[Problem Sets] [Exercises] [Written Assignments] [Web Resources] [Handouts]
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
Fall 2000 Dr. Gutowsky
Office: Business 3013
Office Hours: MWF 9:00 - 10:00
MW 11:30-1:30
TuTh 11:00 - 1:00 and by appointment
Phone: 278-5588
E-Mail: arg@csus.edu
Economics 180 Urban Economics
The course will provide students with a conceptual framework to understanding the forces determining Sacramento regional urban economic growth and land use. In particular, the course will provide students with an understanding of the various analytical economic tools used by urban economists and planners, e.g., economic base model, input-output analysis, fiscal impact analysis, market area analysis to determine the optimal provision of public services, and cost-benefit analysis. In addition, the course will examine various regional urban problems, e.g., growth controls, housing, crime, transportation, etc.
Internet Assignments
Students will be required to use the Internet to access data and information sources and, whenever possible, use a spreadsheet to complete classroom assignments. All classroom assignments will be turned in. For example, Class Assignment # 2 will require you to obtain socio-economic data on the Sacramento area from the following websites:
1990
Census Website. You can access this site from the CSUS website by doing the following
search: Library
Resources,
Departments, Social Science, Internet Reference Services, statistical sites, 1990 Census
Data
Lookup.
State of California,
Employment and Development, http://www.calmis.cahwet.gov/
Bureau of the Census,
www.census.gov. You can also access this site through rfe.org.
Bureau of Labor
Statistics at Resources for Economists www.rfe.org
The Great Valley Center
at http://www.greatvalley.org
Be
sure to check out links/index.htm for a listing of links covering such topics as
agriculture, planning and
goverment,
valley academia and valley media.
Valley Vision at http://www.valleyvision.org
For additional data and
statistics access "California Planning on the Internet" UCBerkeley Library at
http://www.lib.berekley.edu/ENVI/calplan.html.
A second assignment will require you to be familiar with the proposed Deer Creek Hills project and initiative which will appear on the Fall 2000 County election ballot. You can obtain the proponents perspective on this issue by accessing the Deer Creek Hills website at www.deercreekhills.com. For additional information on this proposed project see the Final EIR Deer Creek Hills (3 Volumes) which is on reserve and access the Alliance Against Deer Creek Hills Initiative at http://www.scancentral.org/sprawl/ and the Sacramento SmartGrowth Network link for additional information on the urban service boundary.
You will also be given a variety of required website assignments concerning issues of urban sprawl, crime, education, etc. Overall, you can expect numerous required website assignments throughout the semester.Some of these assignments are listed below. All other assignments will be announced in class and listed on this webpage.
Grading:
Three or four essay examinations will be given during the semester. Your grade will be determined by your performance on the examinations and on the exercises and assignments you turn in.
Required Reading Materials:
O’Sullivan, URBAN ECONOMICS
Students are expected to be knowledgeable and informed about regional economic matters. In other words I expect you to read the SACRAMENTO BEE and other regional newspapers which can be accessed through http://ajr.newlink.org/daym.html
For background I urge you to read Chapter 1, "The Changing Social and Political Landscape," in Baldassare, California in the New Millennium, 2000. A summary of this chapter can be obtained by accessing www.ppic.org to access the occasional paper, "From Home Rule to Fiscal Rule" pp.43-44.
Reading Assignments:
The Development of the City
O’Sullivan, chapters 1-6
Exercise # 1: Market Analysis: Provision of
Public Services
TEST 1
The Economics of Urban Land Use
O’Sullivan, chapters 7-10.
Exercise # 2: Economic Base Model
Exercise # 3: Input-Output Analysis/ Read
Handout # 1
Exercise # 4: Fiscal Impact Analysis/ Read
Handout # 2
Read those portions of the Final Deer Creek Hills EIR pertaining
to the project’s fiscal impact.
Assignment # 2: The Economic Impact of a
Sacramento Professional Sports Facility
Read Noll, chapter 2
Read the "TriPort Study which can be obtained at www.nwppc.org/t8-9_rep.htm
Read
and Critically evaluate ERA’s economic analysis of a proposed Sacramento
football team. Handout will be distributed in class.
Handout # 3: Cost-Benefit Analysis (to be
distributed in class)
Access Land Information Access Association
(LIAA) at www.liaa.org
TEST 2 and 3
-------------- Material To Be Read Will be Determined Later In the Semester ------------- ----
The Economics of Land Use Controls
O’Sullivan, chapter 11.
Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, "Land use and the California
Economy," which can be obtained
at
www.greenbelt.org
To understand the development process read
"Breaking Ground:Your Guide to Development in Sacramento County, July
2000
which is on reserve Planning in California
Princetl, "The Regional Management of
Growth in California: A History of Failure," International Journal of Urban and
Regional
Research, June 1994.
Robert Fishman, "The Death and Life of
American Regional Planning" (Chapter 4) and Margaret Weir, " Coalition
Building
for Regionalism" (Chapter 5) in Bruce Katz (ed), REFLECTIONS ON REGIONALISM, The
Brookings
Institute
Press, 2000.
Sacramento Area Council of Government
(www.sacog.org) access the "about sacog" link
More information on SACOG is found under
transportation.
Sacramento BEE has published a series of
articles entitled " Growing Pains." You are to read all the articles in this
series.
Sacramento BEE has published numerous articles on Natomas/ North Natamas, do a websearch
and read all the articles
on
this subject, in particular read the article by Paul entitled "Natomas Land Use
Discipline?" July 25, 2000.
Access www.plannersweb.com for additional
material on sprawl and other land use issues
Access "California Planning on the
Internet" at www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/calplan.html
to obtain information on
Sacramento
planning and land use.
Read the paper by Myron Orfield, "Central
Valley Metropolitics" at www.greatvalley.org/research/publications/index.htm
Access and read one of the land use studies,
e.g., Beyond Sprawl, The Dark Side of the American Dream, listed at
www.calfutures.org/resource/resources_studies.html
Another site providing this study is www.greenbelt.org
Katz & Liu, "Moving Beyond
Sprawl," in THE BROOKINGS REVIEW, Spring 2000
The Brookings Review Fall 1998 read the
articles by Downs and Gordon/Richardson
The Brookings Review Fall 1999 read the article
by Katz/Allen
Rural Land Use
Sierra Business Council,
PLANNING FOR PROSPERITY (1997). SBC’s website is http://www.sbcouncil.org
Duane, T, SHAPING THE SIERRA: NATURE, CULTURE
AND CONFLICT IN THE CHANGING WEST (2000)
for
an excellent discussion of the consequences of the growth of the Bay Area and Sacramento
on the foothills and
Sierras
with particular emphasis on Placer County..
Urban Growth Boundaries/Lines:
Read pages 4.1-1 to 4.1-25 of the Final EIR Deer Creek Hills to understand the rationale of Sacramento County’s Urban Growth Area and Line. The EIR is on reserve. Also you will need to be knowledgeable about Oregon’s growth boundary and how it differs from Sacramento’s urban growth line. Information on Oregon’s land use laws can be obtained by reviewing the various links at the following websites:
Other Websites on Sprawl
Websites concerning farmland preservation are:
Poverty
Sacramento BEE do a websearch
on poverty
Center on Urban & Metropolitan Policy, The
Brookings Institution, "Unfinished Business: Why Cities Matter to Welfare
Reform"
and the Fact Sheet for California www.brookings.org
NEW YORK TIMES series entitled "How Race
Is Lived in America" I expect all students to read three articles of this
series
by accessing NYTimes.com/race.
"The Rise and Decline of the American
Ghetto," NBER Working Paper 5881. You can obtain this working paper from
me,
at www.nber.org or the May 1999 issue of the Journal of Political Economy (Library)
Read "Trends in Family and Household
Poverty," in CALIFORNIA COUNTS, Volume 1, Number 3, May 2000 at
Public
Policy Institute of California (www.ppic.org)
Assignment:: prepare an economic and social statistical profile of two Sacramento region census tracts using census data. Go to http://www.rfe.org. From there go to the following links: Data, Other US, Census Bureau, Poverty. From this link access Poverty Areas, P60-207 and 1990 Census Lookup. Access poverty data first two links. From the last link access poverty data for the Sacramento MSA and for your zip code. Pint out the above data and bring to class.
