structural Racialization • Policy is important, but only one piece of the puzzle • Understanding relationships between institutions, not just within one organization, is critical • Frame the discussion

36. Planning and Equity

37. Planning’s Evolution of Confronting Urban Problems

38. The “Portland Way” A leader in regional, sustainable development? In some areas…

39. …but room for improvement in others… projected a long-range unmet housing need of 90,000 units for low-income households in the region by 2017

40. Metro Council and Affordable Housing • Regional Affordable Housing Strategy (RAHS) originally included mandatory inclusionary zoning if jurisdictions failed to meet fair share housing targets • State legislature banned the inclusionary zoning mandate in 1999 • The RAHS offers strategies to localities to increase affordable housing production, including: fee waivers, density bonus programs, and flexible building and parking code requirements Source: http://diversitydata.sph.harvard.edu/Data/Profiles/Show.aspx?loc=1092 Source: http://diversitydata.sph.harvard.edu/Data/Profiles/Show.aspx?loc=1092

41. TOD and affordable housing • Tax Incentives: Portland offers property tax exemptions for multi-unit residential developments located within designated TOD areas. Developments with 10+ units are eligible for the 10-year property tax exemption if: • 20% of rental units should be affordable to households earning no more than 60% of the area median income (AMI) or 10 percent should be affordable to households earning no more than 30% of the AMI. • The rental units are to remain affordable for the duration of tax exemption plus an additional 5 years thereafter. • For-sale units should be sold to households earning no more than 100% of the AMI for a family of four.

42. The Metro Council 2040 Growth Concept values • VIBRANT COMMUNITIES – People live and work in vibrant communities where they can choose to walk for pleasure and to meet their everyday needs. • ECONOMIC PROSPERITY – Current and future residents benefit from the region’s sustained economic competitiveness and prosperity. • SAFE AND RELIABLE TRANSPORTATION – People have safe and reliable transportation choices that enhance their quality of life. • ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP – The region is a leader in minimizing contributions to global warming. • CLEAN AIR AND WATER – Current and future generations enjoy clean air, clean water and healthy ecosystems. • EQUITY – The benefits and burdens of growth and change are distributed equitably.

43. Metro’s Urban Growth Report findings • Economic Opportunity/Considerations • Changing location of employment centers—growth in outer areas, losses in inner and central areas • Growth in service sector, esp. in health/social services • Decrease in manufacturing and retail • What do these trends mean for marginalized workers in Portland? Are they represented in industries of growth? Or of decline?

44. UGR contd. • Housing “Opportunity”/Considerations • Changing location of households of color—moving to inner ring suburbs. Employment centers moving from these locations? Declining employment opportunity? • Restricted housing choices—little MF development in new expansion areas, not enough housing choices that reflect budgets of moderate-low income households • 0 MF units built in post-97 expansion areas • Predict greater growth in MF units than SF by 2030—but are these affordable rental MF, or condos, or…?

45. UGR contd. • Transportation Opportunity/Considerations • Infrastructure funding shortfalls • $10 b. alone needed for repairs and reconstruction • 2008 estimate that $27-$43 b. needed to accommodate housing and employment growth in Portland • Where will this money come from? Who will be burdened more because of these shortfalls?

46. Changing Portland’s Geography of Opportunity

47. Leveraging opportunities: Be Targeted and Universal • The Sustainable Communities Initiative • Collaboration among EPA, DOT, and HUD • Metro planning on applying for a regional planning grant • How can the grant be used to implement Metro’s official equity goal, “The benefits and burdens of growth and change are distributed equitably.”

48. Putting Equity Back on the “Sustainability Table”You can’t have one without the other Tension between issues of sustainability and equity. But what is the source of this tension? Value tension? Process/strategy tension? Whose definition of equity? Whose definition of sustainability? Who’s at the table?

49. Defining an “equitable region” • “All residents have access to opportunities for meeting basic needs and advancing their health and well-being: good jobs, transportation choices, safe and stable housing, a good education, quality health care, a range of parks and natural areas, vibrant public spaces, and healthful food. The benefits and burdens of growth and change are fairly shared among our communities… All residents and communities are fully involved as equal partners in public decision-making.” Who’s measuring this? Who’s accountable? Source: Coalition for a Livable Future. Regional Equity Atlas Project. 2007.

50. The Big Question • How to make opportunity structures and institutions responsive to our needs? How to create accountability?