Urban Violence Laboratory: From Home to Home by carinaxd

ARCH 407 | 507 Terminal Prep Seminar Portland Architecture Program University of Oregon

FROM HOME TO HOME URBAN VIOLENCE LABORATORY

Design for Spatial Justice Fellow Visiting Assistant Professor Elisandra Garcia

Carina Chan

Table of Contents

Eviction investigation board: landlord vs. tenants

Social hierarchy vs. life chances

Tenant-centered organizations

A story of eviction in the city of Portland

Interstate 205 + Interstate 84 and Portland mappping analysis

Thesis

Bibliography

How can a place be called home while in the process of getting evicted?

“[Home is] center of life. It is a refuge from the grind of work, the pressure of school, and the menace of the streets… we can ‘be ourselves.’ Everywhere else, we are someone else. At home, we remove our masks.”

Matthew Desmond

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“Trailer park owner Tobin Charney made an annual income of $447,000 and belonged to the top 1% of income-earners. Most of his tenants belonged to the bottom 10%.”

Matthew Desmond

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1 week

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“Families forced from their homes are pushed into undesirable parts of the city, moving from poor neighborhoods into even poorer ones; from crime-filled areas into still more dangerous ones”

A L

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“Where you are in the social hierarchies has major impact on lives and life chances.”

Sociological Thinking

Life is like an escalator, it allows people to age at the same pace, yet it gives people different life chances. For example, all newborn babies are born with the same amount of bones and muscles, yet they begin their life journeys at different starting points on the escalator. Therefore, these unfair starting points bring them poor status, unfavorable fame, disadvantage, and class differences, and eventually strip away basic housing rights as humans.

In 2016, lower-class households were about 29% of the American adult population with a median household income of $25,624. Income inequality heavily harms societies. Especially with a big income gap, where generates health and social problems, low-income families are the first to be affected by the economic inequality.

Economic inequality cannot be fixed by work ethics as it is a systemic flaw in capitalist countries. The lower class has fewer opportunities to become successful. They lack social mobility, lack connections, get exploited constantly, and always live under the poverty line. Consequently, they experience poorer housing, poorer health, poorer education, and leads back to poor social mobility.

The middle class is huge in the United States. According to Pew Research Center, the American middle class in 2016 made up about 52% of the American adult population with a median income of households of $78,442. For the Upper-class households, there were about 19% of American adults with a median income of a household of $187,872.

Lives are so much easier for these two social classes. For working adults, it is easier to get a loan for a comfortable house or vehicle. They are born with financial privilege, better public education, more freedom to do whatever. With their rich social capitals: economic, cultural, and social capitals, they allow the middle class to achieve their dreams and goals. People who are not carrying financial burdens are less burnt out and are happier.

Sadly, the lower-class don’t get to experience any of these as they are all busy trying to survive day by day. Without the social class system, however, capitalism would not be able to function. Capitalism requires a lower class in society. Poverty is endemic and an inherent part of our economic system. Therefore, middle-class and upper-class are fortunate not to be in survival mode all the time.

Poverty and eviction are interconnected. Eviction is an urban violence that can be both visible and invisible and is occurring constantly as in a loop. As people are born into families with different social hierarchies and statuses, their housing stability also varies. Some families might be lucky enough to stay in a 500 square-foot apartment, but some do not even have moeny to pay for their bills, and might even be behind on rent. Lack of money, lack of opportunities, and lack of a sense of belonging are horrifying. Tenants experience constant housing mobility and invisible insecurity—the fear of being evicted, losing their home—while the landlords are intentionally pushing them away by harassment and excessively increasing rental costs.

Poor mental health that is caused by eviction can be invisible, but the process of getting evicted is be seen daily in poor neighborhoods. Getting summoned to court for eviction and then getting kicked out are serious and are very noticeable. They are constantly on a move and getting adjusted to a new environment. When the city ignores their urgency, this type of urban violence will then become worse, of which triggers homelessness.

semi-public-private space

private transitional space

porch

Law enforement agent

neighbor hood

But the situation came to a head early Tuesday morning, when Michael ‘Philo’ Kinney, who currently lives at the house, said he was woken up to law enforcement agents using a battering ram on the door.”

Law enforement agent

anti-eviction protestors

Evicted family

(Portland protesters occupy street in bid to stop eviction of family of color_ On Tuesday evening, Portland’s mayor, Ted Wheeler, tweeted that he is “authorizing the Portland police to use all lawful means to end the illegal occupation on North Mississippi Avenue and to hold those violating our community’s laws accountable”.

