Community Economic Development Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collection
The mission of the Community Economic Development program is to build better practices and policies that serve low-income and marginalized communities around the globe. Community economic development gives people control over their economic futures by developing leadership in the poorest communities and eliminating the apathy that can result from generations of poverty and neglect.
The dissertation collection is focused on original research and skills to shape policy at local, regional, national or international levels. Students specialized in one concentration in Community Economic Development (theory, policy, or management).
Browse
Browsing Community Economic Development Dissertations by Author "Aricanli, Tosun"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Mode of ownership and housing value appreciation of manufactured home parks : Rochester, New Hampshire(Southern New Hampshire University, 2006) Rivera, Jolan; Aricanli, Tosun; Swack, Michael; Camayd-Freixas, YoelThis dissertation examines the relationship between mode of housing ownership in manufactured home parks and housing-related economic asset accumulation. It asks if households within and near member owned manufactured home parks experience higher property value appreciation than their counterparts in investor-owned parks. The main component (Component One) of the study focuses on differences in housing value appreciation between member-owned and investor-owned parks. The exploratory component (Component Two) looks at how abutting properties are affected by proximity to member owned or investor-owned parks. Component One views housing value appreciation as affected by several independent and intervening variables: household rent payments, availability of financial products exclusively for member-owned parks, length of ownership, structural characteristics of units, park layout, and park location. Component Two studies value appreciation of abutting properties as a function of the type of home park ownership. Component One is examined using an archived proxy-pretest, multiple-treatment, quasi-experimental design, while Component Two relies on an archived proxy-pretest, two-treatment, expanded, quasiexperimental design. Analyses included secondary data, informant interviews, and direct observation. Analyses for Component One involved both descriptive and inferential statistics, while only descriptive statistics were used in Component Two. The study found that homes in member-owned parks in New Hampshire have better housing characteristics: they are newer, larger, have more rooms, are closer to commercial amenities and roads, and have better park layout. Member-owned park residents also pay lower monthly rents and have access to non-subprime housing loans. Homes in member-owned parks have higher values compared to those in investor-owned parks with comparable housing characteristics. However, these economic advantages do not translate to a higher value appreciation in member-owned parks. Manufactured homes appreciate in value over time, regardless of the type of park ownership. This finding is conditional to inflated housing market conditions. Whether this applies under "normal" market conditions is subject for future research. The study also found that value appreciation of abutting homes is not associated with manufactured home parks location. Living next to manufactured parks does not decrease the value of abutting homes; indeed, the value of manufactured homes appreciated at a higher rate than comparable county and state rates. (Author abstract)Item The social change role of community-based development corporations : a quiet transformation of private lives and local institutions(Southern New Hampshire University, 2006) Dorius, Noah Eric; Aricanli, TosunThis dissertation examines the critique that contemporary CDCs have abandoned their 1960s commitment to empower poor communities. By asking CDC directors how their organizations accomplish social change, this research seeks a more nuanced description of the transformative intent of their work. These practitioner perspectives are then placed in the context of Post WWII new social movement theory in order to discover the conceptual basis for an alternative explanation for the social change role being played by today's CDCs. This study finds that a majority of today's CDC practitioners expect to achieve social change by implementing local projects and programs. CDC directors provide rich qualitative descriptions of how they transform the private lives of individuals and influence the social commitments of local institutions. These qualitative themes yield a normative theory of how CDCs practice social change that is substantially different from the public policy remedies their critics expect them to pursue. Rather than abandoning their commitment to empower the poor, this investigation finds that CDC practitioners share a common motivation to help oppressed populations achieve social outcomes not available in a market economy. When the social change explanations of CDC practitioners are compared to empirical evidence of the continuing activism of former 1960s student protestors and new social movement theories, this study finds that the 'localized' empowerment objectives of CDCs substantively correspond with contemporary concepts of social change activity like civic learning and a re-emerging associationalism. This research concludes that the conceptualization of social change underlying the perceptions of CDC directors has a different ideological footing than that embraced by its critics. Instead of top-down government solutions, CDC's employ bottom-up self governance strategies. This difference in ideology means that instead of marginalizing the local empowerment strategies and cooperative partnerships formed by today's CDCs, these practices should become a central focus of empirical research and theoretical analysis. This alternative explanation means that university curriculums should recognize the relevance of new social movement theory and that government and philanthropic funders should focus on current CDC practice in order to measure the success of their investments in poor communities. (Author abstract)