Why You Should Care About Zoning In Macomb

The issues of community stability and out-migration are not unique to our city. Indeed, they are increasingly appearing in newspapers around the country as economic expansion seems to be generally booming. So, why should the average homeowner in our fair city care about these issues?

From our perspective, we are concerned with the stability of our neighborhoods. By stability, we mean a neighborhood that has a tendency towards being consistantly of the same character in noise levels, traffic, parking, crime rates, owner occupancy of homes, maintenance of properties (and streets, sidewalks, and roads), and overall curb appeal.

Zoning is actually considered a police power, according to the United States Supreme Court. But zoning is about more than where a city can locate a business or city dump. The quality and strength of zoning (planning, surveillance, & enforcement) affects the overall viability of a city, including neighborhoods. "There is a perception in urban communities that redevelopment policies concentrate on downtown and business districts at the expense of neighborhoods. This perception is supported by continued population migrate out of center cities despite large scale, high profile economic development projects. Consequently, the long-term economic survival of these cities remains questionable." DeLorenzo, L. (1998). "Economic Development and Neighborhood Stability: Fortifying the Link". A Report Prepared for the 59th National Conference of the American Society for Public Administration. Available:
http://spa.asu.edu/delorenzo/aspa98ld.html It should be noted that the city of Macomb lost residents, according to the most recent census. While a special census may reverse that finding, the fact that our city is not growing should be a call for investigation into all possible causal factors.

Zoning policies affecting home ownership affect the economic base of cities. Business owners have a stake in the strength of neighborhoods in cities which house their businesses. "Business and commercial economic development policies have little direct impact on population out-migration when examined at the micro level. Economic development policies which exhibit a significant effect on neighborhood stability instead address homeownership and housing maintenance. It is also found that neighborhood and housing revitalization policies have the most impact on population stability when supported by a coalition of business and corporate leaders" DeLorenzo, L. (1998).

We need to keep our neighborhoods friendly to home owners. "Homeowners have a stake in their community because of their housing investment, and because of their housing investment they are less likely and less able to relocate at the first indication of neighborhood decay. Homeowners are more likely to be active in neighborhood associations than non-homeowners, and are more likely to participate in neighborhood crime-watch, beautification, and community-building activities, which are seen to protect housing investments and maintain or improve quality of life. Also, in the circumstance of rapid neighborhood decay, homeowners are less able to flee than non-homeowners because of the difficult nature of home sales in such an environment. The importance of homeownership also stems from the condition that owner-occupied houses are generally better maintained than rented or vacant houses" DeLorenzo, L. (1998). Furthermore, owner occupied homes increase the curb appeal of neighborhoods, which "stems from the condition that owner-occupied houses are generally better maintained than rented or vacant houses" DeLorenzo, L. (1998).

Owner occupied housing in Macomb accounts for 49% of all housing in our city (not including any WIU owned rentals). "The national average for home ownership is 66%" (1997). Missoula Housing Coordinator. "Home Ownership". Available: http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/measures/HomeOwner.htm

Macomb has a significantly higher percentage of rental units than many other cities. While some difference is to be expected due to the higher percentage of students in our population, these percentages do NOT reflect ANY of the students who reside in WIU housing. When compared to other cities in West Central Illinois of comparable size, we find these percentages of rental units (to non-rentals):

Source- Gary Ziegler, Community Development Coordinator. Speech to Macomb Chapter League of Women Voters, "Rental Inspection Program", July 13, 2001.

Property tax rates are an issue in Macomb. Persons concerned with property taxes should take note that loss of families only adds to the burden for the rest of us. "Residents continue to abandon city neighborhoods either for homes in adjacent counties, or for homes in other city neighborhoods, creating clusters of high-density population. The continued out-migration of population, which in the mid-1990s is occurring at an increasing rate, is seriously eroding cities' residential tax base such that business development alone will not be able to sustain the city" DeLorenzo, L. (1998).

"People tend to be more involved in their communities and neighborhoods when they are home owners. Healthy neighborhoods need a strong core of committed people who are familiar to each other, who watch out for each other and the interests of the neighborhood. A home ownership rate of less than 30% indicates a neighborhood with little stability, 30% to 50% indicates a neighborhood in transition, and a neighborhood with over 50% has the capacity to provide a strong core of committed residents. Several neighborhoods in Missoula now have ownership rates of 30% or less and are beginning to experience neighborhood instability in the form of increased vandalism and crime and high (more than 50%) turnover in school student populations each year" (1997), Missoula Housing Coordinator. "Home Ownership". Available: http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/measures/HomeOwner.htm

We have anecdotal evidence that our city has zoning that is considered highly attractive to non-residing property owners who purchase single family zoned homes to create high profit rentals which give little back to our city in the form of stability. We are in the process of gathering hard evidence in the form of block maps to form a community snapshot. If you would like to help us, please contact us.