_north portland _physical violence _visible

_north portland _forced move _visible

(Portland protesters occupy street in bid to stop eviction of family of color_

in the city _portland

eviction filing rate 3.13% per 100 renter homes in portland

a story of _eviction

Wheeler did acknowledge the racism behind many of the country’s “systems and structures” and the reform that is needed, but said in this situation “there was a lengthy, thorough judicial proceeding resulting in a lawful judge’s order to evict people illegally occupying a home”.

private relational space

human:human “Tenants are facing a lot of landlord harassment behaviors. For example, insisting on coming in and inspecting the apartments or the rental units, making a lot of noise outside, just really trying to make renters uncomfortable, contacting them a lot, asking them what’s going on about the rent assistance. Some landlords are really refusing to even help with the process. The goal is to try to get the tenant to self-evict, to get the tenant to just move out so that the landlord can re-rent the unit without even having to file an eviction.”

_portland _harassment _invisible

(Q&A with Portland Tenants United: What’s With the Delay in Rental Assistance Funding?_

let me in to harras you or just move out

Landlord

$950

per month 2021, parkrose, or

Oregon State Governor

public space

state policies

with all elites

Q: How effective has the [Oregon Eving Moratorium] program been in keeping people in their homes so far? A: I think it’s been pretty effective... The community-based organizations, for the most part, are doing a really good job of getting money out quickly. But the state application is doing a really bad job of getting money out and basically had gotten no money out until a few weeks ago. Thousands who have applied for assistance are past the 60-day safe harbor, but they haven’t received their rent assistance. (Q&A with Portland Tenants United: What’s With the Delay in Rental Assistance Funding?_

Tenants

policy-making behind four walls

_the state of oregon _salem capitol building _financial burden _invisible

semi-public-p

private transitional space

porch

Law enforement agent

“The home, known as the Red House, sits in a historically Black residential neighborhood that has since gentrified. It has been the site of protests for several months, after a judge authorized the Kinney family’s eviction in September. But the situation came to a head early Tuesday morning, when Michael ‘Philo’ Kinney, who currently lives at the house, said he was woken up to law enforcement agents using a battering ram on the door.” (Portland protesters occupy street in bid to stop eviction of family of color_

_north portland _physical violence _visible

a story of

eviction filing rate 3.13% per 100

neigh hood Evicted family

public-private space

eighbor ood

Law enforement agent

anti-eviction protestors

victed family

On Tuesday evening, Portland’s mayor, Ted Wheeler, tweeted that he is “authorizing the Portland police to use all lawful means to end the illegal occupation on North Mississippi Avenue and to hold those violating our community’s laws accountable”.

_north portland _forced move _visible

in the city _portland

a story of _eviction

filing rate 3.13% per 100 renter homes in portland

private relational space

_portland _harassment _invisible

(Q&A with Portland Tenants United: What’s With the Delay in Rental Assistance Funding?_

let me in to harras you or just move out

Landlord

$950

per month 2021, parkrose, or

s p

Q: pro

A: org ou ou wh ha

(Q As Tenants

Oregon State Governor

public space

state policies

policy-making behind four walls

with all elites

_the state of oregon _salem capitol building _financial burden _invisible 19

“I have been trying to apply [for eviction court assistance] online, and it was asking for all these documents, and I couldn’t figure it out.”

Tenant A

“A lot of [tenants] we come in contact with have had their phones cut off, don’t have access to the internet, or there’s a language barrier... I feel a lot of pressure, because we are that last resort for [the tenants]”

Cortez, Multnomah County employee

organizational diagram _oregon don’t evict pdx

portla tenantnd uniteds

volunt e group er-run

tenant

comm alliancunity tenant e of s sta

union

te-w organizide non-pro fit ation

ensure fair access to

1 2 3

safe housing

eviction

defense be a voice for tenants

end unjustified

increase

portland

portland metro

rent increases

operation area

housing stability

6 years

oregon statewide

1 year

founded year

25 years

To prevent, delay, and reduce the harm of evictions; and build tenant power.

eviction support

form filing

To build power and solidarity among the tenant class; fights to keep people in their homes, and to achieve dignity and security for all tenants.

court watch

Land Back Statement

To educate and empower tenants to demand safe, stable and affordable rental homes.

hotline

work group resource connection

campaign:

numbers of board directors + staff

advocate for antilandlord harassment

host events

advocate for tenants

Se habla Español

campaign: Tenant Protection Ordinance

community worshops

eviction counseling

campaign:

In the meantime, researchers and policymakers suggest that building more Section 8 (affordable) housing should be the primary solution to diminish eviction rate and homelessness that are caused by evictions. These social welfare services are important, but granting Section 8 vouchers and financial support to families are just band-aid solutions, and sadly, these aids have a long waitlist.

Being not able to wait for that long, are there other ways to revitalize poor neighborhoods and poor families besides providing physical and material support? How else could urban planning or architecture help to build a stronger community so that they could strengthen their social mobility? What about a better permenant housing system within the community? What about a better sense of home that could eventually help with one’s confidence in the future?

Unfortunately, none of the organizations in Portland that vows to support tenants lobby for better urban planning. An enhanced urban district could for sure promote healthier lifestyles as kids feel more safe to play outside, and parents do not need to worry for accidental occurance of violence.