Schools and Vouchers
Do a websearch at the
Sacramento BEE on education, in particular read and turn in the five part series entitled
"Hard
Lessons"
which can be accessed through www.sacbee.com/news/projects/hard_lessons/part1a.html
Review the census data on Sacramento children
at www.aecf.org/kidcounty/city/sacr.htm
Read Policy Summary and chapter 1
"Equal Resources, Equal Outcomes? The Distribution of School Resources and
Student
Achievement in California," and Foreword, Introduction and Chapter 11 "For
Better or Worse? School
Finance
Reform in California," PPIC which can be accessed at www.ppic.org
Read two of the following BROOKING
REVIEW articles:
Viteritti,
"A Way Out: School Choice and Educational Opportunity, Fall 1999
Hanushek,
"Making America’s Schools at Work: This Time Money Is Not the Answer," Fall
1994.
Chubb
& Moe, "America’s Public Schools: Choice is a Panacea," Summer 1990
Aaron,
" Snapshots of American Education," Summer 1996
Check
out the following websites:
www.schoolchoices.org/roo/criticism.htm
Read
the reply to Stedman and his review of "Manufactured Crisis" and his reply which
is listed under
additional
comments.
www.weac.org
use the search link, voucher
Optional Readings: chapters 4-7 in Hill,
Campbell, Harvey, "It Takes A City: Getting Serious About Urban School
Reform,
The Brookings Institute, 2000
Housing
Read California at Bottom
in national Affordable Housing Report which can be obtained at
www.calfutures.org/resource/resource_studies.html
Read Greenbelt Alliance & Silicon Valley
Manufacturing Group, "Housing Solutions for Silicon Valley: Housing Solution
Report,
1999
Read summary and chapter 4 of "Who Pays
for Development Fees and Exactions?, June 1997, PPIC
Read Greenbelt Alliance & Silicon Valley
Manufacturing Group, Housing Solutions for Silicon Valley: Housing Solutions
Report,
1999, pp 1-23 obtained at Greenbelt Alliance www.greenbelt.org
Local Government
Read "From Home Rule to
Fiscal Rule: Taking a Measure of Local Government Finance in California," Public
Policy
Institute
of California (PPIC), May 2000 which can be obtained at www.ppic.org
Read the summary, pages 24-47 (pay particular
attention to Table 2.1 and 2.2) and conclusion of "The State-Local Fiscal
Relationship
in California: A Changing Balance of Power, 1999, PPIC or the summary cited in the above
paper,
pages
13-14.
Read summary and chapters 4 and 6 of
"California Cities and the Local Sales Tax," 1999, PPIC. A summary can be also
be
obtained in "From Home Rule to Fiscal Rules, pages 27-28.
Read summary of "Risky Business: Providing
Local Public Services in Los Angeles County," 2000, PPIC. A summary
can
also be obtained in "From Home Rule to Fiscal Rules" pages 39-40.
Read the summary of Professor Wassmer’s
study on local fiscal stress
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/w/wassmerr/countystress.htm
Air Quality and Transportation
Sacramento Mobility data
(http://mobility.tamu.edu)
Sacramento BEE (search) especially the article
by Martin Tuttle on air quality
Sacramento Area Council of Governments
(www.sacog.org). Access the transportation and air quality links.
Read Cosmo Garvin’s article entitled
"Going Through the Motions," SN&R July 13, 2000 www.newsreview.com
Access the Sacramento Transportation Equity
Network website
Read"Surface Transportation Policy Project
"Beyond Gridlock: Meeting California’s Transportation Needs for the
Twenty
First Century" at www.transact.org
Read Summary, Chapters 1 and 3 and pages 75-93
"Federal Transportation Policy and the Role of Metropolitan
Planning
Organizations in California" which can be accessed at www.ppic.org
Small, "Urban Traffic Congestion: A New
Approach to the Gordian Knot, THE BROOKINGS REVIEW, Spring 1993
Pack, "You Ride, I’ll Pay: Social
Benefits and Transit Subsidies, THE BROOKINGS REVIEW, Summer 1992
Center for Livable Communities examines the
relationship between land use and transportation planning at www.lgc.org
Read the material provided on one of the
following websites on congestion pricing at::
www.hhh.umn.edu/centers/slp/conpric/short.htm
www.pacificresearch.org/issues/enviro/congestion.html
Crime
Do a websearch at the
SACRAMENTO BEE on crime.
Read the "Special Report" on crime
and print out the Sacramento crime statistics map
And
the crime statistics 4-dig map for your address. If you don’t reside within the city,
chose a 4-digit map of your
choice.
Read all the articles in this series (www.sacbee.com/news/projects/crime/index.html)
TEST 4: The Final
Updated 8/25/00