Digital Commons Network^™

Cargo Cycles For Local And Last Mile Delivery: Lessons From New York City, Alison Conway

PSU Transportation Seminars

Cities depend on safe and efficient goods movement to support community livability and a healthy economy. However, delivery of goods in an urban environment presents a tremendous challenge. Traditional motorized vehicles used for goods movement – ranging from cargo vans to box trucks - are inherently incompatible with (1) the multimodal street environments of modern cities, with clean, quiet conditions preferred by residents, and (2) larger environmental sustainability goals. As freight flows continue to grow with the demands of global trade, new urban freight and city logistics solutions are needed.

Cargo cycles – human powered cycles equipped with freight carrying …

Artist's Personal Impacts Survey, Christine Wong Yap, Jocelyn Shu

Interdependence

Inter/dependence comprises an installation of drawings, a zine, and a flag. They have their origins in the Artists’ Personal Impacts Survey, a 40-question survey that I created and conducted to explore positive psychological benefits of art practice. The survey was completed by 112 visual artists.

Developed as part of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Process Space artist residency program in 2015.

Interdependence, Christine Wong Yap, Jocelyn Shu

Interdependence

Inter/dependence comprises an installation of drawings, a zine, and a flag. They have their origins in the Artists’ Personal Impacts Survey, a 40-question survey that I created and conducted to explore positive psychological benefits of art practice. The survey was completed by 112 visual artists.

Developed as part of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Process Space artist residency program in 2015.

Beginning Japanese For Professionals: Book 1, Emiko Konomi

PDXOpen: Open Educational Resources

This is the first book in a three book series and includes Lessons 0 - 4. Book 2 and Book 3 are also available for download.

This textbook is designed for beginning learners who want to learn basic Japanese for the purpose of living and working in Japan. Unlike textbooks written primarily for students, whose content largely centers on student life, this book focuses more on social and professional life beyond school.

As a beginning level textbook, this book includes many elementary grammar patterns (Japanese Language Proficiency Test Levels 5 and 4), but the vocabulary and situations are selected specifically …

From Msa To Ca: A Beginner's Guide For Transitioning Into Colloquial Arabic, Lina Gomaa

PDXOpen: Open Educational Resources

This book is for students who have studied Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) for one year or more and would like to learn colloquial Arabic basics using their knowledge of MSA. It aims at transitioning learners from Novice Mid level to Intermediate Low through presenting situations useful for living in an Arab country. The book has several features including hyperlinks, practice dialogues with open answers, cultural tips, and more.

Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty reviews of this textbook.

Audio files are available online

Adopt/Adapt
If you are an instructor adopting or adapting this PDXOpen textbook, please help us …

Raps Sheet, December 2015, Retirement Association Of Portland State

RAPS Sheet: Monthly Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Three Bridges, Robert Liberty

PSU Transportation Seminars

In the last decade, three important new bridges in the Portland area were the subject of intense discussion and analysis: the Tilikum Crossing, the Sellwood Bridge and the Columbia River Crossing. One of those bridges is completed, the second is under construction and the third one was canceled.

As a Metro Councilor, Robert Liberty was involved in the decision making process for all three projects. The way in which those projects were analyzed and presented to the public revealed to him a great deal about the many weaknesses in the way we make major transportation investment decisions. Those insights are …

Webinar: Transportation Academy: Lessons From The Portland Traffic And Transportation Course, Nathan Mcneil

TREC Webinar Series

Community involvement and outreach is an important part of any planning effort, but as planners often find, many times the conversation is a difficult one to carry on. Residents may lack the technical knowledge to understand the intricacies of the system, or they may show skepticism toward the planning process in general. “Transportation Leadership Education,” a NITC education project, offers a guide for communities to stimulate the development of a more involved, educated citizenry.

