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Michael P. Johnson

Articles 1 - 23 of 23

Full-Text Articles in Urban Studies

Community-Focused Problem-Solving With Operations Research And Analytics, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Jan 2019

Community-Focused Problem-Solving With Operations Research And Analytics, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

In these days of ‘analytics’, ‘big data’ and ‘smart cities’, many of us are aware of the importance of data and quantitative analytic methods for program design, implementation and evaluation. Less commonly-understood are specific tools and methods for community-based interventions in which the problem to be solved is unclear, and the ways in which data of many different kinds can be used to develop interventions that represent best-possible uses of organization and community resources. Moreover, it is also less commonly-understood how to put communities, and community members, near the center of problem-solving and decision-making.

Examples of challenging problems include: How …

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Community Operational Research: A Survey Of The Discipline, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Gerald Midgley, Jason D. Wright, George Chichirau Sep 2018

Community Operational Research: A Survey Of The Discipline, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Gerald Midgley, Jason D. Wright, George Chichirau

Michael P. Johnson

Community operational research (COR) is an extension of multiple OR/MS traditions to support participatory research, localized impact and social change. It applies critical thinking, evidence-based policy analysis, community participation and decision modeling to local interventions. It emphasizes the needs, voices and values of disadvantaged and marginalized populations. It rests on a foundation of meaningful engagement with communities. This presentation summarizes a multi-year effort to assemble cutting-edge research in COR in a special issue of European Journal of Operational Research available August 2018. We review principles for community OR, describe the breadth and diversity of the field through the experience of …

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Emerging Trends And New Frontiers In Community Operational Research, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Gerald Midgley, George Chichirau Jul 2018

Emerging Trends And New Frontiers In Community Operational Research, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Gerald Midgley, George Chichirau

Michael P. Johnson

Community operational research (Community OR), and its disciplinary relation, community-based operations research, has an increasingly high profile within multiple domains that benefit from empirical and analytic approaches to problem solving. These domains are primarily concentrated within nonprofit services and local development. However, there are many other disciplinary and application areas for which novel applications and extensions of COR could generate valuable insights. This paper identifies a number of these, distinguishing between ‘emerging trends’ (mostly in well-studied areas of operations research, management science and analytics) and ‘new frontiers’, which can be found in traditions not commonly oriented towards empirical and analytic …

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Course Syllabus: Honors 490 Mayor's Symposium: Housing In A Changing City, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Dec 2017

Course Syllabus: Honors 490 Mayor's Symposium: Housing In A Changing City, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

This course provides students with an introduction to project-based and community-engaged learning through the subject of urban housing policy. The theme of this course is stabilizing and revitalizing Boston’s neighborhoods by increasing access to decent and affordable housing for all, with a focus on reducing incidence of eviction and displacement arising from gentrification and neighborhood change. Through readings, lectures, discussions, site visits and conversations with practitioners, scholars and advocates, students will acquire a comprehensive perspective on urban housing, and develop innovative projects to address important needs of Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Mayor’s Housing Innovation Lab (https://tinyurl.com/ycnqgx8q). Small teams …

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Community-Engaged Operations Research: Trends, New Frontiers And Current Applications, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Nov 2017

Community-Engaged Operations Research: Trends, New Frontiers And Current Applications, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Community-engaged operations research is an extension of multiple OR/MS traditions to support participatory scholarship, localized impact and social change. It applies critical thinking, evidence-based policy analysis, community participation and decision modeling to local interventions. It emphasizes the needs, voices and values of disadvantaged and marginalized populations. Through a survey of current scholarship in two complementary areas of inquiry, ‘community operational research’ (referring to work by primarily UK-based researchers) and ‘community-based operations research’ (referring to work by primarily US-based researchers), we develop principles for community-engaged OR, present critical questions that represent opportunities to expand the impact of this work, and discuss …

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Improving Decision-Making Skills Of Nonprofit Professionals, Michael P. Johnson Jr., George Chichirau, Jason Wright Oct 2017

Improving Decision-Making Skills Of Nonprofit Professionals, Michael P. Johnson Jr., George Chichirau, Jason Wright

Michael P. Johnson

Nonprofits face gaps in organizational capacity, including program design and evaluation, but previous research suggests that capacity-building exercises have a positive effect. We describe a data analytics training workshop with staff from Boston-area nonprofits reflecting a wide range of sectors. Through analysis of participant work on case studies provided by the instructor, we examine how participants made sense of training materials, the various strategies employed by participants to solve three case study problems, and participant feedback about the session. Our findings provide a basis for novel interventions in community based operations research. 

