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Research Interests
I am interested in understanding how places—particularly metropolitan neighborhoods—come to be and how processes of place construction contribute to inequality and segregation. My work investigates how metropolitan inequality and segregation are maintained and reproduced by 1) the idea and experience of homeownership, 2) the construction and distribution of property value, 3) the construction and maintenance of neighborhood boundaries and place identities, and 4) the formation and enactment of collective understandings of place rights. I use a combination of interviews, participant observation, quantitative spatial analysis, and comparative-historical methods to explore these topics. |
Residents of a neighborhood in southern Mexico City blockade a street in order to hold a neighborhood assembly meeting about local urban development. (Photo: Sarah Farr)
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Dissertation
My dissertation examines the relationship between neighborhood place-making and urban inequality through the lens of homeownership. The first chapter explores how urban residents understand the meaning of property and interrogates the role of local regulation in shaping these interpretations. Through qualitative case studies of several neighborhoods in Mexico City, I ask how differences in these interpretations are reflected in both individual-level decisions about homeownership (e.g. renting-out, selling, upgrading, etc.) and long-term neighborhood-level outcomes.
The second chapter examines the role of local government in the construction and maintenance of neighborhood boundaries and neighborhood identity. Using the case of Milwaukee’s Neighborhood Improvement Districts—voluntary, resident-initiated, neighborhood-level property tax districts—I trace how homeowners and local government interact to construct, maintain, alter, and naturalize neighborhood boundaries and neighborhood identities. What are the consequences of this collaborative boundary work for residential segregation in Milwaukee?
The third chapter of my dissertation examines spatial patterns among different measures of neighborhood-level home value: homeowner evaluations of market price, home sales, and tax assessments. I explore how the surrounding spatial context of neighborhoods and the overall organization of urban housing markets shape how home value is imagined by residents and realized in the market. Rather than focus on individual-level patterns, this work focuses on how place-to-place variation in these valuation processes contributes to neighborhood stratification and inequality.
My dissertation examines the relationship between neighborhood place-making and urban inequality through the lens of homeownership. The first chapter explores how urban residents understand the meaning of property and interrogates the role of local regulation in shaping these interpretations. Through qualitative case studies of several neighborhoods in Mexico City, I ask how differences in these interpretations are reflected in both individual-level decisions about homeownership (e.g. renting-out, selling, upgrading, etc.) and long-term neighborhood-level outcomes.
The second chapter examines the role of local government in the construction and maintenance of neighborhood boundaries and neighborhood identity. Using the case of Milwaukee’s Neighborhood Improvement Districts—voluntary, resident-initiated, neighborhood-level property tax districts—I trace how homeowners and local government interact to construct, maintain, alter, and naturalize neighborhood boundaries and neighborhood identities. What are the consequences of this collaborative boundary work for residential segregation in Milwaukee?
The third chapter of my dissertation examines spatial patterns among different measures of neighborhood-level home value: homeowner evaluations of market price, home sales, and tax assessments. I explore how the surrounding spatial context of neighborhoods and the overall organization of urban housing markets shape how home value is imagined by residents and realized in the market. Rather than focus on individual-level patterns, this work focuses on how place-to-place variation in these valuation processes contributes to neighborhood stratification and inequality.
Manuscripts in Progress
- “Defending the Neighborhood: Livelihood, Social Reproduction, and the Moral Economy of Place in Mexico City”
- “The Spatial Distribution of Median Home Value Estimate Reliability from the American Community Survey (ACS)”