The Portland Traffic and Transportation course is taught each year to 30-40 Portland residents who want to learn more about how the local transportation system developed …

Model-Based Analytics And Processes For Transportation Investment Alternatives Analyses: From Least Cost Planning To Multi Criterion Evaluation, Jeff Frkonja

PSU Transportation Seminars

Many public and private organizations that make decisions regarding whether and how to invest in transportation assets or programs do so via a structured decision-support process. This talk will address the technical aspects of the family of such processes that use travel demand model outputs—and other sources of quantified performance data—as inputs to analytic tools including benefit cost analysis (BCA) and multi criterion evaluation. Example applications of this framework have included tolling and pricing studies, capital investment alternatives analyses, and programmatic evaluations. Example processes include "Least Cost Planning" frameworks borrowed originally from the power generation industry.

The talk will also …

Center For Real Estate Quarterly, Volume 9, Number 4, Portland State University. Center For Real Estate

Center for Real Estate Quarterly

Table of Contents:
-- The Gentrification Plan of Metro Portland by Gerard Mildner (p. 5-18)
-- The State of the Economy by Adam Seidman (p. 19-28)
-- Residential Market Analysis by Clancy Terry (p. 29-53)
-- Multifamily Market Analysis by Clancy Terry (p. 54-64)
-- Office Market Analysis by Alec Lawrence (p. 65-76)
-- Industrial Market Analysis by Adam Seidman (p. 77-83)
-- Retail Market Analysis by Alec Lawrence (p. 84-91)

Raps Sheet, November 2015, Retirement Association Of Portland State

RAPS Sheet: Monthly Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Examining The Right To Bicycle: Synergies And Tensions Between Human Rights, Civil Rights, And Planning For Cycling, Aaron Golub

PSU Transportation Seminars

Securing and expanding the broad right to bicycle, including the right to adequate and safe street space and related infrastructure for cycling along with other policies and protections for cyclists, is the obvious goal of cycling advocacy efforts in their various forms. All rights are situated within frameworks for promulgating and insuring they are honored, and the right to cycling is no different. This project investigates how the right to bicycle falls within various rights frameworks, focusing on broad human rights and civil rights frameworks while reflecting as well on traffic safety codes and transportation planning frameworks. While certain aspects …

Webinar: Transport Cost Index: A New Comprehensive Performance Measure For Transportation And Land Use, Liming Wang

TREC Webinar Series

Recent federal and state policies are placing increasing emphasis on using comprehensive transportation performance measures to guide transportation decision making processes covering policy areas ranging from mobility, safety, economy and livability, to issues of equity and environment. While it is relatively easy to build consensus on mobility measures that center on the transportation system alone, it is much harder for performance measures to incorporate both transportation and land use, loosely defined as accessibility measures, even with continuous efforts to catalog and design such measures.

Two projects at PSU sponsored by Oregon DOT and National Institute of Transportation Communities (NITC) aim …

The Trade-Offs Between Population Density And Households' Transportation-Housing Costs, Haizhong Wang

PSU Transportation Seminars

As metropolitan area governments and others promote density-promoting “smart growth” policies, finer analysis is needed to quantify the impact of such policies on households' transportation and housing costs. Existing research suggests that households in urban areas trade-off between housing costs and transportation costs, but does not explore how policies to increase urban densities might explicitly impact this balance. Furthermore, the research does not adequately distinguish between the effect of urban area density and the effects of other factors associated with urban area density (e.g metropolitan area size and household incomes) on housing costs. This research uses the 2000 Census Public …

The Backstory: How Livablestreets Advocates Changed Boston, Jeffrey Rosenblum

PSU Transportation Seminars

Local grassroots advocacy organizations play a critical role in shaping the future of cities but receive very little attention in research, especially insofar as understanding the most effective tactics that should be used by these organizations to achieve their objectives. When LivableStreets Alliance was founded in 2005, The City of Boston had 3/8 of one mile of bicycle lanes. Over the past decade, we have seen a sea change. Boston has published a nationally-recognized Complete Streets Guide, MassDOT has incorporated cycle-track designs into several federally-funded projects, and highway overpasses are slated for removal. What is LivableStreets’ role in shifting policy, …

