Final Presentation Post

Here is my final revised presentation post. I hope it is ok.

Post Research Draft Post:

Here is what I have so far of my post research draft. I had intended to have it completed to day, but I got sick after eating some bad food so unfortunitely I was unable to finish it. Since this is just the draft due today, I figured that it would give a good idea of what I am working on and would be ok. It will definitley be finished and spectacular for my final project.

My project topic is "The benefits of an online travel guide, that focuses on guiding travelers to lesser known places of great interest, for local communities in the southern Utah area. This is basically serving as an intro to my thesis project. Please tell me what you think of what I have so far. I am open to any and all input and suggestions. Thanks.

Blog Response # 12

I have to admit that I am glad that we are done with Sampson's book and that this is our last blog response, with the exception of posting our final presentations. Sampson's book is definitely not easy to read, as I came to realize, however, from what I was able to get out of it, I found it to be quite informative and interesting. It definitely gives you a lot to think about. Now to tackle the questions for this blog response:

1. What is a 21 century neighborhood? 

Well that is a hard question to answer, because it greatly depends on where you are. Even in big cities like Chicago and Las Vegas, or even Salt Lake City, it greatly depends on what part of the city you are visiting. I could discribe what my neighborhood I grew up in Las Vegas looked like then and what my neighborhood in Toquerville looks like now, but to try to describe just in general what a 21st century neighborhood looks like, I am not sure how I can.

2. how tied is it to the past? Why?

Well once again the answer to this quest depends on where you are and what neighborhood you are referring too. For example, here in Utah, many neighborhoods are very tied to the past because of the very old pioneer homes, many of which are still lived in today or are museums, house other businesses, or are listed as historic landarks. Therefore, this question is very difficult to answer just in general terms as well.

3. What will a 22nd-century neighborhood look like? 

Since I don't live in the 22nd century, I have absolutely no clue what a  22nd Century neighborhood would look like. I would like to think that it would look very different and hopefully nicer tthen the neighborhoods today, but I just really don't know. In so many ways the answer to this question also greatly depends on where you are as well.

4. Is community dying, thriving, or just bumbling along, about the same now as always?

This is an interesting question because communities are so contrastingly different everwhere. I think some communities are thriving more then others, but I don't know whether and communities would be classified as dying per say. I think that generally speaking, for the most part, most communities are fumbling along the same as always.

Research Update:

As far as my research is concerned, I am still trying to decide for sure exactly how I want to form my presentation, but I have researching how art programs can positively effect developing communities.I think I could create a very insightful presentation on this topic.

Blog Response #11

I have found Sampson's Chapter 16 to be quite interesting. The economic crisis in 2008, gave me a lot to think about, as I am sure that it did for most people. I was so amazed especially in the drop in the housing market and the high number of home foreclosures. I have personally known many people who were hit hard by the economic crisis and were forced into home forclosure. I know many people who lost jobs and were hit with major hard times because of that. It was not a good situation for anyone, whether they lived in Las Vegas, Nevada or Chicago., Illinous.

I found another article entitled "Chicago and the Financial Crisis" A report by the Finance 200 class at Roosevelt University. It is a report of a research project down by the class, to study Chicao and the effects of the financial crisis. In a nut shell, Sampson's chapter sixteen and this report both studied the effects that the financial had on Chicago and they both look closely at the high rate of home forclosure and the higher rate if unemployment.

In the article, the students interviewed many professionals from various professionnals in the community, many being from the real estate and housing industry. They indicated that the beginning of the financial crisis was the real estate price bubble "popped", or as many referred to it as "the 'bottom fell out" of the housing market, in the middle of 2006. The housing market was one of the biggest hit areas of the recession. The second was unemployment.

As a result one of the biggest ways that cities and neighborhoods like Chicago were effected was by the high number of home forclosures and the number of jobs that were lost. Sampson said that when walked back through Chicago during the after math of the recession, in 2010,  the largest difference that he could see was the number of vacant and boarded up homes and housing projects. It is incredible just how many many people were effected by the lose of employment and home forclosures. This obviously adversley effects the cohesiveness of a a neighborhood or community. 

