Study Notes on The Informal American City

The Informal American City: Beyond Taco Trucks and Day Labor

Overview

  • Editors: Vinit Mukhija and Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris

  • Publisher: The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England.

Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgments ix

  • Introduction 1

    • Vinit Mukhija and Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris

  • Part I: Settings

    1. The Garage Sale as Informal Economy and Transformative Urbanism 21

    • Author: Margaret Crawford

    1. Outlaw In-Laws: Informal Second Units and the Stealth Reinvention of Single-Family Housing 39

    • Author: Vinit Mukhija

    1. The Reproduction of Informality in Low-Income Self-Help Housing Communities 59

    • Author: Peter M. Ward

    1. Making and Supporting Community Gardens as Informal Urban Landscapes 79

    • Author: Jeffrey Hou

    1. "This Is My Front Yard!" Claims and Informal Property Rights on Sidewalks 97

    • Authors: Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and Renia Ehrenfeucht

    1. Learning from the Margin: Placemaking Tactics 119

    • Author: Nabil Kamel

    1. Surviving in America's Playground: Informal Sustenance Strategies among the Chronically Unhoused 137

    • Author: Jacob Avery

  • Part II: Responses

    1. The Irreconcilable Tension between Dwelling in Public and the Regulatory State 155

    • Authors: Renia Ehrenfeucht and Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris

    1. Learning from Informal Practices: Implications for Urban Design 173

    • Author: Michael Rios

    1. Formalizing City Farms: Conflict and Conciliation 193

    • Authors: Matt Covert and Alfonso Morales

    1. A More Delicious City: How to Legalize Street Food 209

    • Author: Mark Vallianatos

    1. Crystals, Mud, and Space: Street Vending Informality 227

    • Author: Gregg Kettles

    1. "Keep Your Wheels On": Mediating Informality in the Food Cart Industry 243

    • Authors: Ginny Browne, Will Dominie, and Kate Mayerson

    1. Regulating Day Labor: Worker Centers and Organizing in the Informal Economy 261

    • Author: Abel Valenzuela Jr.

    1. Informal Parking Markets: Turning Problems into Solutions 277

    • Author: Donald Shoup

  • Conclusion: Deepening the Understanding of Informal Urbanism 295

    • Authors: Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and Vinit Mukhija

  • Contributors 305

  • Index 311

Chapter 3: The Reproduction of Informality in Low-Income Self-Help Housing Communities

  • Author: Peter M. Ward

  • Focus: Examines informality in the production and consumption of housing among low-income groups, particularly in colonias along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Key Goals

  1. Describe Rationality: Demonstrate how informality arises in housing production and consumption in colonias.

  2. Explore Reproduction: Discuss how informality may evolve through household dynamics, land market performance, and public policies.

Significance of Informality

  • Informality in housing is a rational and dynamic phenomenon in response to several factors:

    • Housing Aspirations: Reflects aspirations for home ownership among low-income populations.

    • Responses to Context: Responds to changes in household dynamics, market performance, and effects of public policies.

Colonias and Informal Homestead Subdivisions

  • Definition: Colonias are informal settlements, often embodying low-income and Hispanic populations, struggling with inadequate housing conditions.

  • Research Gaps: Little systematic research on how low-income urban populations use informal mechanisms for land acquisition.

  • Public Policy Concerns: Increased attention on colonias for housing and urbanization issues.

Geographic Insights

  • Colonias have been identified beyond border areas and can be found in various states (e.g., Texas, North Carolina, Georgia).

  • Average household incomes in colonias range from 15,000 to 25,000 per year with some earning less than 1,000 per month.

Types of Colonias and Informal Subdivisions

  1. Classic Border Colonias: Traditional low-income housing with mixed dwelling types.

  2. New Border Colonias: New subdivisions created under formal regulations but exhibiting informal characteristics.

  3. Non-Border Informal Subdivisions: Similar to colonias but not strictly identified as such; often have different types of housing.

Reproduction of Informality

  • Surveys: Studies highlight contracts for deed (CfD) as a primary method for land sale and ownership transfer.

  • Income Reference: Many households in colonias rely on low-wage jobs and self-help housing strategies.

Financing Mechanisms

  • Key mechanisms that contribute to affordability in colonia housing include:

    • Low Land Costs: Accessible pricing for land purchase.

    • Informal Seller Financing: Often at extremely high-interest rates, further entrenching economic vulnerability.

Housing Conditions and Choices

  • Many colonia residents lack access to essential services, increasing their living costs in other areas (e.g., water, electricity).

  • Consolidation Process: Residents improve homes incrementally over time - transformation from shacks to more permanent structures.

Social Dynamics and Housing Extension

  • Informal household structures allow for flexible living arrangements (horizontal/vertical). This is especially useful for multiple generations or kin living together to share resources.

  • Inheritance Issues: Lack of wills complicates property transfer after the original owner's death, leading to potential disputes and clouded titles.