Prediction: The Quintessential Model Validation Test, Wayne Wakeland

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

It is essential to objectively test how well policy models predict real world behavior. The method used to support this assertion involves the review of three SD policy models emphasizing the degree to which the model was able to fit the historical outcome data and how well model-predicted outcomes matched real world outcomes as they unfolded. Findings indicate that while historical model agreement is a favorable indication of model validity, the act of making predictions without knowing the actual data, and comparing these predictions to actual data, can reveal model weaknesses that might be overlooked when all of the available …

Affordable Housing As A Prerequisite For A Safe, Healthy, Equitable Transportation System: Evidence From A Nationwide Evaluation Of Location Efficiency Within The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Lihtc) Program, Arlie Steven Adkins

PSU Transportation Seminars

Mountains of research over the last several decades show that how we get around and how much physical activity we get are closely linked with the built environment of the neighborhoods where we live. This means that the health, economic, and environmental benefits associated with active travel and transit are place-based and that affordable housing in walkable, location efficient places needs to be thought of as a critical component of planners’ efforts to provide safe, healthy, and equitable transportation systems. This talk will provide an overview of the links between affordable housing and transportation planning and present research findings from …

Evaluation Of A Shared Space Alternative In Morgantown, Wv, Avinash Unnikrishnan

PSU Transportation Seminars

Pedestrian and vehicle movement conflicts and the associated safety and efficiency issues have always been addressed in traffic engineering based on the principle of separation through bridges, tunnels, or signals. Pioneered by Hans Monderman, shared space is a new approach in transportation design which inverts this paradigm of separation and designs streets with no demarcations or access restrictions. Shared space has been implemented in a number of cases in Europe with improved efficiency and safety. This research focuses on a specific case study for analyzing the possible implementation of shared space in the United States on the West Virginia University …

Existing Retrofit For Enhanced Performance, Portland State University. School Of Architecture

Research-Based Design Initiative

Hacker is renovating Cruess Hall on the University of California, Davis campus. It is a 22,000 sf structure built in 19 59. Over the years it has had many uses included being a meat processing p lant and is to become a multi-use space which will include an auditorium and wood shop to name a few.

Qualitative Daylighting Analysis, Alejandra Ruiz, Genevieve Wasser, Bora Architects

Research-Based Design Initiative

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a combination of strategies used for analyzing daylighting qualities in the context of two classrooms. The strategies include qualitative information from observations and a post-occupancy survey, on-site light level measurements, and computer generated simulations all intended to inform a comparative analysis of the daylighting conditions and perceived daylighting qualities between the two classrooms. This composite approach takes into consideration access to daylight and views, glare problems and control strategies, use of window coverings, and perceived impact of daylight in order to identify and analyze the presence of certain biophilic design patterns. While both rooms …

Knight Cancer Research Building, Darren Biles, Peter Heibel, Srg Partnership

Research-Based Design Initiative

The Knight Cancer Research Building (KCRB) will be a 7-story research facility with a proposed site in the South Waterfront district. It will be the first building of a two-phase construction project; the second building, expected for completion in about 10 years, will connect to the KCRB's north facade. Until then, the KCRB north facade will be visually and environmentally exposed.

The north facade will include an atrium flanked by more enclosed spaces such as egress stairs, storage, and meeting rooms. The south facade of the Phase II building will define the remaining walls of the atrium as its lower …

Occupant Usage And Behavior, Zach Baugher, Janna Ferguson, Yukari Kubo, Erika Colvin

Research-Based Design Initiative

The Metro Building is located at 600 NE Grand Ave in Portland, OR. Occupied by Metro, a regional governmental organization, the building houses roughly 400 employees over a total of 120,000 square feet of office space. The objective of our research, in collaboration with YGH architecture and New Buildings Institute, is to provide Metro with a cumulative plan of action to address energy inefficiencies due to occupant behavior, equipment, and furniture arrangement. A user survey was sent to all the Metro employees to understand how they feel about their work environment and to begin to brainstorm ways their environment could …

Water And Community Relience, Portland State University. School Of Architecture

Research-Based Design Initiative

RESILIENCE: the capacity of a system to absorb a disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change so as to still retain essentially the same function, structure, identity, and feedbacks .