For the second question: "Why does violence unhinge some communities and draw others closer together?" Well I think that the reason this happens is because some communities are stronger and more fiancially stable then others. Communities that are stronger and more financially stable will be able to with stand difficult time and would be alot more inclined to go out and see if they could help others that are struggling, Where as communities that are weaker and not financially stable would be more inclined to fight and commit crimes in order to get what they need to service. It is a very interesting thing to think about and is why we should all strive to be as financially stable as possible.

As far as my presentation research is comming, I am still working on it, but at the moment I don't have much more to report at this time.

Blog Response #10

For my research presentation, I am still trying to decide for sure on my topic, but the two possible topics that I have more or less settled on are art and community development and computer technology and community developement. In using the Summons search engine, found on the DSU Library website, I was able to find a few articles to include in my bibliograph for each of my presentation research topic ideas. Here is a a summary of each of those articles.

Possible Topic A: Art and Community Development

Article #1: Creating Community: Art for Community Development

Lowe, Seana S. "Creating Community: Art for Community Development." Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 29.3 (2000): 357-86. Sage Journals. 1 June 2000. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.

Seana  S. Lowe is a doctorate candidate at the University ofg Colorado. Boulder and this Article documents a study that she performed in two colorado neighborhoods and the impact that art had on the development and growth of those communities. It discusses how art can help develop a sense of unity and solidarity, among other things, which are vital to the proper developement of a good and healthy community.

Article #2: Art Spaces in Community and Economic Development: Connections to Neighborhoods, Artists, and the Cultural Economy.

Grodach, Carl. "Art Spaces in Community and Economic Development: Connections to Neighborhoods, Artists, and the Cultural Economy." Journal of Planning Education and Research 31.1 (2011): 74-85. Sage Journals. 4 Mar. 2011. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.

This article discusses the effect that art spaces and programs would have on revitalizing and developing communities. There is a tremendous interest in Art and it is a vital part of the development of a neighborhood and community development. It discusses the benefits of developing community based art programs for people in the community to participate in.

Possible Topic B: Computers and Community Development

Article #1: Computer Literacy for Workforce Development

Ndahi, Hassan B., and Abha Gupta. "Computer Literacy for Workforce Development." Reading Improvement 37.1 (2000): 39-44. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 29 Oct. 2013.

In society and communities today, everything is so computerized, that computer literacy is a vital part of the process of developing a community. It is important for a community to operate properly and it is equally important for the people in the community to be computer literate so that they can qualified for good, decent paying employment opportunities which inturn will help them to become more self sufficiant and improve their life styles. This article discusses the impact of computer literacy on the development of a neighborhood and community

Article #2: The Role of Community Technology Centers in Promoting Youth Development

London, Rebecca A., Manuel Pastor, Jr., Lisa J. Servon, Rachel Rosner, and Antwuan Wallace. "The Role of Community Technology Centers in Promoting Youth Development." Youth & Society 42.2 (2010): 199-228. Sage Journals. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. .

With everything in society today becoming so computerized, many communities have established 'Community Technology Centers to work in conjunction with youth development programs. This article discusses the benefits and purposes of  establishing community technology centers in communities and encouraging they youth to become in involved in them as part of their growth and the development of their communities.

My two emphasis areas are so closely related that in doing research it is almost impossible to seperate them into seperate topics. I am leaning more toward my first topic although, I am sure that in the end my presentation will most likely end up being a combination of both topics. I will see what happpens as a I continue to do research and work on my presentation.

Blog Response #9  

Leadership in Communities

I am still having a hard time reading Sampsons book and making sense all of his big words and heavy wording, but as I reviewed chapter 14, I found it very interesting to think about  leadership in communities and it can positively or negatively effect how a communitie operates and works.  I had never given much thoguht to this topic before other then to observe, on occasion in places where I have been, that there were some people who were placed in leadership positions, that inadvertantly let there egos get in the way of how they functioned in these leadership positions. I have personally know some people, who where in leadership positions, that basically let the fact that they had power go to their heads. They would act like they thought they were god almighty and that his/her word was final. Period. End of discussion and screw everyone else. I have seen situations where because of these types of attitudes from leaders, more problems were raised, a lot of animosity developed and people started retaliating, etc. People, who were supposed to be leaders, who act like this just irritate the heck out of me and at times I have wished that I could just reach out and smack them a good one and knock some sense into them. Fortunitly for them, I am not that type of person so they were lucky.