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Decision Modeling For Housing And Community Development: A Methodology For Evidence-Based Urban And Regional Planning, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Aug 2017

Decision Modeling For Housing And Community Development: A Methodology For Evidence-Based Urban And Regional Planning, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Urban community development corporations and other local institutions routinely face challenging problems in housing and economic development that require substantial expertise in data analytics and decision modeling. Recent research, inspired by local responses to the housing foreclosure crisis, and developed in cooperation with Boston-area CDCs, has resulted in a collection of applications that can assist CDCs and similar organizations to design local interventions for acquisition and redevelopment of housing. This paper describes these applications. The first of these is values and objective design, i.e. the process of identifying decision opportunities. The second of these is data analytics, or …

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Community-Engaged Operations Research: Trends, New Frontiers And Opportunities, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Feb 2017

Community-Engaged Operations Research: Trends, New Frontiers And Opportunities, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Scholars in multiple disciplines intersecting operations research have developed theory and applications to address the question, how can the decision sciences develop new ways to solve problems of special interest to organizations and individuals situated in geographically, economically and socially circumscribed communities? The motivation for this work is the belief that mission-driven and resource-constrained nonprofit organizations, and underrepresented, underserved, or vulnerable populations may have special needs for analytic and empirical problem-solving methods that have traditionally received less emphasis in traditional operations research and management science research and teaching. Scholarship in this area, alternatively labeled ‘community operational research’ (mostly in the …

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Decision Modeling For Housing And Community Development: #11;A Methodology For Evidence-Based Urban And Regional Planning, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Nov 2016

Decision Modeling For Housing And Community Development: #11;A Methodology For Evidence-Based Urban And Regional Planning, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Urban community development corporations and other local institutions routinely face challenging problems in housing and economic development that require substantial expertise in data analytics and decision modeling. While CDC employees have significant experience in diverse application areas, they often face limitations in acquiring, analyzing and sharing data, and using these data to solve decision problems whose solutions can generate novel strategies to address localized needs. Recent research, inspired by local responses to
the housing foreclosure crisis, and developed in cooperation with Boston‐area CDCs, has resulted in a collection of analytic methods and applications that can assist CDCs and similar organizations …

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Practicum 2012 - 2013: Lift Boston Client Well Being Study, Lisa Kalimon, Buki Usidame, Ryan Kling, Ryan Mclane, Ryan Whalen, Ana M. Sanchez, Tanya Stepasiuk, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Oct 2013

Practicum 2012 - 2013: Lift Boston Client Well Being Study, Lisa Kalimon, Buki Usidame, Ryan Kling, Ryan Mclane, Ryan Whalen, Ana M. Sanchez, Tanya Stepasiuk, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

A Boston based non-profit and a team of public policy PhD students engaged in several months of collaborative problem identification and goal setting focused on the effectiveness of the organization’s unique service delivery model. The nonprofit uses volunteer advocates and a goal-oriented process with no eligibility criteria to assist clients in distress. We collected administrative data, administered a survey, and conducted interviews to explore client well-being.

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Decision Modeling For Local Housing Development: ‘Strategic Value’ And Other Social Impact Measures, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Apr 2013

Decision Modeling For Local Housing Development: ‘Strategic Value’ And Other Social Impact Measures, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Acquisition and redevelopment of foreclosed properties by community organizations helps to mitigate the social impacts of foreclosures on neighborhoods and residents. Social impacts can be measured in a variety of ways: (a) Strategic value of foreclosed property locations (b) Averted lost value to proximate properties Models can estimate magnitudes of such effects to identify potential acquisition candidates and social impacts of alternative development strategies. Application of models to a local case study demonstrates how these measures can be used in practice.

