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.

Blog Response #7


My two emphasis areas are Art and VT – Visual Technology. I found it to be a bit of a challenge to locate and come up with some sources that would be good, with my two emphasis areas, for a research presentation about community development. As I have given this more thought have determined that art is a good area to research for community development. Art is a fantastic way in which to help people to discover their hidden talents and put them to good use for the benefit of developing a better community. Having been sick last week I was not able to actually spend time at a library looking for sources, but I did manage to find some online sources that could be useful.

For my Art discipline, the first source is an article in the Community Development Journal entitled:

Art and community development: the role the arts have in regenerating communities
http://cdj.oxfordjournals.org/content/35/4/414.abstract

This source talks about how the use of arts can have a large impact on the development and regeneration of communities. The arts provide a powerful way for people to come together and discover their true talents and skills. They can learn how to put these talents and skills to work to help improve the their life and the life of the community.


The Kresge Foundation
http://kresge.org/programs/arts-culture/arts-and-community-building

This source provides a variety of resources to aid with using the arts to help develop and regenerate a community.

For my VT discipline, the first source is an article in the Community Development Journal entitled:

Images for change: community development, community arts and photography
http://cdj.oxfordjournals.org/content/44/1/111.abstract

This source talks about how the art of photography, which is one of the many areas in the VT Discipline, can be used to help to develop and regenerate a community. Photography can be used to help document change, progress and history of a community. It also can also be used as a teaching tool to help people learn and document new skills and talents as well.

LISC INSTITUTE for Comprehensive Community Development
http://www.instituteccd.org/news/1388

This source provides a variety of good resources for helping too apply various areas of the VT discipline to helping develop and regenerate a community.

Blog Response # 6

It has been especially difficult for me to work through Chapter 9 of Sampsons book for two reasons. The first is because I am still struggling to understand what exactly he is trying to say because of all the big words he uses. I have had to spend some time just looking for definitions for alot of the big words that he uses. It is especially difficult when there are a few of his big words that I have not been able to find a definition for, for example: the word Rawlsian, or Rawlsian position.  What does this mean? The second reason why this has been especially difficult for me is because I came down with a really bad cold since our last class and having a totally plugged up head certainly does not help the situation here. 

I have managed to determine that alot of this chapter is talking about how people, different neighborhoods and communities related to and associate with each other or even pay attention to one anothers needs when it come to the subject of race. This, unfortunately, tends to play a large role in how people associate with each other. A big key word here is Stereo typing.

(I am going to add more to my blog tomorrow. I am really sick so I need to go to bed. Thanks for understanding)

Blog Response #5

As I worked through chapter 5 in Sampson book, I had a difficult time trying to get a clear understanding of what Collective Efficacy means since I never been familiar with that terminology before. I was finally able to establish that Sampson defines Collective Efficacy as "social cohesion (the “collectivity” part of the concept) and shared expectations for control (the “efficacy” part of the concept)". 

I reviewed the case study that was done in Stockholm, entitled "Social Mechanisms of Community

Influences on Crime and Pathways in Criminality" by Per-Olofh Wikstrom and Robert J. Sampson. 

In this study, the focus was centered around crime and the factors or mechanisms that seem to influence people, in different classes of communities, to decide to commit crimes. This study reveals how collective efficacy is one of the mechanisms that play a big influencial role in this area because it empasizes how an individual's decision whether to commit a crime or not is greatly influenced by the behavioral environment that that they are exposed to. It points out that communities that tend to have a more negative, lower poverty class, poorer environments tend to have higher crime rates. 

Blog Response #4

I have found that Sampson's book can be quite challenging to read especially because of the style of writting and alot of big words that he tends to use, but I am doing my best.

I took me a little bit to understand exactly what he was referring to as he talked about order and disorder in neighborhoods and communities. He also talked about how the types and levels of disorder in a community varies by each person's individual perception of it.I agree that how disorder of a community is viewed is based on perception . There are are various classes and levels of neighborhoods. Sampson mentioned that the lower class, lower poverty level neighborhoods have been labeled as being more prone to crime, uncleanliness, abuse, etc.

In many places, especially areas in Las Vegas, where I am from, I am observed that this type of stereotyping of neighborhoods tends to prove to be true. 

