Renters play an important role as policy actors in urban structure. This text calls for a closer examination of renters as policy actors in Kitsilano, Vancouver, a gentrified neighbourhood with a critical housing shortage. AFFORDABLE-HOUSING INITIATIVES AND RENTERS’ RIGHTS artwork courtesy of Graham White.

Explore the mechanics of adjustable rate mortgages (ARM) in this video, including how they work and in what situation an ARM might be advantageous and when it might work against you.

The course is intended for people who would like a deeper understanding of the American housing finance system. The focus will be on providing necessary background knowledge rather than on evaluating specific policy proposals.  Near the end of the course, participants will be encouraged to bring up policy issues and to discuss them in light of the information presented.

This course is a seminar on the history of institutions and institutional change in American cities from roughly 1850 to the present. Among the institutions to be looked at are political machines, police departments, courts, schools, prisons, public authorities, and universities. The focus of the course is on readings and discussions.

Explore the mechanics of balloon payment mortgages in this video, including how they work and in what situation a balloon payment loan might be advantageous and when it might work against you.

Resources for building literacy and reading fluency with beginning level adult learners. These two short stories were originally created for a beginning level class of adult Somali women. The stories are set in a familiar context and are designed to help the readers learn the names of rooms and features in an apartment or house. Additional activities for language extension are included after both of the stories.

This course serves as an introduction to urban form and design, focusing on the physical, historical, and social form of cities. Selected cities are analyzed, drawn, and compared, to develop a working understanding of urban and architectural form. The development of map making and urban representation is discussed, and use of the computer is required. A special focus is placed on the historical development of the selected cities, especially mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth century periods of expansion. Readings focus on urban design theory in the twentieth century and will be discussed during a weekly seminar on them. This is a methods class for S.M.Arch.S. students in Architecture and Urbanism.

This series focuses on the work of The Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) - an economic research centre within the Department of Economics at Oxford University. These short talks look at specific research topics within the CSAE and are aimed at people who are interested in learning more about African and other world Economies such as Latin America. CSAE researchers often use unique data which give them unrivaled insight into the underlying issues. The resulting policy recommendations address questions in the economic and political spheres as well as in civil society in developing countries.

Do you want to think about ways to help solve New Orleans’ problems? CityScope is a project-based introduction to the contemporary city. “Problem solving in complex (urban) environments” is different than “solving complex problems.” As a member of a team, you will learn to assess scenarios for the purpose of formulating social, economic and design strategies to provide humane and sustainable solutions. A visit to New Orleans is planned for spring break 2007.

Do you want to think about ways to help solve New Orleans’ problems? CityScope is a project-based introduction to the contemporary city. “Problem solving in complex (urban) environments” is different than “solving complex problems.” As a member of a team, you will learn to assess scenarios for the purpose of formulating social, economic and design strategies to provide humane and sustainable solutions. A visit to New Orleans is planned for spring break 2007.

 These anthologies  parallel and supplement the OYH school modules, available as Open Education Resources.  Groups of all ages can explore & discuss these collections. Also available through the OYH website, https://www.ownyourhistory.us/multimediaresourcesThis anthology focuses on the strategies and methods used in the 1960s by Black Americans to challenge Jim Crow segregation and to  put equal rights and opportunities on the nation’s agenda. They called into question the subordination of Blacks and other people of color based upon racist views. Young, new leaders undertook nonviolent direct-action protests supported by Black religious organizations and studentsin the face of determined opposition and violence by Southern Whites. By 1965, the federal government responded by passing historic civil rights and voting rights legislation.These landmark accomplishments did not address economic inequalities. Urban uprisings in 1967-68 were fueled by these economic inequalities and the assassination of Dr. King. President Johnson  appointed a  commission led  Otto Kerner to examine these uprisings and make recommendations.

Until about 1966, the Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. King and the other national Black organizations focused on ending segregation, changing racist attitudes, advancing equality under the law, and securing the vote. Because of the system of Jim Crow laws, the Movement’s attention was largely on the South. Protests also highlighted economic inequalities and jobs and demanded government responses to effect change. In the “long hot summer” of 1967, over 20 uprisings and disorders took place in cities across the country. This prompted President Johnson to appoint a study commission led by former Illinois Governor Otto Kerner to examine these uprisings and make recommendations. Additional rioting occurred in 1968 in reaction to the assassination of Dr. King. The 1968 Kerner Commission report is a detailed, thoughtful, and clear-eyed analysis of these urban disorders with a comprehensive and bold set of recommendations for addressing systemic racism and its economic and social consequences.

Students explore the many different ways that engineers provide natural lighting to interior spaces. They analyze various methods of daylighting by constructing model houses from foam core board and simulating the sun with a desk lamp. Teams design a daylighting system for their model houses based on their observations and calculations of the optimal use of available sunlight to their structure.

Students investigate circuits and their components by building a basic thermostat. They learn why key parts are necessary for the circuit to function, and alter the circuit to optimize the thermostat temperature range. They also gain an awareness of how electrical engineers design circuits for the countless electronic products in our world.

We all know that it takes energy to provide us with the basics of shelter: heating, cooling, lighting, electricity, sanitation and cooking. To create energy-efficient housing that is practical for people to use every day requires combining many smaller systems that each perform a function well, and making smart decisions about the sources of power we use. Through five lessons on the topics of heat transfer, circuits, daylighting, electricity from renewable energy sources, and passive solar design, students learn about the science, math and engineering that go into designing energy-efficient components of smart housing that is environmentally friendly. Through numerous design/build/analyze activities, students create a solar water heater, swamp cooler, thermostat, model houses for testing, model greenhouse, and wind and water turbine prototypes. It is best if students are concurrently taking Algebra 1 in order to complete some of the worksheets.

Through site-specific client-based work, this course will allow students to materially contribute to redevelopment decision-making regarding a former inner-city industrial site. The course will focus on generating and analyzing pragmatic redevelopment scenarios given the issues of brownfields and environmental contamination, community preferences, regulatory constraints and economic realities.
The course is designed along two parallel and mutually reinforcing educational tracks: Field learning and classroom reflection, with ample time built into the schedule for both. As the course will focus on an actual site, there will be a sizeable portion of student time spent on location and in the surrounding community.

Escrow is a way of holding monies in a third-party account until all of the necessary aspects of a transaction have been carried out. In this video, learn about the role of escrow in real estate transactions, how escrow accounts work, and what an escrow agent is.

This SoftChalk is used to walk through the family life cycle as it pertains to housing. It tells what milestones can happen in this stage, and gives an examples of a family working through these stages.