Professor David Halle
Office: 214 Haines Hall. Tel: 794-4418
Office Hours: Tue: 10:15-11:15
e-mail dhalle@ucla.edu

TA:    Michael Johnston
Office: Hershey Hall 1227.
Phone: 206-5256 (call only during office hours)
Office Hour: Wed: 8-9
e-mail:johnston@ucla.edu
Sections:1A M 3-3:50, 1D T 4-4:50, 1F Th 3-3:50

TA:    Robert Gedeon
Office: Hershey Hall 1227
Phone: 206-5026 (call only during office hours)
Office Hour :???
e-mail: gedeon@ucla.edu
Sections: 1B T 3-3:50, 1C Th 10-10:50, 1E T 12-12:50

Note on section meetings: Because you will be doing computer-based research projects during section, starting with the week of October 11 sections will meet in labs, not in the locations specified in the class schedule.

For the Mapping project: (i.e. from October 12 -November 2) all sections meet in the CLICC labs (Powell Library) in elecronic classroom C (third floor), except for section 1B Tuesday 3-3:50 and section 1F Th 3-3:50, which will meet in Public Policy Building, Social Science labs, room 2035H.

For the NY-LA polling data project (i.e. from Nov 4 to end of quarter) all sections will meet in Public Policy Building, Social Science Labs, room 2035H, except for section 1A Monday 3-4, which will meet in CLICC, Powell Library, electronic classroom C.
 
 

COURSE GOALS This course is about the history and the present condition of cities and suburbs in America. First we will contrast today's urban/suburban neighborhoods with pre-modern cities and examine the process of suburbanization as it began in the early nineteenth century and as it still continues.

Then we will compare the nation's two largest cities/urban regions--New York and Los Angeles. We will study urban and suburban politics; city boundaries and secession movements (the San Fernando Valley, Staten Island); house and architectural styles and changing patterns of family and social life associated with them; crime; welfare systems and the urban poor; public housing and the ghetto; the segregation and integration of neighborhoods by race, ethnicity, and social class; immigration; and urban culture (especially art, museums, and the movie and music industries).

PROJECTS
This course also includes two research projects. You will work with your TA on thse projects during section time. Below is an outline of each project. They are explained in more detail in accompanying handouts.

Project 1. Geographical Information Systems (Electronic mapping). Only recently widely available, G.I.S. is a magnificent tool for analyzing city and suburban neighborhoods. We will learn the techniques of electronic data mapping, using the program Mapinfo. The first data used will be the 1990 U.S.Census for California and New York. We will make electronic maps that show racial, ethnic, income and social class distributions for the Los Angeles region and the New York City region. We may, depending on time, also explore other data sets and map boundaries, in particular crime data, 3-D terrain data, streets and higway data, city boundary data, and voting data mapped at the detailed level of the voting precinct as well as more general levels such as Congressional Districts and Assembly Districts. The data that we will analyze will extend students' understanding of many of the topics in the course reading and lecture material.
 

Project # 2. The New York and Los Angeles City Mayoral Elections The second project will involve analyzing public opinion data on the last two mayoral elections in New York City and in the City of Los Angeles (1993 & 1997). Students will answer the question: Why have New York City and the City of Los Angeles elected a Republican mayor twice even though the vast majority of voters identify themselves as Democrats?

Data

The data you will analyze come from the 1993 and 1997 exit polls for the New York and Los Angeles mayoral elections. Exit polls involve face-to-face interviews with a sample of voters as they leave the voting booth. You will receive codebooks which tell you the names of the variables that you can run, and you will also receive, for New York City, the actual interview schedules used for each election.
 
 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS.

1. Two, in-class essay exams (mid-quarter and final exam). These will give you a chance to discuss, and to give your views on, some of the main themes and controversies covered in the course. Each exam will count 20% to the final grade.

2. Two research projects. Each project will count 20% to the final grade. The first project (GIS mapping) is due November 2, the second (polling data) is due December 9.

3. Two in-class quizzes on the assigned reading and on some of the main points made in class lectures. Each quiz will each count for 10% of the final grade. I have included, at the end of this document, study guides which indicate the main points you should look for in the reading. About 75% of the quiz material will derive from the reading and the points indicated in the study guide. The rest of the quiz will cover class lectures. You must bring scantron #882 for each quiz.

Presenting Material in Class. Class Presentations of Projects. Students have the chance to present a version of their project to the entire class. The first project may be presented on October 28, and the second project during the last week (December 7 or 9). For details see the project hand out.

Students must clear their presentation beforehand with their TA. Students who are cleared for presentation will receive 1-5 extra points, depending on the quality of the presentation.

READING. Several copies of all the required readings are available on reserve in Powell Library. Thus students who do not wish to purchase the reading material need not do so.

