Privatopia homeowner associations and the rise of residential private government / Evan McKenzie.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McKenzie, Evan, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Homeowners' associations--Law and legislation--United States.

Homeowners' associations.

Homeowners' associations--United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [1994]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Condominiums, co-ops, planned unit developments of single-family homes-these and other forms of common interest housing developments (CIDs) have become a familiar sight in America. Currently there are approximately 130,000 of these developments, housing some 30 million people. Residents are required to belong to homeowner associations, pay monthly fees, and live under the rule of residential private governments. These governments perform functions for their residents that were once the province of local government, providing, for example, police protection, trash collection, street maintenance, and lighting. They also place restrictions on ownership of property and enforce rigid and often repressive codes of conduct governing the most private aspects of residents' lives.This book is the first comprehensive study of the political and social issues posed by the rise of CIDs. Evan McKenzie shows how the developments diminish residents' sense of responsibility for the city as a whole by making them reluctant to pay taxes for the same public services that their fees provide. McKenzie also shows that the private governments of CIDs depart from accepted notions of liberal democracy, promoting a unique and limited version of citizenship that has serious implications for civil liberties. He argues that the spread of CID housing has important consequences for politics at all levels of government, because CID advocates now constitute a significant force in interest group politics in many states, often organizing to demand tax breaks or credits for CID residents. Tracing the history of CID housing from the nineteenth century to the present, he highlights the important but little-understood role public policy has played in advancing this large-scale "privatization for the few," and he concludes by considering the implications for urban politics.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

From Garden City to Privatopia

Restrictive Covenants and the Rise of Common-Interest Housing

From Exclusivity to Exclusion: Homeowner Associations in the Suburban Housing Boom

The Expansion of Privatopia: Land Economics and the Legacy of Ebenezer Howard

The Community Associations Institute: The Care and Feeding of Residential Private Governments

Homeowner Associations as Private Governments

GID Private Governments and the Law in California

Conclusion: Reflections on Privatopia and the City

NOTES

INDEX

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780300156942

0300156944

OCLC:

1024022713