Category Archives: Methodology

Development of Strategic Plan

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The final part of the research process was developing a strategic plan for two- to four-unit buildings, addressing the challenges identified in the key findings and building on the opportunities. The strategic plan was created through a fairly informal process. Many of the recommendations were recorded in a journal during various parts of the research process. Juxtaposing both the key findings and the recommendations, strategic outcomes were selected that met the criteria as visions. The recommendations were organized into more direct and measurable objectives. Final implementation steps revolved around prioritizing each recommendation by the perceived amount of effort required and a grouping of general priority attached to each.

The Strategic Outcomes are listed below

  1. Stabilization – A stabilized, well-functioning property market for two- to four-unit properties
  2. Advocacy – Policies and organizational infrastructures better aligned for addressing the unique challenges of two- to four-unit properties
  3. Loan Fund and Financial Assistance – Interested and current homeowners in Woodlawn have adequate financial resources to invest into two- to four-unit properties
  4. Assistance and Counseling – Interested and current homeowners in Woodlawn have adequate technical assistance and counseling to invest into two- to four-unit properties
  5. Responsible Development – Current residents have pathways to build wealth through local economic development and pathways to homeownership, while diverse rental products and necessary amenities attract newer (moderate income) residents.

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Development of Key Findings

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The next stage of my research was identifying the most important findings and implications of the data collected and analyzed along the analytical frame. First, using a traditional strategy of qualitative research, I kept a journal of emerging patterns throughout the process. This journal was most active throughout the several months of translating interviews into the detailed a case study using the aforementioned analytical frame. When each interview was entered in the database, I often summarized emerging themes that would only become more prominent. These preliminary findings were grouped in evolving categories of real estate development, community development and public policy. My intention was to recognize the multi-faceted nature of two- to four-unit properties and consider different approaches in developing recommendations. To systematically uncover additional findings not readily apparently during earlier parts of the research process, I performed a SWOT analysis within these categories, considering existing “strengths” and “weaknesses” specific to Woodlawn or two- to four-unit properties, as well as “opportunities” and “threats” originating elsewhere. With a comprehensive list of important findings, the last two steps were revisiting the four research questions as a means for selecting the findings that were relevant, organizing them, and isolating each finding into an observation and its implication.

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Analytical Framework: Social Ecosystem and Development Process

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The workhorse of this research thesis has been an analytical framework that analyzes the social ecosystem and development process of two- to four-unit buildings. The framework was inspired by Bloom and Dees whose work on community development financial institution Self-Help Credit Unions effectively analyzed its social ecosystem and re-shaped the home mortgage market and prospects for low-wealth borrowers and clients (Bloom & Dees, 2008). The first component of the social ecosystem are the “players” (individuals and organizations): a web of interrelated individuals and organizations who are capable of exhibiting some form of agency that is pertinent to two- to four-unit building market, including resource providers, partners, alternative providers of housing, customers, problem makers and bystanders. The environmental conditions represent a second component that shapes which players can exist and their relationship with each other, including the economy, laws and regulations, demographics, culture and geography. I augmented this framework by explicitly incorporating the process of real estate development, the acquisition, renovation, disposition and management of two- to four-unit properties.

The analytical process transformed many qualitative insights into a detailed examination of the social ecosystem. Though I recorded (with permission) all but a few of my interviews, I opted not to transcribe the majority of the interviews. I developed a 35-column database to organize the following background information for each informant, including detailed notes from the interview, and to perform a quick check about the important implications.

Category Informant Database Columns
Source Background Information Type
Name of Source
Stakeholder Category
Date Conducted
Title & Affiliation
Contact Information
Permissions Granted
General Causes of Vacancy
Choice Neighborhoods Efforts
Environmental Conditions Economics and Markets
Politics
Public Policy and Administrative Structures
Geography and Infrastructure
Social and Cultural Factors
Historical Factors
Players Resource Providers
Competitors
Complementary Organizations and allies
Beneficiaries and customers
Opponents and problem makers
Affected and influential bystanders
Development Processes Acquisition
Renovation
Sales, Leasing and Disposition of Buildings & Property Management
Capital Availability
Preliminary Analysis What people, event or situations were involved?
What were the main theme or issues in the contact?
Which research questions and which variables in the initial framework did the contact bear on most centrally?
What new hypotheses, speculations, or hunches about the field situations were suggested by the contact?
Where should the field-worker place most energy during the next contact, and what kinds of information should be sought?

The primary reason for constructing a database was to translate hours of interviews into passages of written text (short of transcription) that could be re-organized and sorted by question as opposed to informant. Generating summaries of each question allowed them to be coded for the themes, conflicts, anecdotes and patterns. The classification scheme was employed through the discretion of the author according to criteria based on social ecosystem literature. Through an iterative process, I clarified the meaning of the categories, whether information was pertinent and where it falls in the analytical frame.

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Data Collection

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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.

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