For Purchase. Items marked with an asterisk (*) are books available for purchase in the University text bookshop.

Required reading that is not available in the bookshop is marked with a cross (+) and is available for purchase from Westwood copies at 1001 Gayley (310)208-3233. Students may also, of course, xerox this material in Powell library.

Missing an Exam/Quiz. Students who miss, or plan to miss, an exam or quiz for legitimate reasons must e-mail their TA as soon as possible. Legitimate reasons for missing an exam/quiz are illness, personal/family emergency, transportation breakdown, participation in school athletic match. Students who miss an exam must provide written documentation (e.g.doctor's note, garage bill, athletic director's note) unless such documentation can be shown to be impossible to obtain. If the reason given is determined to be legitimate, your TA will schedule a make-up. For the quizzes, the make-up will consist of a four page essay on the reading material covered by the quiz. For the two essay exams, the make-up will consist of another set of essays. All make-ups will be supervised under exam conditions.

(1) Th. Sept. 30. INTRODUCTION: COURSE OVERVIEW & BASIC GUIDE TO

MAPINFO

(2) Tue. Oct 5 MEDIEVAL CITY-LONDON. EARLY NEW YORK.

EARLY PURITAN CITIES. WALKING CITY.

*Kenneth Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier:The Suburbanization of the United States, Intro.,Chapters 1-2 (pp.3-44)

*Gwendolyn Wright, Building the Dream: A Social History of Housing, Intro & chs.1-2

(3) Th. Oct.7 SUBURBANIZATION BEFORE AND AFTER THE AUTOMOBILE

*Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier, chs.3-4,6.

(4)Tue. Oct. 12 MAPINFO IN THE LABS. (Class meets in CLICC, electronic classroom C.).

Jackson, chs.8,9 11,12.

(5)Th. Oct 14 THE DEVELOPMENT OF URBAN GHETTOS, THE FAILURE OF PUBLIC HOUSING, THE POLITICS OF CITY BOUNDARIES. THE DEBATE OVER THE GHETTO/UNDERCLASS AND THE POOR

*Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier, chs. 13, 14, 15..

(6) Tue. Oct 19 QUIZ # 1 (scantron # 882)

+Christopher Jencks "Is the American Underclass Growing" pp.74-93 in ChristopherJencks, ed., The Urban Underclass

+Paul Jargowsky and Mary Jo Bane, "Ghetto Poverty in the US: 1970-80," pp.235-274 in Jencks ed.

(Note: Background: William Julius Wilson, The Truly Disadvantaged, chs. 1,2, 5. Wilson's book is an important statement of the theory that an urban "underclass" does exist. The essays in Jencks are by authors who are less sure that the concept of an urban "underclass" is useful. Also sceptical about an underclass is Herbert Gans, The War on the Poor. )

(7) Th. Oct. 21 SEPARATION AND INTEGRATION IN URBAN/SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS--CLASS, RACE AND ETHNICITY

+David Halle, America's Working Man, intro: chs.1

*William Clark, Residential Patterns:Avoidance, Assimilation, and Succession, ch4 in Ethnic Los Angeles edited by R. Waldinger and M. Bozorgmehr (Russell Sage Foundation, 1996)

(8) Tue. Oct. 26 MAPINFO IN THE LABS (Class meets in CLICC Labs, Powell Library, electronic classroom C--third floor)

IMMIGRATION AND THE SECOND-GENERATION DEBATE

*Waldinger and Bororgmehr, "The Making of a Multicultural Metropolis", ch 1 in R. Waldinger and M. Bozorgmehr eds., *Ethnic Los Angeles , Russell Sage Foundation, 1996 and *Waldinger, "Ethnicity and Opportunity in the Plural City", ch. 15 in Ethnic Los Angeles.

Herbert Gans, "Symbolic Ethnicity."

(9) Th. Oct 28. present first draft

CRIME

+William Bratton, Turnaround: How America's Top Cop Reversed The Crime Epidemic, Random House, 1998, pp.ix-xxiii and chs. 8-18 (pp.130-296).

(Note: Bratton was New York Police chief and his book is a brilliant, and controversial, acount of the view that policing does make a difference.)

(10) Tue. Nov 2. MID-TERM ESSAY EXAM (one essay selected from two) & MAP PROJECT DUE

(11) Th. Nov 4 Class Meets in Social Science Data lab, Public Policy Building, room 2035B: Analysis of Polling Data on NY/LA elections

IMAGES OF THE CITY IN FILM, MUSIC AND LITERATURE

+Mike Davis, City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles, Verso, 1990, Prologue ( The View from Futures Past") and "Sunshine or Noir?" Chapter 1, pp.17-46, of City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles by Mike Davis. Verso, 1990.

