Dylan Simone

Bio: Dylan Simone is an academic researcher from University of Toronto. The author has contributed to research in topics: Debt & Physics. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 8 publications receiving 92 citations. Previous affiliations of Dylan Simone include McMaster University.

Air Quality in Hamilton: Who Is Concerned? Perceptions from Three Neighbourhoods.

Abstract: This study investigates the factors influencing perceptions of air quality in the industrial city of Hamilton, Canada. The research employs data collected via a telephone survey of 1,002 adult residents in three neighbourhoods. Perceptions in the neighbourhoods were examined by individual socio-demographic factors (age, gender, marital and immigrant status, education, etc.) in addition to perceived health status and neighbourhood problems (environmental, social and safety concerns). Neighbourhood variations were found, with those residing in the Southwest Mountain neighbourhood being over 6 times more likely to report a ‘good’ perception of air quality than those residing in the Lower City neighbourhood. In addition, factors influencing these perceptions also varied by neighbourhood. Perceived neighbourhood problems strongly influenced perceptions of air quality in the Lower City and Central areas, whereas socio-demographic factors were significant primarily in the Lower City neighbourhood, suggesting the importance of these mediating dimensions; pointing to less of a concern about air quality. There was, however, remarkable consistency in all three neighbourhoods when respondents were asked whether their perception of air quality affected their choice to go outside. Overall, the presence or absence of perceived problems, such as pollution and safety, had a powerful effect on shaping and differentiating neighbourhood responses.

Measuring social capital in Hamilton, Ontario

Abstract: Social capital has been studied by academics for more than 20 years and within the past decade there has been an explosion of growth in research linking social capital to health. This paper investigates social capital in Hamilton, Ontario by way of a telephone survey of 1,002 households in three neighbourhood groups representing high, mixed and low socio-economic status (SES). A Social Capital Measurement Tool is proposed as a straightforward way to account for differences in social capital perceptions and actions among residents. Consistent with the literature, the paper found that there was a strong association between social capital perceptions and health, particularly mental health and life stress. Social capital was greater in the high and mixed SES neighbourhoods and much weaker in the low SES neighbourhoods. With respect to social capital actions, both volunteering and voting was associated with positive overall health and mental health. Finally, the paper identified the social capital ‘elite’—respondents with high or above average perceptions and who participated in the two social capital actions—voting and volunteering. Prominent among the social capital elite in Hamilton is the ‘health wealthy’ senior, a positive development for the continued social well-being of the city.

Housing Trajectories Across the Urban Hierarchy: Analysis of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada, 2001–2005

Abstract: Within the Canadian housing market, some immigrants move quickly to quality, affordable housing, whereas others struggle through both systematic and institutional barriers. This article uses Statistics Canada's Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC) —capturing the settlement and integration experiences of immigrants from 2001 to 2005—and investigates housing conditions (housing satisfaction, rates of homeownership, crowding, and affordability) over three survey waves across the Canadian urban hierarchy. Descriptive statistics are used to explore the relationship between immigrant admission class, housing conditions, and settlement locations, namely, those arriving in primary settlement locations (Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver) relative to that observed in secondary (census metropolitan areas) and tertiary (census agglomerations) locations. Using overall housing satisfaction as a proxy for the suitability/adequacy of housing to the needs of the immigrants, a logistic regression model is used...

Household Indebtedness and Socio-Spatial Polarization among Immigrant and Visible Minority Neighbourhoods in Canada's Global Cities

Abstract: Two key attributes of contemporary global capitalism are on the one hand, financialization and rising household indebtedness, and on the other, high levels of mobility and migration between nations, particularly into the ‘global’ cities. Studies on household debt as it relates to race and immigrant status are scarce outside of the US. This thesis investigates levels and types of household indebtedness at the neighbourhood scale among immigrant communities and areas containing more racialized people, in the three largest Canadian cities – Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver (TMV). In particular, it seeks to understand whether racialized and immigrant neighbourhoods experience higher and more onerous kinds of debt (such as unsecured forms of consumer debt) than other neighbourhoods, and the contours of any correlations between them. Descriptive statistics and regression models demonstrate that neighbourhoods housing immigrant groups, and certain visible minority groups, relate to higher levels of unsecured consumer debts

