Architecture Commons^™

Revitalizing Main Street, Usa: Recovering From The American Dream And The Destruction Of The Rural Main Street, Rebecca Virgl

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

The American Dream is a national ethos that states any person, with enough hard work, can succeed in the United States; it is both critique of the pitfalls of capitalism and advocacy of the potentials the system offers. Over time, suburbia has come to represent the physical manifestation of the American Dream. In the world of planning and architecture, much discussion is given to the suburbanization of the United States. The relationship between the city and the suburb is well documented, and many plans for suburban improvements focus on making suburbs more like cities, where they are more walkable, dense, …

Urban Wildlife Management Planning Process And Conflict Mitigation: A Case Study Of Denver’S Canada Goose Management Plan, Brent Johannes

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

In 2019 and 2020, the USDA in coordination with Denver Parks and Recreation removed 2,174 geese from 6 different parks within the City of Denver. The removals and use of lethal methods to manage the concerns related to the geese population in Denver’s parks caused a public conflict and resulted in multiple legal challenges with the City of Denver. The opposition group claimed that the city did not sufficiently engage with the public in the formation of the goose management plan, and did not provide any public notification about the plan to remove geese. City officials have claimed that attempts …

An Educational Framework For Equity And Inclusion In Planning, Jacob Schlange

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

As societal discourse about equity has increased, so has the need for planning practitioners to be educated about equity-related issues. This study examines the planning curricula of the 22 land-grant institutions accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) to assess whether these programs align with the new emphasis on equity in the most recent PAB accreditation standards. Finding a notable lack of required courses explicitly addressing the topic among most of the programs surveyed, this thesis goes on to propose a framework for developing a course on equity in planning, using existing literature on planning education and guidance from the …

An Evaluation Of Public Open Space In Downtown Lincoln, Nebraska, Karl Dietrich

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

Public open space provides many benefits to a downtown area. Among the benefits are economic growth, social connectivity, health, and helping to create an identity for a city. As many cities continue to sprawl outwards, it is important that their downtown areas create a sense of place so that businesses and people stay and visit. Public open spaces can help provide that much needed sense of place. This study examines whether the “public space index” designed by Vikas Mehta (2014) is effective at evaluating public open spaces. This was done by using four public open spaces (Foundation Garden, Tower Square, …

Influence Of Street Trees On Roadway User Safety, Maggie Harthoorn

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

This thesis aims to understand trends of trees in transportation planning and to determine if street trees have a negative or positive influence on crash frequency and severity. As roadways become more walkable and livable, they become safer. Street trees are a vital component of this trend. Planners must understand the impacts of trees on roadway user safety as they work to reduce crash risk. Although spatial analysis suggests there may be a negative relationship between trees and crash frequency, correlation models find a significant correlation between trees and crash severity, but no significant correlation between trees and crash frequency. …

A Guide For Planning A Bike Share System At The University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Wade M. Schuldt

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

The purpose of this document is to serve as a framework for planning a bicycle share system at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with the possible inclusion of the City of Lincoln, Nebraska, in the system. This document provides a background review of the evolution of bike share systems and the recent rapid growth of these systems around the world. The document describes planning methodologies used in other locations and the lessons learned from the bike share systems around the world, as to what processes should be pursued to implement a successful bike share system. With the University of Nebraska-Lincoln move …

Evaluation Of Cultural Ecosystem Aesthetic Value Of The State Of Nebraska By Mapping Geo-Tagged Photographs From Social Media Data Of Panoramio And Flickr, Richard Wagner Figueroa Alfaro

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

Ecosystems and human beings are inter-related. People receive benefits from ecosystems named Ecosystem Services such as provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services. Aesthetic value from cultural services is the interaction of people with the environment related to natural beauty. Over the time, traditional approaches for evaluating aesthetic value have been developed.

The main goal of this thesis was to evaluate the aesthetic value in Nebraska by using social media data from Panoramio and Flickr since they became a huge source of information available for multiple uses. We analyzed the clusters of pictures with the location of potential areas of aesthetic …

Use Of Accessory Dwelling Units As A Housing Strategy: A Case Study Of Lawrence, Kansas, Travis M. Hulse

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

Accessory dwelling units have long been utilized as an alternative strategy of homeowners within single-family neighborhoods of the United States in response to changing needs in living arrangements. The American Planning Association defines an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) as either a self-contained living area located within the walls of an existing home or a freestanding structure on the same lot as the principal dwelling unit. While it is difficult to accurately identify all of the municipalities that allow the creation of ADUs in single-family neighborhoods, their presence was long established prior to the enactment of zoning regulations in cities across …

Energy Planning In Nebraska: Evaluating Energy Elements Of Local Comprehensive Plans In Nebraska, Phillip Luebbert

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

In 2010, Nebraska Legislature passed LB 997 requiring all Nebraska cities and counties to include an energy element within their local comprehensive plan by January 2015. For many communities, this is the first time energy has been addressed within their comprehensive plan. Energy planning literature and the requirements of LB 997 were used to create components of an ideal energy plan. Eighteen energy elements were selected by electronic availability and examined for components of an ideal energy plan. The results of this study show that energy elements of local comprehensive plans in Nebraska are lacking the components of an ideal …

Volunteered Geographical Information: An Alternative Solution For Overcoming The Chasm Between Stormwater Management And Community Participation, Yanfu Zhou

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

It is a dramatic challenge to promote public engagement in stormwater management and green infrastructure initiatives. When traditional outreach approaches made important influence on public engagement, their limitations are also obvious. With the development of Web 2.0 technology, Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) has been emerging as one of the most important user-generated geographic contents. The crowdsourcing data that generated by volunteers through geo-web, smartphones, and other geo-devices provides invaluable mass data for decision-making. VGI can provide a better understanding of planning issues and other challenges. The research aims to develop a mobile information platform to allow citizens to report the …

Drought As A Component Of Local Hazard Mitigation Plans: Are The 100 Fastest Growing Counties Ready?, Jeffrey L. Henson

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

Drought is one of the most destructive natural disasters that threatens nearly every environment on earth. Between 1980 and 2011 there were 16 drought events in the United States with impacts that exceeded $1 billion with an average event cost of $12.2 billion according to the National Climate Data Center. While many states have engaged in the creation of drought plans, little research has been done regarding drought planning at the local level. This research examines the local planning efforts in 62 of the 100 fastest growing counties in the United States from 2000 to 2009. It is expected that …

Creation Of A Gis Based Model For Determining The Suitability Of Implementing Green Infrastructure: In The Town Of Berlin Maryland, Ronald A & W Marney

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

This project is entitled “Incorporation of Green Infrastructure Into Comprehensive Storm Water Management and the Effective Utilization of LiDAR: In the Town of Berlin ”. The goal of this research was the creation of a Geographic Information System (GIS) based model for determining the suitability / feasibility of green infrastructure implementation, as defined by this study, within the study area. This model was only applicable for the identified elements or tools under green infrastructure as defined by this study. This enabled clear and concise definitions and more readily identified the criteria and their parameters. The scope of the model’s applicability …