Colonias and Public Policy in Texas and Mexico : : Urbanization by Stealth / / Peter M. Ward.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Texas Press Complete eBook-Package Pre-2000
• VerfasserIn: Ward, Peter M.,
• Place / Publishing House: Austin : : University of Texas Press, , [2021]; ©1999
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (307 p.)

Today in Texas, over 1500 colonias in the counties along the Mexican border are home to some 400,000 people. Often lacking basic services, such as electricity, water and sewerage, fire protection, policing, schools, and health care, these "irregular" subdivisions offer the only low-cost housing available to the mostly Hispanic working poor. This book presents the results of a major study of colonias in three transborder metropolitan areas and uncovers the reasons why colonias are spreading so rapidly. Peter Ward compares Texas colonias with their Mexican counterparts, many of which have developed into fully integrated working-class urban communities. He describes how Mexican governments have worked with colonia residents to make physical improvements and upgrade services-a model that Texas policymakers can learn from, Ward asserts. Finally, he concludes with a hard-hitting checklist of public policy initiatives that need to be considered as colonia housing policy enters its second decade in Texas.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Abbreviations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction. Perspectives on Texas Colonies and the Project Methodology -- One Introduction to toe Border Reginn and to the Case Study Cities -- Two Land and Housing Production in the Colonias of Texas and Mexico -- Three Servicing No Man's Land: Ambivalence versus Commitment in the Texas-Mexico Colonias -- Four Settlements or Communities? Social Organization and Participation in the Colonias -- Five Social Services to Colonies: Shifting the Focos toward Means Rather than Ends -- Six Conclusion: Texas Colonias and the Next Policy Wave -- Notes -- References -- Index