by Evan McKenzie
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Book Description
This book is the first comprehensive study of the political and social issues posed by the rise of common-interest housing developments and their private governments. Tracing the history of this type of housing from the nineteenth century to the present, McKenzie highlights the important but little-understood role public policy has played in advancing this large-scale "privatization for the few," and he concludes by considering the implications for civil liberties and for politics at all levels of government.
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Average Customer Review:
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
 Bullseye!, 2006-06-24
Outstanding book for anyone who happens to be passionate about government, American history and association management at the same time. I can't remember the last time I read a book in three days, and haven't had my intellect stimulated at this level since college. To say that McKenzie doesn't hide his bias, or to suggest that this book was written primarily to warn us of the dangers or CID's is to miss the point. Privatopia is an outstanding, scholarly work that should be required reading for students of urban planning, local government, or anyone who aspires to become a real estate developer. I could go on but I need to start my online search for the sequel. Evan? (and no I am not his son, or one his lucky students) Mike Walker, Seattle, WA
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
frighteningly interesting, 2006-03-10
The book was excellent. From history, intent, current situation, this book covered it all. It was also written in an interesting format, not dry data. I bought the book as a reference guide for a school papaer, and ended up reading it cover to cover. Scary stuff, but everyone needs to know about it.
4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
 ouch!, 2006-01-09
too dry to get through. we need good helpful advice - not a dry political science book. oh well, will have to look for something else.
1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
A great book from one of my peers., 2005-08-12
This is it, the authoritive version. It is refreshing to see one of my peers step up to the plate like this.
It's all there, everything that you need to know. If Evan did not write this himself, I could almost say that I did, that is how close he came to covering everything.
Once again, great writing from one of my peers. (And there are not too many, though there should be)
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
The dark side of Homeowner Associations., 2004-10-21
This is a fascinating book for a narrowly targeted audience. If you are engaged in any way in the governance of a homeowner association either as property manager, lawyer, or board member, this book is most interesting.
The author outlines in detail the history of the advent of common interest developments (CIDs) in the U.S. He explains why this form of residential ownership has taken on like wildfire in the past four decades. And, what this imply for society at large and local governments in particular.
The author indicates that there were only 500 homeowner associations in 1964; but, there were more than 150,000 in 1992. Nowadays, a significant percentage of the middle class and upper middle class lives in such associations. The factors that drove this explosion in the number of CIDs are:
1) Land economics. Developers were able to significantly increase the unit and population density within their housing developments. This increased the supply of private housing, and lowered their costs, making them affordable to a much larger segment of the population.
2) Lower municipalities costs. As CIDs maintain a good part of their infrastructure and also finance some of their municipal services, municipalities' revenues went up due to rising property taxes. But, their costs did not grow as much.
The author makes an eloquent case that the local governments' acceptance of CIDs to boost their revenues more than their cost was a Faustian deal. This is because the middle and upper middle class is becoming increasingly disenfranchised from the remainder of the community. If they are well taken care off by the private services they pay for through monthly assessments within their gated communities or condominium, they will become increasingly resentful of paying regular property taxes, and voting for parcel taxes, and local bonds to finance public services they don't use. The author mentioned that a few CIDs have already successfully obtained the right to tax rebates on a proportion of their property taxes to avoid "double taxation" for the same services. The liberal economist, Robert Reich, has depicted this phenomenon as the "secession of the successful."
The author is also deeply troubled with the governance of CIDs. He feels like Boards have way too much power on the private lives of homeowners. He thinks that developers have way too much influence on the shape of U.S. communities.
The author also depicts the shameful history of CIDs as being racists. They did it through their implementation of restrictive covenants forbidding ownership by any racial minorities to supposedly maintain property values. This went on until the Supreme Court deemed such covenants unenforceable in 1948.
For my part, I find some dissonance in some of the author's arguments. Are the CIDs such a dark development within U.S. society. I don't think so. First, the level of racial discrimination implemented within CIDs prior to 1948 was not specific to just CIDs. Such racial discrimination clause must have been frequent within apartments' lease agreements, and other forms of housing. In other words, there is a reason why the Judiciary passed a body of laws to forbid racial discrimination within housing, employment, and other aspects of our private or public lives. The author sees a cause and effect here. I don't. I see it as a simultaneous development. We all shared the same sins at the same time, whether we lived in CIDs or not.
The argument of the "secession of the successful" is open to contradictory facts. There is no doubt that CIDs by increasing population density on developed land, lowered the cost of private housing, and significantly boosted the homeownership rate over the past decades. Thus, CIDs have not become housing for the few but for the many. If it was not for CIDs, the homeownership rate in the U.S. would be far lower. Additionally, the author's prophecy that an increasing number of CIDs would lobby and obtain property tax rebates has not occurred a full decade later. There is a simple reason for that. The majority of CIDs do not come even close to fully substituting local municipal services with their own privatized services. As treasurer of a condominium, I know that the only true municipal service we pay for through our monthly assessment is garbage removal. And, this cost accounts for only 6% of our budget. This is not significant enough for us to petition City Hall for a proportional tax rebate of our property taxes.
Despite my differing views, I found this book very informative and interesting. Thus, I strongly recommend it. If you are interested in such issues, I also strongly recommend another book, with a broader scope: "Paradise Lost: California's Experience, America's Future" by Peter Schrag. It raises many common issues with this book. It is a study of the long-standing tax revolt in California since the passing of Prop 13 back in the seventies, and its impact on the deterioration of municipal services.
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