Portland Metro Building Performance: Optimizing Energy Performance And Occupant Comfort At Portland Metro, Ali Alajmi, Janna Ferguson, Erika Colvin, Yukari Kubo

Research-Based Design Initiative

The objective of this research is to investigate potential existing building retrofits to improve the work environment for building occupants as well as the overall building energy performance. Beginning with the building skin and moving to the individual cubicle, our team wanted to find a specific architectural solution that would help to reduce the Metro building’s overall energy consumption and help to create a more comfortable work environment

Research Tools For Assessing Thermal Bridging, Portland State University. School Of Architecture, Zgf Architects

Research-Based Design Initiative

Objective:

Project Overview Results Results Compile knowledge developed from the use of building analysis tools, their applicability and limitations, for the refrence of future needs.

Building Performance “What Ifs”, Paul Conrad, Alejandra Ruiz, Genevieve Wasser, Boora Architects

Research-Based Design Initiative

The “Building Performance What Ifs” project collaborated with Boora Architects to analyze the envelope design performance for three schools in the Portland area. The three selected schools, North Clackamas High School, Rock Creek Middle School, and the Early Learning Center addition to Earl Boyles Elementary School serve as examples of evolving knowledge and strategies in envelope performace design in recent years.

Multnomah County Courthouse Day Light Analysis, Angela Van Duzen, Srg Partnership

Research-Based Design Initiative

The projects is a comprehensive day lighting analysis of spatial qualities to maximize daylight autonomy of the courtroom space for the Multnomah County. The courthouse is a new construction designed by SRG architects who are commissioned by Multnomah County. The building is located on 1st and Jefferson adjacent to the Hawthorne Bridge on Portland, OR. The aim of the study is to determine whether a light well in the center of the tower is a viable solution to provide natural light into the courtrooms or not. The tested were conducted through digital models using Diva plug-in through Rhino as our …

Living Building Challenge, Emily Jane Bedell, Hayley Nelke, Srg Architects

Research-Based Design Initiative

The Living Economy Sourcing imperative intends to promote growth of local economic structure while reducing negative transportation related effects on human and environmental health. Requirements for material sourcing distances are presented in this imperative, as seen in the map below, from Portland, OR. The manufacturer location is defined as the place where the final product is fabricated and assembled. A distribution facility does not qualify as a products’ manufacturer location. Methods of improving and localizing the total sourcing radius should be researched.

Healthy Living Environments, Tina Taeb, Ashley Schahfer, Zgf

Research-Based Design Initiative

Internal Connection: Control Safety Privacy Entry Access Windows Wall thickness Common facilities

Physical Connection: Physical Connection Layout organization Organized complexity Familiarity Ceiling heights Spatial dimensions Hallway proportions Tiering Accessibility

Social Connection: With building residents and the city Auditory Visual Interaction Entry Windows Wall thickness Proximity Common facilities

Environmental Connection: Environmental Connection Air quality Light quality Thermal comfort Windows HVAC Orientation

Creating An Eco-District At Lincoln High School, Willy Chandler, Isaac Schultz, Abbey Dacey, Mike Manzi, Corey T. Griffin, Kalina Vanderpoel

Research-Based Design Initiative

The EcoDistrict protocol is a list of concepts centered around connectivity, sustainability, and resiliency in neighborhoods and urban environments. Initial research consisted of reviewing precedents for EcoDistricts and other high performance neighborhoods and schools. Lincoln High School, Providence Park and the Multnomah Athletic Club were identified as the stakeholders of a potential EcoDistrict due to their location and energy demand. Calculations and estimates were made for the potential employment of “green” energy and water technologies on site and in the surrounding neighborhood. Estimates were made to determine what would be necessary to achieve net zero annual energy and water consumption …