Power and Control in Disinvested Affordable Housing: San Francisco’s Limited Equity Housing Co-operatives
The promise of the co-operative housing typology extends beyond providing stable, affordable housing. Co-operatives strive to offer a resident-centered site of democratic participation, where ownership and limited equity combine to provide both collective and shareholder ownership of a valuable comm...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2023
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/152508 |
| _version_ | 1811069432099766272 |
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| author | Cohen, Dylan |
| author2 | Thompson, Phillip |
| author_facet | Thompson, Phillip Cohen, Dylan |
| author_sort | Cohen, Dylan |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The promise of the co-operative housing typology extends beyond providing stable, affordable housing. Co-operatives strive to offer a resident-centered site of democratic participation, where ownership and limited equity combine to provide both collective and shareholder ownership of a valuable community asset. Contentiously, local governments and civic institutions seek certainty and control in housing, prioritizing technical expertise and institutional relationships over deeper investment in resident-owner capacity. Affordable housing practitioners face complex and politicized projects, where co-op health is often threatened by mistrust, institutional failures, and funding scarcity.
In San Francisco, more than 2,000 limited equity housing co-operative units constitute a significant portion of the city’s legacy 1960s and 70s federally-funded housing stock. Co-ops routinely fall into crisis, where residents rely on dysfunctional boards, ill-suited housing management companies, and insufficient government support for their survival. Numerous co-ops face critical survival questions, including deferred maintenance and disrepair, potential redevelopment, political instability, and waning institutional support.
This client-linked thesis delves into the landscape of one local government's relationship with its co-operative housing ecosystem. Through dozens of interviews, a literature review, policy analysis, and several case studies of existing co-ops, this thesis elucidates present-day challenges and findings, and by discussing peer-city case studies of Vancouver, Canada, and Washington, D.C., proposes viable solutions charting a path forward. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:10:24Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/152508 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:10:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1525082023-10-19T03:57:57Z Power and Control in Disinvested Affordable Housing: San Francisco’s Limited Equity Housing Co-operatives Cohen, Dylan Thompson, Phillip Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning The promise of the co-operative housing typology extends beyond providing stable, affordable housing. Co-operatives strive to offer a resident-centered site of democratic participation, where ownership and limited equity combine to provide both collective and shareholder ownership of a valuable community asset. Contentiously, local governments and civic institutions seek certainty and control in housing, prioritizing technical expertise and institutional relationships over deeper investment in resident-owner capacity. Affordable housing practitioners face complex and politicized projects, where co-op health is often threatened by mistrust, institutional failures, and funding scarcity. In San Francisco, more than 2,000 limited equity housing co-operative units constitute a significant portion of the city’s legacy 1960s and 70s federally-funded housing stock. Co-ops routinely fall into crisis, where residents rely on dysfunctional boards, ill-suited housing management companies, and insufficient government support for their survival. Numerous co-ops face critical survival questions, including deferred maintenance and disrepair, potential redevelopment, political instability, and waning institutional support. This client-linked thesis delves into the landscape of one local government's relationship with its co-operative housing ecosystem. Through dozens of interviews, a literature review, policy analysis, and several case studies of existing co-ops, this thesis elucidates present-day challenges and findings, and by discussing peer-city case studies of Vancouver, Canada, and Washington, D.C., proposes viable solutions charting a path forward. M.C.P. 2023-10-18T17:11:46Z 2023-10-18T17:11:46Z 2023-06 2023-09-18T20:07:12.380Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/152508 In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright retained by author(s) https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Cohen, Dylan Power and Control in Disinvested Affordable Housing: San Francisco’s Limited Equity Housing Co-operatives |
| title | Power and Control in Disinvested Affordable Housing: San Francisco’s Limited Equity Housing Co-operatives |
| title_full | Power and Control in Disinvested Affordable Housing: San Francisco’s Limited Equity Housing Co-operatives |
| title_fullStr | Power and Control in Disinvested Affordable Housing: San Francisco’s Limited Equity Housing Co-operatives |
| title_full_unstemmed | Power and Control in Disinvested Affordable Housing: San Francisco’s Limited Equity Housing Co-operatives |
| title_short | Power and Control in Disinvested Affordable Housing: San Francisco’s Limited Equity Housing Co-operatives |
| title_sort | power and control in disinvested affordable housing san francisco s limited equity housing co operatives |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/152508 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cohendylan powerandcontrolindisinvestedaffordablehousingsanfranciscoslimitedequityhousingcooperatives |