Eviction Free Zones: The Economics of Legal Bricolage in the Fight Against Displacement

Gentrification, the influx of high-income dwellers into low-income neighborhoods, has in the past decade become a serious cause of concern to low-income tenants in older American cities. Although gentrification has had some positive effects, one important negative effect has been the displacement of existing neighborhood residents. Various schemes have been suggested to combat displacement caused by gentrification. One strategy entails seeking legislative relief in the form of rent control and condominium-conversion laws to directly curb the influx of high-income residents; another makes use of rent vouchers and public housing to ameliorate the effects of displacement. This Article analyzes an alternative strategy: the use of Eviction Free Zones (EFZs) to prevent the displacement of low-income tenants in gentrifying neighborhoods. In contrast to strategies that rely on legislative intervention, the EFZ strategy can be applied directly in the neighborhood, by local community groups and legal services lawyers, through enforcement of the implied warranty of habitability (IWH) and other legal remedies already available to tenants. To create an EFZ, local community groups and legal services lawyers target a neighborhood on the verge of gentrification, and work with tenants to prevent or delay evictions. Their goal is to make eviction a difficult and expensive process for landlords, slow gentrification, and ultimately block displacement. In the long run, the EFZ strategy may benefit poor tenants by maintaining both the quantity and affordability of existing low-income housing. Part I of this Article discusses gentrification and the social problems associated with it. Part II describes the mechanics of the EFZ strategy: the legal tools for preventing evictions, how they are used, and by whom. Part III analyzes, through the use of an economic model, the potential long-run economic impact of the EFZ strategy and discusses, in terms of this model, when and how an EFZ should be put into effect. The Article concludes that Eviction Free Zones can, under certain circumstances, be an effective strategy for community activists and legal services lawyers to combat the destructive effects of gentrification

Response characteristics of MHOST (MARC Hot-Section Technology) for 3-D inelastic analysis of hot-section components

The advantages of a newly developed code are demonstrated by comparisons of the analysis with existing theoretical data as well as with other available finite element programs. The new program shows promise to significantly reduce the computer time. It also permits accurate and efficient structural analysis of engine hot section components

Determination of the absorption length of CO2, Nd:YAG and high power diode laser radiation for a selected grouting material

The laser beam absorption lengths of CO2, Nd:YAG and a high power diode laser (HPDL) radiation for a newly developed SiO2/Al2O3-based tile grout have been determined through the application of Beer-Lambert’s law. The findings revealed marked differences in the absorption lengths despite the material having similar beam absorption coefficients for the lasers. The absorption lengths for the SiO2/Al2O3-based tile grout for CO2, Nd:YAG and HPDL radiation were calculated as being 23211 m, 1934 m and 1838 m respectively. Moreover, this method of laser beam absorption length determination, which has hitherto been used predominantly with lasers operated in the pulsed mode, is shown to be valid for use with lasers operated in the continuous wave (CW) mode, depending upon the material being treated

Gnome on the range: finding the hypertextual narratives in ancient wisdom texts

In this paper we present the Sharing Ancient WisdomS (SAWS) project. Working with wisdom texts, or gnomologia, the project aims to produce an enhanced digital scholarly edition of the collected manuscripts which both makes the Greek, Arabic and Spanish texts available and demonstrates the hypertexual nature of these texts. By positioning the texts as collections of sayings, of which a given manuscript only shows one narrative path, we demonstrate how a hypertextual approach allows us to explore alternate narrative paths within and across the texts and support researchers as they study the context, significance and transmission of the wisdoms within these works

Web Based Semantic Communities – Who, How and Why We Might Want Them in the First Place

This paper describes an investigation undertaken as part of the FicNet Human-Computer Interaction project into the online amateur fiction community. By working with the community to determine current practices and areas of concern we consider how future technologies such as the semantic web might be used to design applications to support the community. As a first step in this process we gathered opinions both from members of the community and from those outside the community who had come into contact with it. Taking this information we consider the community as it is and what it might become

Bringing Communities to the Semantic Web and the Semantic Web to Communities

In this paper we consider the types of community networks that are most often codified within the Semantic Web. We propose the recognition of a new structure which fulfils the definition of community used outside the SemanticWeb. We argue that the properties inherent in a community allow additional processing to be done with the described relationships existing between entities within the community network. Taking an existing online community as a case study we describe the ontologies and applications that we developed to support this community in the Semantic Web environment and discuss what lessons can be learnt from this exercise and applied in more general settings

Nondestructive leak testing

Method provides opportunity to effect repairs without compromising integrity of enclosed circuitry or mechanism by loss of atmosphere or by ingestion of foreign matter or gas. It is possible to detect leaks in modules which are sealed while fully evacuated, partially evacuated, or containing some form of gas