In my opinnion, communities who have leaders who are kind and loving, as well as talented and skilled, who actually show that they truely love and care about those who live in their community are the most solid and stable of communities. These communities mostly have very low crime rate because the majority of people are happy, friendly, actually feel accepted and cared for by their leaders. They are happy because they know they can voice their opinnions about difference issues or situations in their community and that their words will be heard, welcomed, and accepted with open minds with the assurance that theywon't fall on deaf ears. They are happy because they know they are not being judged, looked down upon, or neglected by their leaders and those who are supposed to be there for them. The best community leaders are those who go out of their way to not think of themselves, but to think of others first.

Research update:

I am working on my project. Until just recently, I wasn't very clear on what this presentation was so hadn't really done any research to speak of up to this point. Having been sick over the past few weeks, I have not been able to put forth much effort in the way of research up to this point. Now that I clear understanding of what this presentation is and I am also feeling so much better now, I am getting caught on assignments for my other classes and will start going full force into my research for my presentation. 

Blog Response #8

Why do people move where they do, when they do?

This is a very fasinating question. To answer this question I will break it down into two questions. 

First, Why do people move when they do? There are a endless number of reasons for why people move when they do, but some of the most common reasons, some of which Sampson mentioned, are because of job changes, changes in family status, such as death in the family, loss of employment, change of income, change in marital status,etc. Another big reason why some families move when they do is because they have a family member in the military and they are being restationed somewhere else, which in turn dictates that the family will have to move. There are many times when a family or a person has to move, because for one reason or another they are being forced out of their home, whether by forclosure, the end of a rental lease, the inability to afford the rent or house payment on their home due to loss of employment, or they are renting a home and the owners have asked them to move so they can move in or actually sell the home. There are many more reasons why a family or person may move when they do, but I can not list them all now.

I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada and I have known many friends and acquaintances who had to move for a wide variety of reasons. Even the recent recessions, when countless numbers of people were force to move due to forclosure, have had a big impact on communities and why people have moved when they have.

Second, Why do people move where they do? This an even larger question when it comes to discussing neighborhoods and communities. As Sampson mentions constantly throughout his book, there alot of reasons why people move where they do. Many of the most common reasons pertain to financial status or income level, race, their health status, skills and training status, education levels, etc. The ultimate reason why people move where they do can be expressed in two words: 'Comfort Zone'. People move where they do because they want to live in a community or neighborhood that is comprised of people who are of the same or similar race, income level, class level, financial status etc. They also move where they do because they have to move to where they can afford to move too and to where they won't feel intimidated people who are of a high income or class level. They want to be with people who have the same values and status as they do as well they race, in many areas. In Las Vegas there are areas of town and neighborhoods that are very distinctly hispanic, african american, asian, etc. Some of these areas are much larger and more distinct then others but nevertheless, they are there.

How much upward/downward mobility is involved when people change neighborhoods? 

From what I have seen in my experience of living in Las Vegas, there really isn't alot of upward or downward mobility involved because if a family has to move they generally move a similer class level neighborhood and as soon as one family moves out, another family of the same class level seems to move in immediately. Sampson states in his book that amount of upward or downward mobility involved when people have to move and change neighborhoods is actually very low and is not really much of a problem.

How is it possible that all this "churning" as he calls it at one point, doesn't actually wipe out the distinct neighborhoods of "separate Chicagos"?

Well to sum this up, as I mentioned above distinct neighborhoods don't get wiped out because about as soon as one family moves out, another family of the same class level seems to move in immediately.Therefore, there never seems to be a problem with more people moving out and less moving in. It always seems to stay about the same which I have always found to be very interesting to think about.

My emphasis areas of Art and VT would come in handy here help unit new families in communities to feel accepted and be comfortable in their new community and maybe even help them find new abilities within themselves and new ways to better things for themselves and their families.