AREA OF FOCUS

So, why should we care about how a neigborhood is planned out and what is within it?

top 5 gun violence ranking per neighborhood top 5 eviction rate per census tract public green areas commercial zoning density by residential zoning

Divided by Interstate-205, Central Northeast Portland neighborhood, East Portland neighborhood, and Inner Southeast Portland neighborhood meet at the intersection with Interstate 84. Even though the three neighborhoods a only an interstate highway away from each other, they are socially different: eviction rate and gun violence rate drastically drop on the west side. Their urban scales are unalike as well: street block on the east is about 640’ by 1000’ while west side is about 200’ by 640’.

Moreover, more different options of local stores and restaurants tend to open on the west side, and commercials are more spread out on the east side compared to the west.

Zoning plays differently, too. While on the east side, residential zoning is more likely to be R7 (7,000 sqft per lot), residential zoning on the west side is packed with R5 (5,000 sqft per lot) and R2.5 (2,500 sqft per lot).

Would these characteristics have already made a difference in housing market? What about safety?

WEST

EAST

top 5 gun violence ranking per neighborhood top 5 eviction rate per census tract public green areas commercial zoning density by residential zoning

Evictions in a neighborhood can cause a ripple effect. When one family is evicted, it creates a psychological uncertainty that empowers the sense of residential instability. Even though forcedmoves rarely affect child development, it creates residential instability which could destabilize both the sending and receiving neighborhoods. It causes a loss of trust between neighbors in both neighborhoods and is an incubator of crime.

Historically, racial segregation and the location of lowincome neighborhoods had a lot to do with poor urban planning that directly caused eviction. In the current days now, how is our urban planning affecting the chance of obtaining permanent housing for low-income families?

The goal of this project is to break the migration pattern. Evicted families are moving from home to home without being able to claim any places as ‘theirs’ other than their temporary homes. By rebuilding healthy neighborhoods and streets, and eventually adding a communal public neighborhood plaza to the neighborhood, people will be able to call their communal public space their backyard.

Neighborhood-focused. Backyard idealism. Family first.

“I was desperate to pay my bills, and I was nervous and scared and did not want to see my kids in the dark or out on the street”

Vanetta, a tenant and a mother of five children

Bibliography 1.

Community alliance of tenants. Community Alliance of Tenants. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www.oregoncat.org/

2. DeLuca, S., Wood, H., & Rosenblatt, P. (2019). Why poor families move (and where they go): Reactive mobility and residential decisions. City & Community, 18(2), 556–593. https://doi.org/10.1111/cico.12386 3. Desmond, M. (2016). Evicted: Poverty and profit in the American city. Crown Publishers. 4. Desmond, M. (n.d.). Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City - Study Guide. Random House Academic Resources. Retrieved December 7, 2021, from https://www.evictedbook.com/wp-content/ uploads/2017/06/EVICTED.DESMOND.978-0-553-44745-3.InstructG_PG.16pgs.FINAL_.NO_CROPS. pdf. 5. Dillman, B. (2021, February 25). The eviction process in Oregon: Rules for landlords and property managers. www.nolo.com. Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/ the-eviction-process-oregon-rules-landlords-property-manager.html. 6. Don’t evict PDX. Don’t Evict PDX. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www.dontevictpdx. org/. 7. Ellis, R. (2021, June 28). Report: Researchers say cost of evictions in Oregon could now be as high as $4.7 billion. opb. Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www.opb.org/article/2021/06/28/report-cost-ofevictions-in-oregon-could-hit-4-billion-dollars/. 8. Eviction Lab. (n.d.). Eviction Map & Data. Eviction Lab. Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https:// evictionlab.org/map/. 9. Forrest, J., & Friesen, M. (2021, November 1). Look up how many Portland shootings happened near your home on this map. OregonLive. Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www.oregonlive.com/ data/2021/10/look-up-how-many-portland-shootings-happened-near-your-home-on-this-map.html. 10. Golden, H. (2020, December 10). Portland protesters occupy street in bid to stop eviction of family of color. The Guardian. Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/10/ portland-protest-family-eviction-red-house. 11. Oregon renters report. Oregon Renters Report | Portland State University. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www.pdx.edu/homelessness/oregon-renters-report. 12. Peel, S. (2021, October 20). As the eviction freeze ends, whether or not someone is kicked to the street in Multnomah County is up to four people. Willamette Week. Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www. wweek.com/news/2021/10/20/as-the-eviction-freeze-ends-whether-or-not-someone-is-kicked-to-thestreet-in-multnomah-county-is-up-to-four-people/. 13. Portland tenants united. Portland Tenants United. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www. pdxtu.org/. 14. Quadros, K. (2021, October 22). Q&A with Portland Tenants United: What’s with the delay in rental assistance funding? Portland Monthly. Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https://www.pdxmonthly.com/ news-and-city-life/2021/10/portland-tenants-united-rental-assistance. 15. Zoning and comprehensive plan maps. Portland.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2021, from https:// www.portland.gov/bps/comp-plan/zoning-and-comprehensive-plan-maps.

How will urban planning and architecture turn families up side down?