Policy Recommendations

  • Policies should seek to foster informality while enhancing protections against exploitation:

    1. Recording of Contracts: Ensure proper documentation of CfDs to safeguard buyers.

    2. Inheritance Planning: Encourage colonia residents to create wills to avoid intestacy problems.

    3. Market Functionality: New policies needed to track owners of vacant lots and bring them back into use.

    4. Infrastructure Improvements: Focus on enhancing living conditions through adequate services and support for home improvements.

Conclusion

  • Informality is a dynamic component of housing for low-income populations in the U.S., particularly through self-help initiatives. Understanding these processes is vital for urban planning and social policy.

Section 1: Colonias and Informal Homestead Subdivisions

  • Definition and Characteristics: Colonias are informal settlements primarily composed of low-income and Hispanic populations. They are characterized by inadequate housing conditions and a lack of essential infrastructure.

  • Demographics:

    • Average household incomes typically range from 15,000 to 25,000 per year.

    • Some households earn less than 1,000 per month, positioning them well below federal poverty lines.

  • Geographic Prevalence: While historically associated with the U.S.-Mexico border (e.g., Texas), they are increasingly identified in non-border states like North Carolina and Georgia.

  • Classification of Subdivisions:

    1. Classic Border Colonias: Traditional settlements with varied dwelling types.

    2. New Border Colonias: Subdivisions that may meet formal regulations initially but develop informal traits over time.

    3. Non-Border Informal Subdivisions: Areas exhibiting similar socio-economic challenges but found in the interior of the United States.

Section 2: The Dimensions and Reproduction of Informality

  • Rationale: Informality is not an accident but a rational strategy used by low-income populations to achieve homeownership when formal markets exclude them.

  • Temporal Nature: It is a dynamic process that evolves in response to household life cycles, land market shifts, and public policy changes.

  • Reproducing Mechanisms: Informality is sustained through self-help housing strategies and the reliance on informal networks for survival and expansion.

Section 3: Land Sales and Titles in Informal Subdivisions

  • Contract for Deed (CfD): This is the primary method for land acquisition. In a CfD, the buyer only receives the deed after the final payment is made, which can take years.

  • Financing Barriers: Residents often utilize informal seller financing because they lack access to traditional bank mortgages.

  • Economic Risks: These contracts often come with extremely high interest rates, and until the debt is cleared, residents remain vulnerable to eviction and loss of all equity.

Section 4: Housing Conditions, Housing Choices, and "Consolidation"

  • Infrastructure Gaps: Residents often lack basic utilities like potable water and reliable electricity at the outset.

  • The Consolidation Process: Low-income owners improve their dwellings incrementally as funds become available. This transformation usually begins with a "shack" or temporary structure that evolves over time into a permanent residence.

  • Trade-offs: Residents accept poor initial conditions in exchange for the long-term benefit of land ownership and the absence of high monthly rent.

Section 5: Informal Household Structure Arrangements, Household Extension, and Inheritance

  • Flexible Living Arrangements: Homes often feature horizontal or vertical extensions to accommodate multi-generational families or kin sharing resources.

  • Clouded Titles: A major issue is the lack of formal wills among residents. When an owner dies "intestate" (without a will), property titles become "clouded," making legal transfers difficult and leading to family disputes.

Section 6: Public Policy Responses to Informality

  • Historical Neglect: Early policy responses often ignored these settlements or attempted to regulate them out of existence through strict zoning.

  • A Dual Approach: Current recommendations suggest a balance between fostering the affordability provided by informality and protecting residents from exploitative practices.

Section 7: Policies to Promote Clean Titles

  • Recording Requirements: Mandating the recording of Contracts for Deed with county clerks to ensure there is a legal trail of the transaction.

  • Title Clearing Initiatives: State-funded programs designed to help residents resolve clouded titles and secure legal ownership deeds.

Section 8: Policies to Improve Market Functioning

  • Land Inventory: Developing systems to track owners of vacant lots within informal subdivisions.

  • Reactivation: Creating mechanisms to bring abandoned or vacant land back into the housing market to prevent neighborhood blight and increase density.

Section 9: Policies for Upgrading

  • Infrastructure Investment: Prioritizing the extension of water, sewer, and paved roads to existing colonias.

  • Home Improvement Support: Providing low-interest loans or grants specifically for upgrading self-built homes to meet safety codes.

Section 10: Targeting the Aged

  • Vulnerability: Older residents are at the highest risk regarding the loss of property due to medical expenses or lack of estate planning.

  • Intervention: Policies aimed at encouraging the creation of wills and providing legal aid for the elderly to ensure their homes can be passed down to the next generation without legal complication.

Section 11: Conclusion: Informality Is (Not) Dead; Long Live Informality!

  • Permanent Reality: The conclusion asserts that informality is a permanent and thriving part of the American urban landscape, especially for the working poor.

  • Strategic Integration: Urban planners and policymakers must recognize informality as a persistent tool for housing production and work to integrate it into formal social and economic systems rather than simply trying to erase it.