(Note: This chapter is both brilliant and difficult. I include the entire chapter for those who are interested, but you should focus on pp. 36-46, and you will not be required to read or know the rest of the chapter.)

+Elijah Anderson, "The Code of the Streets," Atlantic Monthly (May, 1994)

+"Do the Movies Get New York Right?" New York Times, July 9, 1995 (The City Section).

(12) Tue. Nov.9 IMAGES OF THE CITY IN FILM, MUSIC AND LITERATURE

(13) Th. Nov 11

THE ECONOMY OF CITY AND SUBURB

+Thomas Bailey & Roger Waldinger, "The Changing Ethnic/Racial

Division of Labor,"

+ John Mollenkopf and Manuel Castells, "Introduction,"

+Matthew Drennan, "The Decline and Rise of the New York Economy,"

pp.1-43 in John Mollenkopf, Dual City:Restructuring New York

*John Laslett, "Historical Perspectives: Immigration and the Rise of a Distinctive Urban Region, 1900-1970" ch. 2 in Ethnic Los Angeles.

(14) Class Meets in Social Science Data lab, Public Policy Building, room 2035B: Analysis of Polling Data on NY/LA elections.

Tue. Nov 16.URBAN UPHEAVALS: LOS ANGELES--THE 1965 & 1992 RIOTS:NEW YORK--THE CROWN HEIGHTS RIOTS, HOWARD BEACH...

+Morrison and Lowry, "A Riot of Color: The Demographic Setting." Chapter 2 in The Los Angeles Riot, edited by Mark Baldassare. Westview, 1994

+Sears, "Urban Rioting in Los Angeles: A Comparison of 1965 with 1992." Chapter 10 of The Los Angeles Riot, edited by Mark Baldassare. Westview, 1994.

(15) Th. Nov. 18 QUIZ 2 (scantron # 882)

CITY POLITICS/COALITION POLITICS

+John Mollenkopf, "Political Inequality," ch.13 in John Mollenkopf, Dual City:Restructuring New York .

+Karen Kaufmann, "Racial Conflict and Political Choice: A Study of Mayoral Voting Behavior in Los Angeles and New York." Urban Affairs Review (vol. 33, # 5, May 1998: 655-685)

(16) Tue. Nov.23. HOUSES, ARCHITECTURE AND SOCIAL LIFE: THE CRITIQUE OF LIFE IN THE SUBURBS

*Wright, Building the Dream,chs.6,8,9

*David Halle, Inside Culture, intr. Ch1,

Th. Nov 25 THANKSGIVING

(17) Tue. Nov 30

*Wright, chs.13-14.

Jackson, ch.15.

Halle, *Inside Culture, chs 2-3.

(18) Th. Dec 2

*Halle, chs.4-5, concl.

(19) Tue. Dec.7 present POLLING PROJECT DUE . REVISION. STUDENT PRESENTATIONS

(20) Th. Dec 9 present LAST CLASS.
 

STUDY/READING GUIDE #1

Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier

Chapter 1. How is the modern process of "suburbanization" different from the pre-nineteenth century "suburb"? What were the main characteristics of the old "walking city"?

Chapter 2.When did Robert Fulton build the world's first steam ferry service? What was a "ferry suburb"? When/where was the first omnibus service introduced into north America? What was the "riding habit"? What were "railroad suburbs"?

Chapter 3. What was the new cult of "domesticity" as it developed in the nineteenth century? How was it conected with new housing styles and new ideas about the proper role for men and women? How did Catherine Beacher's ideas and Andrew Jackson Downing's architecture relate to these developments?

Chapter 4.What was the "gridiron system" of street design?

Chapter 6. Around when was the "trolley" introduced into North America?

Chapter 8. What has been the dominant method of population growth in almost every major American city? What is "annexation"? Why has it declined?

Chapter 9. Towards which social class were the first automobiles directed? When did Henry Ford introduce the moving assembly line? Why were the early highways called "parkways"? What did the Federal Road Act of 1916 and the Federal Road Act of 1921 do? Why did the trolley/streetcar decline?

Chapter 11. What role did the Home Owners Loan Corporation and the Federal housing Adminstration play in the development and support of racially segregated neighborhoods?

Chapter.12 What are the deficiencies of public housing in America and what went wrong?

Chapter.13 What was Levittown and why was it significant? What, according to Jackson, were the main features of postwar suburbs?

Chapter l4 In what ways is modern American culture a "drive-in" culture? What does Jackson mean by the "centerless" city?

Chapter 15. What does Jackson mean by a "loss of community" in most contemporary metropolitan areas? Do you agree with him?
 
 

Gwendolyn Wright, Building the Dream

Chapter 1. How "planned" were early Puritan towns? How did their attitude to personal privacy differ from ourls?

Chapter 2. What was the early urban row house like? How wide was it? How "personalized" were the houses?