The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt

Abstract: The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt. By Teresa A. Sullivan, Elizabeth Warren and Jay Lawrence Westbrook. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2000. xviii + 380 pp. $35.00 (cloth); $17.95 (paper). In the business section of the Boston Globe on August 25, 2001, a first page headline dramatically suggested that "Bankruptcy filings on track to beat '98 record." The article went on to report that after two years of slight declines the number of Americans declaring bankruptcy rose almost 25% between April and June of this year, putting 2001 on track to break the record set in 1998 of 1.4 million bankruptcy filings. This rather shocking prediction would not come as a surprise to the authors of The Fragile Middle Class who have spent the last twenty years carefully tracing and studying the progress of bankruptcy filings and analyzing what they have to say about the economic viability and vulnerability of the American middle class. This team of authors brings to this task an interesting array of professional skills. Teresa Sullivan is Vice President and Graduate Dean and Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas in Austin. Elizabeth Warren is Professor of Law at Harvard and Jay Westbrook is Chair of Business Law at the University of Texas School of Law. The authors received an award from the American Bar Association for their previous work on the subject: As We Forgive Our Debtors: Bankruptcy and Consumer Credit in America (Oxford University Press, 1989). Their present work represents an ongoing analysis of data gathered from expanded sources. I am not an economist, demographer, or statistician, but one can immediately recognize and appreciate the exhaustive scholarly care that permeates every aspect of their methodology and presentation. (see especially Appendix 1, Data Used in This Study). They examine the data from every imaginable angle and their findings are always meticulously based on the statistical evidence. The first portion of the book presents the depth and breadth of the problem, which they see not only as a serious economic problem but as a "barometer of social change" (pp. 14, 15). Having outlined the basic issues, they turn to the work of deconstruction, attacking the prevalent notion of what type of person ends up in bankruptcy court. I have to admit that I had fallen prey to certain cultural stereotypes, believing that most folk who find themselves applying for bankruptcy come from the ranks of either the fiscally irresponsible, who thoughtlessly expose themselves to unnecessary financial risks, or the ethically challenged, who use the system to skillfully evade creditors while protecting their ill-gotten assets. The portrait of the petitioner for bankruptcy that emerges from this study is one that shatters all such prejudices, presenting us with case studies of men and women who could easily stand on both sides of the altar rail in countless Episcopal churches. The issues, values, and problems that frame these stories are ones that we encounter daily in our own lives as well as those of our parishioners, students, and colleagues. …

Sense of Community Belonging and Health in Canada: A Regional Analysis

Abstract: This article investigates the association between sense of community belonging and health among settlements of different size and across the urban to rural continuum in Canada. Using data from the recent 2007/08 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), the objective is to identify the major health, social and geographic determinants of sense of community belonging and to consider policy options aimed at improving sense of belonging among certain segments of the population. The research found a significant and consistent association between sense of belonging and health, particularly mental health, even when controlling for geography and socio-economic status. At the same time, sense of community belonging improved progressively across the urban to rural continuum with remarkably high levels of belonging evident in the outer most regions of Canada. Despite the health deficit that exists in rural and small-town Canada, the paper postulates that these communities are able to overcome health challenges to create conditions conducive to a positive sense of belonging. Overall, sense of belonging was also found to be highest among seniors, people residing in single-detached homes and among couples with children and was lowest among youth, residents of high-rise apartments and among single-parents. Finally, in the context of addressing deficiencies in sense of belonging, the paper examines several recent policy developments aimed at improving mental health services in Canada.

