ancient cities

Kusmer, K. 2002. “Down and Out.” In On the Road:
Homelessness in American History. New York:
Oxford University Press.
National Coalition for the Homeless & National Law
Center on Homelessness and Poverty. 2006. A Dream
Denied: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U S.
Cities. Washington, DC: Authors.
Rossi, Peter. 1991. Down and out in America: The
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Chicago Press.
Snow, David A. and Leon Anderson. 1993. Down on
Their Luck: A Study of Homeless Street People.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
Wagner, D. 1993. Checkerboard Square: Culture and
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Wright, Talmadge. 1998. Out of Place: Homeless
Mobilizations, Subcities, and Contested Landscapes.
Albany: State University of New York Press.
Ho m e o w n e r s as s o C i a t i o n s
Homeowners association (HOA) is a specific term
used in the United States and some other countries
for incorporated associations of homeowners who
have formed an organization to govern common
property. Common property might include shared
parts of buildings, parking lots, streets, recreational
facilities, and, in larger developments, schools and
private town halls. Homeowners associations collect
monthly fees from homeowners (assessments)
and organize a contractual version of local government,
delivering services and enforcing private
land use restrictions. Decisions are made by an
elected executive board and are governed by an
annual homeowners’ meeting. The board employs
a property management company to execute its
day-to-day estate management responsibilities.
Homeowners associations are set up variously
as companies, trusts, and other entities, depending
on the legal instruments a country has at its
disposal. In the United States, homeowners associations
govern landed properties, usually in master
planned developments, and are distinguished
from condominium associations, which govern
shared property in apartment developments.
Community association is the more general term
used to describe private organizations that govern
neighborhoods and may include condominium
Homeowners Associations
365
associations, homeowners associations, cooperatives,
and their variants.
The idea of a legal entity governing shared private
territory has a long history. In France, the first
modern joint-ownership (condominium) law was
created in 1804. For 200 years, every new land
subdivision in France has been required to establish
restrictive covenants and, in the case of private
streets, a homeowners association. Condominium
law was exported from France to the United States
in the 1960s; subsequently, there was a veritable
explosion of private local governments. In 1964,
the United States had 500 community associations.
This grew to 274,000 by 2005, providing housing
for 54.6 million Americans (18.5 percent of the
population). The economist Robert Nelson views
the rise of homeowners and condominium associations
as the greatest innovation in ownership since
the birth of the modern joint stock company in the
late nineteenth century. He argues that it redistributes
ownership of urban infrastructure stock from
the few to the many, decentralizes control, and
radically changes the incentive structure and the
politics of investment and stock management.
Not surprisingly, a great many controversies
are associated with the phenomenon. Privately
governed neighborhoods are alleged to reduce
political participation and change voting behavior.
They are said to exacerbate social–spatial
segregation, fuel the fear of others, displace crime
and traffic problems, and pose a long-term risk to
social cohesion. On the other hand, they clearly
offer something of value to homeowners, including
reduced investment risk, a greater sense of
community, a better quality of local services, and
more clearly packaged neighborhood choice. The
balance between costs and benefits is an empirical
matter and currently subject to much scrutiny.
As important as the alleged social and systemic
costs are the private costs of contractual government
(the legal costs of setting up a well-founded
administration and the cost of settling disputes).
There is a growing body of research on the coevolution
of private and public urban governance and
a variety of institutional models are emerging in
different economic and cultural contexts.
Chris Webster
See also Common Interest Development; Condominium;
Governance; Housing