Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Analysis Of Oregon Department Of Transportation Planned Highway Construction Projects For Selected Years From 1978 To 1992, Glen A. Fleming

Dissertations and Theses

Construction of highway projects is one of the most important and expensive state government functions. Highway construction projects bring revenue and jobs to the locales in which they are built, in addition to providing a better transportation infrastructure within or between communities, states or nations.

In the state of Oregon, its Department of Transportation (ODOT) publishes a document forecasting planned highway construction expenditures for the next six years. This document was called, until recently the six-year highway program; it is the Department's primary programming document for planned highway construction expenditures in the next six years, with updates every two years. …

A Swamp In The Desert: Theory, Water Policy, And Malheur Lake Basin, Cristin R. Mandaville

Dissertations and Theses

Two perspectives are debated in current United States water policy model development. One perspective calls for policy based on normative values, such as an environmental ethic. The second perspective calls for policy based on empirical, quantifiable values, for instance, economic benefits and costs. This theoretical debate arises from differing assumptions about what is problematic in contemporary water policy, and in turn gives rise to many water policy models. Developing such models ostensibly provides frameworks useful for developing real-world water policies. This paper proposes that these water policy models are not in fact useful frameworks for policy applications because the models …

Application Of A Geographical Information System To Estimate The Magnitude And Frequency Of Floods In The Sandy And Clackamas River Basins, Oregon, Dorie Lynn Brownell

Dissertations and Theses

A geographical information system (GIS) was used to develop a regression model designed to predict flood magnitudes in the Sandy and Clackamas river basins in Oregon. Manual methods of data assembly, input, storage, manipulation and analysis traditionally used to estimate basin characteristics were replaced with automated techniques using GIS-based computer hardware and software components. Separate GIS data layers representing (1) stream gage locations, (2) drainage basin boundaries, (3) hydrography, (4) water bodies, (5) precipitation, (6) landuse/land cover, (7) elevation and (8) soils were created and stored in a GIS data base. Several GIS computer programs were written to automate the …

An Analysis Of Socioeconomic Effects On Scrap Paper Recycling Participation, Sara Phyllis Zimmerman

Dissertations and Theses

In the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan region, almost 16% of the paper products discarded are recoverable mixed grade scrap paper. By targeting recycling campaigns at people who tend not to recycle, participation and recovery rates may be raised. This study attempts to determine if households with greater income and education levels tend to participate in scrap paper recycling more than those with lower levels. Ten areas in Portland, each with 125 households were selected as the sample to represent the population of Portland. Data was collected about each household's recycling participation rates and socioeconomic characteristics. Statistical tests found that people who …

Redefining The Suburban Ideal: An Analysis Of Single-Family Residential Densities In Washington County, Oregon, David Morgan Coughlan

Dissertations and Theses

The United States' suburban landscape has historically been characterized by low-density residential development. This pattern was shaped by the abundance of developable land in nineteenth century America, and by the emergence of a suburban ideal which romanticized the concept of a spacious home set in a private, garden setting. For many homebuyers, the realization of the suburban ideal was made possible by continual improvements in intraurban transportation. The commuter rail, the electric streetcar, and ultimately the automobile increased the commuting range of inner-city workers, and contributed to the continual expansion of development on the periphery of cities. In recent years, …