Literature Review - Why Do Neighborhoods Decline?
The decline that Victory Acres has experienced is not uncommon. Communities go through many changes, mostly negative, but they cannot be avoided. With the passage of time, the once vibrant properties of Victory Acres naturally diminished in value. This occurrence, referred to as the Neighborhood Life-Cycle, was studied in Cincinnati by William A. Schwab. As Schwab researched, he found that the “relationship between the socioeconomic status of occupants and housing age is a crucial one.”[9] As time passes, a home’s increased age “reduces the benefits produced by a given dwelling unit” and “necessarily leads to lower income occupancy. Since all units in a neighborhood age together, the population of the neighborhood will vacate” for a neighborhood with newer units.[10] People who can afford to do so will leave behind the deteriorating and diminishing homes for new, lower income residents to move into. This leads to further decline in the neighborhood’s overall income and value.
While not ideal, a community can survive this lowered level of socioeconomic activity as long as it is “held together by common values, mutual dependence, affection, and respect, much like an extended family.”[11] The sense of community that close-knit neighborhoods have, however, is also endangered by people leaving. Nancy Perry found this to be true as she researched East Arlington, Virginia, a neighborhood with a story very similar to that of Victory Acres’.
Map showing the changes in Victory Acres in the 1980s by comparing the presence or absence of buildings on aerial photography from 1979 and 1986. This map shows the impact of road construction as well as the growth of the neighborhood in the 1980s. Source: 1979 and 1986 Historical Aerial Imagery from Maricopa County (http://gis.maricopa.gov/MapApp/GIO/AerialHistorical/) Made with QGIS 4.14.4 Map design by Josh Blackmon August 6, 2016.
Quite often, residents have no choice but to leave. Just as Victory Acres was originally populated by a minority group that had been moved from San Pablo through eminent domain, East Arlington was made up largely of people who had been made to leave Freedmen’s Village for the creation of Arlington National Cemetery. And, again just like in Tempe, a portion of the East Arlington group found themselves forced to move to make way for roads. While the government was required to economically compensate the ousted residents of both Tempe and Arlington, “some losses are intangible, for example, the consequences and effects of the loss of sense of community on individuals living in the community.”[12] According to a Victory Acres’ historian, “Many of these barrios have been lost through Eminent Domain legal takeovers by city governments, by economic downturns, and other reasons. These barrios suffered the loss of their community life, family togetherness, and the support systems that nourished them through generations.”[13] Unfortunately, a sense of community is “an integral contributor to one’s commitment to a neighborhood and satisfaction with it.”[14] Victory Acres has found itself caught up in a downward spiral that seems to feed itself. As homes aged, property values began to drop, and the highway was built, people moved away. As more people moved away, the sense of community lessened. As community becomes less important, people are less emotionally invested in the neighborhood, causing property values to further drop, thus continuing the cycle.
Quite often, residents have no choice but to leave. Just as Victory Acres was originally populated by a minority group that had been moved from San Pablo through eminent domain, East Arlington was made up largely of people who had been made to leave Freedmen’s Village for the creation of Arlington National Cemetery. And, again just like in Tempe, a portion of the East Arlington group found themselves forced to move to make way for roads. While the government was required to economically compensate the ousted residents of both Tempe and Arlington, “some losses are intangible, for example, the consequences and effects of the loss of sense of community on individuals living in the community.”[12] According to a Victory Acres’ historian, “Many of these barrios have been lost through Eminent Domain legal takeovers by city governments, by economic downturns, and other reasons. These barrios suffered the loss of their community life, family togetherness, and the support systems that nourished them through generations.”[13] Unfortunately, a sense of community is “an integral contributor to one’s commitment to a neighborhood and satisfaction with it.”[14] Victory Acres has found itself caught up in a downward spiral that seems to feed itself. As homes aged, property values began to drop, and the highway was built, people moved away. As more people moved away, the sense of community lessened. As community becomes less important, people are less emotionally invested in the neighborhood, causing property values to further drop, thus continuing the cycle.
Map showing total property values (land and improvements) in 2016, with commercial properties highlighted with star symbol (though it must be noted that Maricopa parcel data shows what is now highway (parts of the 101 and ramps) and S Lebanon Lane as ‘commercial’ land. Property values are quite low except along E Apache Boulevard, a major traffic artery where the new light rail line runs. Source: 2016 Parcel Data from Maricopa County accessed through Arizona State University Data Repository. Made with QGIS 4.14.4 Map design by Kris Fedorak August 7, 2016.
[9] William A. Schwab, “Alternative Explanations of Neighborhood Change: An Evolution of Neighborhood Life-Cycle, Composition, and Arbitrage Models,” Sociological Focus 21, no. 1 (January 1988): 82, accessed August 4, 2016. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20831462
[10] Ibid, 83.
[11] Nancy Perry, “Eminent Domain Destroys a Community: Leveling East Arlington to Make Way for the Pentagon,” Urban Geography 37, no. 1 (December 2015): 145, 157, accessed August 4, 2016, doi: 10.1080/02723638.2015.1100953.
[12] Ibid, 142.
[13] Vega, 9.
[14] Perry, 145.
[10] Ibid, 83.
[11] Nancy Perry, “Eminent Domain Destroys a Community: Leveling East Arlington to Make Way for the Pentagon,” Urban Geography 37, no. 1 (December 2015): 145, 157, accessed August 4, 2016, doi: 10.1080/02723638.2015.1100953.
[12] Ibid, 142.
[13] Vega, 9.
[14] Perry, 145.