Discriminating Risk: The U.S. Mortgage Lending Industry in the Twentieth Century

Abstract: Discriminating Risk: The U.S. Mortgage Lending Industry in the Twentieth Century. Guy Stuart. 248 pages. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 2003. The title of Guy Stuart's book suggests that it would provide an objective summary of the evolution of the lending decisions of the American mortgage lending industry in the twentieth century. Instead, the primary focus of the book is on the way lenders ''construct risk'' in ways that discriminate against racial and ethnic minorities- namely, blacks and Hispanics. Stuart's book begins with an explanation of his concept of risk construction in which cultural, institutional, and spatial issues affect the lending decision in a manner that discriminates against certain minority groups. He distinguishes [following Keynes (1921) and Knight (1921)] between the concepts of uncertainty and risk by explaining that uncertain decisions are those in which the decision maker is not aware of the probability distribution of future events, whereas risk decisions are made when decision makers attempt to translate uncertainty into risk by evaluating the probability distribution of future events. Cultural, institutional, and spatial issues affect the way lenders construct risk in the face of uncertainty. Without delving into the quagmire of whether lenders engage in blatant discrimination, as implied by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston study (Munnell, Browne, McEneaney, and Tootell, 1992), Stuart argues that the ways lenders construct risk result in unfair treatment of minority loan applicants. In particular, he suggests that lenders construct risk in an implicit social context that affects the way they receive and process information and thereby develop lending rules. Furthermore, he suggests that the lending guidelines promulgated by the dominant institutions in the mortgage industry [the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac)] continue to put minority borrowers at a disadvantage in mortgage lending decisions. Lastly, he argues that the manner in which appraisers and lenders identify and delineate neighborhoods makes the conclusions lenders reach regarding changes in property value a self-fulfilling prophecy. Chapter 1 of the book considers the ''meaning of value'' and the role that appraisers play in the mortgage lending decision. Stuart provides an interesting discussion of the progress made by the appraisal profession (largely at the urging of the Department of Justice) toward reducing explicit racial and ethnic discrimination. He comments on Frederick Babcock's writings in the Federal Housing Administration's Underwriting Manual (1936), used for many years after the FHA's inception under the Roosevelt administration, and concludes (p. 58) that the ''. . . (misguided) genius of Babcock's solution'' that calls for the careful delineation of ''neighborhoods'' from which comparables should be chosen in the sales comparison process created a class and race sensitive appraisal process. Eventually in 1976 the Department of Justice and the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers and the Society of Real Estate Appraisers agreed to strike all racist-like language from their training materials. The passage of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 and the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 brought transparency to the lending industry, which helped expose explicit racial discrimination in the lending decision process. Today, the dominant players in the mortgage lending industry explicitly prohibit discrimination against neighborhoods based on the race of the inhabitants. But, Stuart (p. 187) argues, ''. . . the logic of the appraisal process dictates that segregation [continues to] be tacitly acknowledged in the selection of comparable properties.'' Chapter 2, ''Rules for Assessing the Borrower and Managing Behavioral Risk'' considers how loan-to-value (LTV) ratios, debt-to-income ratios, and credit records help lenders construct risk. …

Perception of risk from air pollution and reported behaviors: a cross-sectional survey study in four cities

Abstract: We investigate how public perceptions of air pollution, risk beliefs and self-reported actions to limit personal exposure to ambient air pollution vary across cities. Our analysis also examines the extent to which a number of individual-level variables are associated to self-protective and information-seeking actions due to bad air quality. Data was collected through a questionnaire survey in four cities with a total sample of 1202 inhabitants. We found a moderate variation in the subjective evaluation of local air pollution between cities, as well as in the levels of annoyance and distress due to air pollution. There was relatively little variation in perceived severity, worry and self-reported actions. No variation was found for self-reported attention to air quality levels and controllability beliefs regarding the risks from air pollution. Preliminary modeling of four self-reported actions suggests that self-reported attention to air quality levels and worry are important predictors of self-protective ...