220302 1506 Fwd_ Exclusionary zoning dominates LA region. Here's why it matters for equityFrom:Frances Marquez
To:Frances Marquez
Subject:Fwd: Exclusionary zoning dominates LA region. Here"s why it matters for equity
Date:Wednesday, March 2, 2022 3:05:59 PM
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: Michele Magar <tanyaprojectmlp@gmail.com>
Date: March 2, 2022 at 11:02:24 AM PST
To: Frances Marquez <fmarquez@cypressca.org>, Jonathan Kung <jkung@ucsd.edu>
Subject: Fwd: Exclusionary zoning dominates LA region. Here's why it matters for
equity
FYI. You have lots of potential allies in LA — you might want to start making those
connections as you continue to build up resources and allies for next year, when Frances
will have two votes to back up her own.
Since she can’t get anything passed this year, she can focus on what she wants to do for
Cypress next year re the “big” issues we’ve talked about:
Affordable and accessible housing in fully integrated safe neighborhoods close to public
transit and grocery stores with healthy organic produce (not food desserts), ways to
implement, within Cypress, CA’s first-in-the-nation coercive control law, that broadens the
definition of domestic violence to include nonphysical abuse, and ensuring that people with
disabilities have fully accessible voting rights this November (i.e. that anyone who needs
help either registering to vote, or voting, gets that help).
We can also work to better train Cypress police officers to respond to “mental health” and
domestic violence calls (the latter are where officers experience the most injuries, more than
any other type of call). There are model programs in other CA cities we can tweak and offer
Cypress.
Cypress can also use a Mayor’s Office on Disability to ensure both government and public
spaces (inside and outdoors) are fully accessible to Cypress residents with disabilities. I
could go on and on . . . but the point is: let’s use this year to plan for next year, because
it’s very obvious nothing Frances wants for Cypress will be enacted this year.
— Michele
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Othering & Belonging Institute" <belonging@berkeley.edu>
Subject: Exclusionary zoning dominates LA region. Here's why it
matters for equity
Date: March 2, 2022 at 8:57:30 AM PST
To: "Michele Magar" <tanyaprojectmlp@gmail.com>
Reply-To: belonging@berkeley.edu
March 2, 2022
OBI logo
Zoning map of the Southern California region
Whopping 78% of LA region residential land reserved for single-
family homes
Today we launched a new study showing that single-family housing dominates residential
zoning in the six-county Los Angeles region, which creates a barrier to low-income people
from accessing high-opportunity neighborhoods. Consistent with our past research on zoning
in the Bay Area, our latest study of SoCal found strong correlations between zoning and
outcomes in peoples' health, incomes, education and other indicators of well-being. Our
investigation of 191 cities in the region also found that as the proportion of a neighborhood's
single-family-only zoning increased, so did its white and Asian populations, while the Latino
population significantly decreased, as did the percentage of Black residents to a lesser
extent. Read our study here. Check out our collection of zoning maps. And see our press
release here.
Also see our Twitter thread which contains many telling images from our report, and check
out coverage of the report in the LAist and OC Register.
Artwork of the interior of a home
Motherwork in Sweden's racialized suburbs
In the latest essay from our European paper series Jonelle Twum writes about a group of
Swedish-Somali mothers who came together in 2015 to organize against the deadly violence
in their racialized neighborhood. In it, Twum, who is a researcher and founder of Black
Archives Sweden, argues that the mothers’ "motherwork" is a form of resistance against
othering practices and processes that marginalize the suburbs and those who live
there. Read the paper here.
Promo card for Keeping it Unreal event with the headshots of the five panelists
Event: Keeping it Unreal
Join OBI faculty scholar Darieck Scott and colleagues from across the country on March 10
for an online conversation about his new book, Keeping It Unreal: Comics and Black Queer
Fantasy. Led by Ramzi Fawaz from University of Wisconsin, the panelists will explore the
Black radical imagination, superhero comics, Black power and triumph, respite from white
supremacy and much more. Register here.
Promo card for The Defiant Middle talk
Event: The Defiant Middle
Join author Kaya Oakes on March 14 for a book talk about her recently published The
Defiant Middle: How Women Claim Life's In-Betweens to Remake the World, followed by a
conversation with History professor Ronit Stahl, Interim Administrative Chair of the Religious
Diversity Cluster. The hybrid event will take place in person at UC Berkeley and online. Click
here to register.
Vietnamese people looking through what appears to be a photo album (stock photo)
New Research Brief: Vietnamese Voices from Orange County, CA:
Narratives of Community, Government, and Change
A new study published by OBI and VietRISE, a community-based organization in Little
Saigon, Orange County, CA, reveals prevailing beliefs, policy preferences, and narratives
among Vietnamese residents in OC on topics related to economic inequality, the role of
government, generational change, and the idea of community. OBI’s survey of Orange
County found that Vietnamese residents are more likely than any other group to support
economic redistributive policies. Through follow-up focus groups, the brief shows not only
that these views are widespread, but also the key values and narratives underpinning them.
Findings cut against conventional wisdoms about the views of Vietnamese constituencies.
Read the full report, Vietnamese Voices from Orange County, CA: Narratives of
Community, Government, and Change in English and in Vietnamese. To watch a press
conference summarizing findings please click here.
Red Winged Blackbird graphic
If you live in the Bay Area come check out this new play, Red Winged Blackbird, by Alyosha
Zim, which will be showing for 12 days at Berkeley's Live Oak Theater. Set in 1960s New
York and 1980s Colorado Rockies, the play is about brothers and lovers, Judaism and
Buddhism, spiritual quests and identity. This is a story of transcendence - of rising above
strongly held beliefs, and the struggle to care for seriously ill loved ones - to do what’s
needed in the name of love.
As part of the production the team will host two webinars with different guests to discuss the
play. OBI Director john a. powell will be a panelist at one of the webinars, on March 16. Get
your tickets for the play here. And to sign up for the free webinars about the play go here.
An image of OBI Swag
Check out our merch store!
Treat yourself and your loved ones to some cool swag from our merch store.
Upcoming events
March 3 - 20: Red Winged Blackbird - THE PLAY
March 10: Keeping It Unreal: Comics and Black Queer Fantasy
March 14: The Defiant Middle: How Women Claim Life's In-Betweens to Remake the World
March 31: Migration, Trauma, and Resilience
Work with us
We currently have two staff position and two Berkeley graduate student researcher (GSR)
positions open. See all our job openings here.
Staff position:
Graphic Designer: Are you a graphic designer who can turn research findings and
data into beautiful and engaging digital and print products? Consider joining our
growing communications team. Learn more here.
Data Analyst
GSR positions:
Rent Stabilization Research Assistant
Arts & Cultural Strategy Research Assistant (Place)
In the news
Director john a. powell was interviewed for a CBS Sunday morning show on the issue
of free speech and censorship. Check it out here. He was also interviewed for
this Radar 2020 video report on censorship in schools.
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