Chapter 6. What was the "naturalistic" look associated with Victorian houses? What role did the fireplace increasingly play? What were some of the main kinds of porches? Where was the kitchen and why?

Chapter 8. What were Americals first apartment buildings like? For whom did they cater? What were some of the main technological

advances that they featured?

Chapter 9. What was involved in "Taylorizing" the home in the first decades of the twentieth century? Why did the kitchen command great attention? What was involved in the shift in the "housewifels" role from producer to consumer?

Chapter13. What was the. FHA? Why did it make obtaining a mortgage easier? What was the Veterans Administration housing program? What was the FHA's attitude towards neighborhoods with "Negros", towards zoning intended to prevent multi-family dwellings, towards attempts to combine house and work, and towards houses with conspicuously "modern" designs? What did "red-lining" mean"? Chapter 14. What does Wright believe is right with suburban life, and what does she believe needs reforming?
 

William Julius Wilson, The Truly Disadvantaged.

Chapter 1. What did the Moynihan Report say about African-American family life? Why was the report so controversial? What is the "liberal" approach to the disadvantaged? What is the "conservative" approach? Why have liberals, since the Moynihan report, tended to avoid doing research on the ghetto in the U.S?

Chapter 2. In 1984, what % of all murder victims were black? How have figures on the proportion of black families that are femaleheaded changed since the MoynihanReipoLl? What, according to Wilson, are the main features of the communities of the "underclass"?

Chapter 5. Wilson discusses three kinds of policy: "the principle of equality of individual rights", the focus on the equitable distribution of group rights, and the principle of the equality of life chances. What does he mean by these distinctions, which policy does he now favor, and why?

Christopher Jencks, "Is the American Underclass Growing"? What are Jencks's criticisms of Wilson's notion of the "violent" underclass?

Jargowsky and Bane, "Ghetto Poverty in the US:1970-80.11 What are the author's criticisms of Wilson's view of the direction of poverty in the ghetto?

Elijah Anderson, "The Code of the Streets." What is the distinction between "decent" and "street" orientation? Why is the quest for respect so important on the street? What does Anderson mean when he says "The code of the streets is a cultural adaptation to a prfound lack of faith in the police"?
 

Halle,America's Working Man

Intro. What are the two main senses in which Americans workers might,in theory, be said to be "middle class"? What are the three main occupational groups into which Halle divides the labor force (see Table 1).

chapter 1. What are the four main residential sections into which Halle divides the region (see Table 4)? Is the residential setting of these blue-collar workers divided by occupation/class or by race or by both?

chapter 2. Is there such a thing as "working-class" leisure? chapter 3. Can one make a clear distinction between a "workingclass/blue-collar" marriage on the one hand, and a "middleclass/upper-white-collar" marriage on the other hand?

Halle, Inside Culture,Intro:What are the three main theories of culture and power that Halle discusses? (look at Table 1). Ch.l. What are the main developments in the modern house and neighborhood? (read pp.23-24 and 55-58)? Ch2. What are the most popular topics of the paintings in the houses of almost all social classes? Why do people prefer landscape pictures that are calm and, when they depict the modern world, void of people? Ch.3 Why are family photographs so much more common in the houses of all social clases than painted portraits? Ch.4. Who likes abstract art and why do they like it?

Ch. 5. Who likes "primitive" art and why do people display it? Conclusion. Why does Halle argue that studying houses and neighborhoods is crucial for understanding certain twentieth century artistic developments?
 

John Mollenkopf, "Introduction". In what sense can the jobs available in large cities such as New York justify using the term "post-industrial" to refer to such cities? In what sense can New York be said to be a center for banking, accounting and advertising? Mollenkop says that in the last twenty years New York City has been transformed from a "relatively well-off white-bluecollar city to a more economically divided, multi-racial, whitecollar city". What does he mean?

Matthew Drennan, "The Decline and Rise of the New York Economy." Drennan says that New York City really contains "two cities in one space. One city, based upon producing/moving goods and on industrial headquarters, has been in decline for years. The other city, based upon producer services marketed worldwide, has been mostly on the rise." What does Drennan mean?

Bailey & Waldinger, "The Changing Ethnic/Racial Division of Labor." What are FIRE jobs? Considering jobs in manufacturing, construction, FIRE, professional services, and the public sector, which have been expanding and which contracting in New York City? In which sector are New York City's African-Americans concentrated? In which sector are New York City's Hispanics concentrated? In which sector are New York City's Asians concentrated?

Mercer Sullivan, "Crime and the Social Fabric. 11 Among the 10 largest cities in the country in 1981, where did New York City rank in murders and where in muggings? Why, according to Mercer, do young adolescent criminals move from stealing in their own neighborhoods to stealing in middle class neighborhoods? Why do arson rates vary inversely with real estate values?