Outside Article:

Alcohol Outlets as Attractors of Violence and Disorder: 

A Closer Look at the Neighborhood Environment

By Caterina Gouvis Roman, Shannon E. Reid, Avinash S. Bhati, Bogdan Tereshchenko 

For the National Institute of Justice 

http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411663_alcohol_outlets.pdf

In this study the focus was put on the consumption of alcohol as a contributor to disorder in many neighborhoods and communities. I definitely agree that, among many other factors, alcohol plays a large roll in the disorder of a neighborhood and community.

My emphisis areas are are VT and ART. Maybe through these disciplines, I could help promote activities, promote happiness by designing positive message posters. I could even design programs brochures and stuff to help promote cleaniness and order. I could even use my skills and talents to help others to discover there skills and talents. I would have to give a whole lot more thought to this but I know there are alot of other ways that I could use the disciplines of Art and visual technology to make a positive difference and help eleviate alot of the disorder in some neighborhoods and communities and, by so doing, be able to help improve the quality of life for those people living there.

Blog Response #3

Hello. the topic of decaying neighborhoods has always been a disturbing topic to me. When I lived in Las Vegas, I saw neighborhoods that were decaying, run down, somewhat abandoned and I knew alot of people who where faced with forclosure on their homes and property. It is scary and has always given me the feeling that, when it comes to homes, cars and other such property, that banks can be very cruel and heartless. I have I have seen alot of homes, and know alot of people with homes, that have been forclosed on by a bank and then, rather then maintaining the homes and putting them up for resale, they have just abandoned the homes and left them to rot away and be prime targets for vandalizm. Personally I think this is horrible and I think Sampson did a fine job of covering this topic. There are some many homeless people that could be living in these homes until the bank sells them or something, but the heartless banks don't see it that way.

I admire Willie 'J.R.' Flemming for is devotion and desire to go out and claim these abandoned and decaying properties so that he could fix them up and moved homeless people into them. My suggestion would be that the banks rent out the homes until they can sell them, that way vandalizm is prevented, the homes are still occupied, somewhat maintained, something that the banks don't seem to want to do, and not left to rot away.

Blog Response #2

I am originally from Las Vegas, NV and lived in or visited many different neighborhoods down there. As I read Chapter 1 - "Places" in Sampson's book, it made me reflect on my experiences as a child and teenager growing up in Las Vegas. I definitely would have never thought to study communities and Neighborhoods. I have always considered myself a people watcher and with the few different neighborhoods that I have lived in I have made some observations about the different neighborhoods and have found it very interesting that people of the same class, poverty level, ethnic background, etc seem to live in the same neighbor hood.

Now I have been able to observe the contrasts been a big city like Las Vegas. a small city community like St. George, and a very small farm town like Toquerville, which is where I currently live. It its interesting to see the type and variety of people that live in each area and the variety if community topics that these different areas are or are not exposed to.

Blog Response #1

Hello my name is Sarah A. Walsh. Most people think that I am somewhere between 18 and 25 years old. They are totally dumbfounded when I tell them that I am actually 40 years old. I will be 41 on August 30th. Yes, looking very young for your age runs heavily in my family. Anyway, my emphasis areas, in the INTS program, are VT and Art. I was originally a CS-VT major, but I recently switched to the INTS program. I choose to make this switch because I needed an option that would allow me to continue to study my area of interest, but would allow me to get away from some programming classes that were of absolutely no interest to me and that I was finding that I could not pass because I don’t have a programmers brain. The most interesting thing about me that I could share with the class is this: I have been almost legally blind all of my life and have had to wear very heavy RX glasses since I was in Kindergarten. This past summer I did something that has given me a totally new perspective on life. I had surgery on my eyes receive ICL implants that have now taken me from being almost legally blind to seeing just about 20/20. It has been fantastic. Hopefully I only have three semesters left of school until I will have my bachelor’s degree. I can’t wait.


What do I think Neighborhood and Community really mean. Well first of all, they both are a geographical group of people. Neighborhoods are more specially a small area with in a larger community where a group of people live who tend to have the same values, skills, financial level, etc. A Community is a larger geographical area that encompasses many neighborhoods and has the same rules and government policies, etc.


I thought the reading were very interesting. It must have been quite an experience for Sampson to study neighborhoods in Chicago for over ten years. I never would have though of doing that type of research project.