Interviews
During January 2013, I conducted over 12 hours of formal and informal interviews with approximately 20 persons over the course of three weeks in Chicago. Using prior contacts and contextual knowledge during my time as an intern at POAH, I developed a list of approximately 50 individuals and organizations that I contacted through a combination of emails and phone calls. My intended goal was to create a list of informants that included residents (home-owners and tenants), advocates, developers, government officials, landlords, non-profits program officers and executive staff and various types of community leaders. Unless I encountered them inadvertently in another capacity, I did not directly interview a tenant. However many of their concerns surfaced indirectly, confirming that my list of informants was fairly representative and consistent with my initial goals.
The interviews were 30 to 60 minute semi-structured interviews; I developed a fixed set of questions that covered the topics of interest, but with the help of audio-recording technology, I was able to let the interviews take a natural progression, revisit my original topics and questions in the moment, follow up on additional topics as needed and then rely on recordings for getting sufficient detail afterwards.
Thematic Approach to Interview Questions
In developing questions for the interviews, I began with questions based on an informant’s general relationship to the research topic (developer, resident, government official, etc.), customizing those questions to fit the particular background of each informant. For example, developers with direct experience renovating two- to four-unit buildings were asked questions about smaller units which were different from those put to developers of larger multifamily properties.
There were 6 particular themes that guided both the questions and the list of informants I sought:
| Component | Approach/Research Objectives |
| Historical Context | Using interviews and primarily secondary sources, to develop a historical narrative of the circumstances that create the existing environment in Woodlawn. |
| Neighborhood Politics | Through interview questions about political engagement, identify the political climate in which the Small Building Initiative enters. What political issues are linked to the issue of Small Buildings? What is perceived as feasible and not, and why is this the case? |
| Housing Stock | Assess the housing stock in two parts: (1) stakeholder interviews with developers, residents, and government officials for qualitative information; and 2) analyze data on vacant buildings (which are easily available), rental and for-sale listings (available with subscriptions) and tax and parcel data (much more difficult to compile, but possibly available from secondary sources). This also involves systematically dividing up the housing into categories of occupancy, foreclosure status, sale/rental price, building condition and number of household units. |
| Housing Demand | Use secondary information from a market study commission by POAH in addition to conversations with developers and brokers to understand market prices for sale and for rent. |
| Capital Availability | Through interviews with private/non-profit lenders, developers and government officials, assess whether there are identifiable limitations in capital availability for small building redevelopment, the reasons why/why not, the particular loan products needed and the primary sources of capital in the neighborhood. |
| Renovation & Management | Gather information on other aspects of the housing delivery system that might include renovation of small building, obtaining a title, general landlord issues and scattered site rental management. |
Additional Sources
For the purpose of generating additional insights for the case study, I relied on both primary and secondary sources to assist the interviews. Newspapers and news radio coverage were helpful for gaining information on historic context, and online websites such as the (now defunct) site Everyblock.com and Facebook served as a way of aggregating attitudes and opinions of residents. I also relied on administrative data from the City of Chicago, Decennial Census, American Community Survey, and Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council for background and additional evidence on the neighborhood, social and economic changes and physical features.