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Maintain, Demolish, Re‐Purpose: Policy Design For Vacant Land Management Using Decision Models, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Justin Hollander, Alma Hallulli Oct 2012

Maintain, Demolish, Re‐Purpose: Policy Design For Vacant Land Management Using Decision Models, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Justin Hollander, Alma Hallulli

Michael P. Johnson

Neighborhoods, cities, regions and countries face sustained economic and population decline, due to lower population growth rates, deindustrialization and sustained disinvestment, and the housing foreclosure crisis. Planners increasingly see ‘decline’ as something to plan for: a place may lose population while ensuring a high quality of life and enhanced social value (Delken 2008, Hollander 2010). Growth-oriented planning continues to maintain its hegemony over local government decision-making. Can decision models help planners devise strategies that will maximize the social value of managed decline?

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Decison Models For Housing And Community Development, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Jul 2012

Decison Models For Housing And Community Development, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Decision science provides tools and methods to support strategy design and operations in housing and community development by generating guidance regarding the number, type, location and development process of housing units in order to balance objectives such as social benefits and costs, tenure mix and equity. These decision models address the needs of multiple stakeholders, reflect the public and private nature of housing, and incorporate best-available evidence regarding markets, policies and impacts of housing and community development. This chapter reviews applications over the past 30 years and describe current applications in decision support for housing and community development, including: affordable …

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Values, Objectives, And Decisions: Using Community-Based Operations Research For Neighborhood Redevelopment, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Rachel B. Drew, Jeffrey Keisler, David Turcotte May 2012

Values, Objectives, And Decisions: Using Community-Based Operations Research For Neighborhood Redevelopment, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Rachel B. Drew, Jeffrey Keisler, David Turcotte

Michael P. Johnson

In this presentation we describe an application of value-focused thinking and decision analysis to the design and evaluation of strategies for housing development especially in urban communities affected by the ongoing foreclosure crisis. This is part of a multi-campus, multi-disciplinary effort to study decision processes of community development corporations (CDCs) acquiring and redeveloping foreclosed properties for neighborhood stabilization.

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Michael Johnson Research Profile, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Apr 2012

Michael Johnson Research Profile, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

This document summarizes my disciplinary training and my research products.

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Community-Engaged Decision Support For Foreclosed Housing Acquisition And Redevelopment In Boston, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Mar 2012

Community-Engaged Decision Support For Foreclosed Housing Acquisition And Redevelopment In Boston, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

This project develops decision tools and analytical methods to help non‐profit community development corporations (CDCs) acquire and redevelop foreclosed housing for neighborhood stabilization and revitalization. Interviews and direct observations at partner CDCs have helped us identify current practices, data and requirements for our decision models. Problem‐structuring methods through CDC focus groups have generated core operational and organizational objectives. Spreadsheet‐ and optimization based decision models generate policy and operational alternatives that address multiple resident and community outcomes. Our research will support efficient responses to the recent foreclosure crisis, especially in distressed neighborhoods, and suggest policy implications at local and national levels.

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Public Policy Phd Program 2012 Policies And Procedures Manual (Draft), Michael P. Johnson Jr. Mar 2012

Public Policy Phd Program 2012 Policies And Procedures Manual (Draft), Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Policies and procedures manual for the Public Policy PhD program, Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs, University of Massachusetts Boston. Covers courses, concentrations, candidacy requirements, procedures for completing the PhD. Includes forms and supporting documents.

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Decision Models For Foreclosed Housing Acquisition And Redevelopment: A University Of Massachusetts Multi-Campus Collaborative Project - Processes And Findings To Date, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Jeffrey Keisler, Senay Solak, David Turcotte, Rachel B. Drew, Armagan Bayram, Emily Vidrine Nov 2010

Decision Models For Foreclosed Housing Acquisition And Redevelopment: A University Of Massachusetts Multi-Campus Collaborative Project - Processes And Findings To Date, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Jeffrey Keisler, Senay Solak, David Turcotte, Rachel B. Drew, Armagan Bayram, Emily Vidrine

Michael P. Johnson

The recent housing foreclosure crisis has had devastating impacts on individuals, communities, organizations and government. In response, several community development corporations (CDCs) have sought new ways to assist neighborhoods suffering from the myriad effects of high foreclosures, including neighborhood instability, increased vandalism and crime, lower property values, and economic disinvestment. This research project focuses on activities of community-based organizations that acquire and redevelop foreclosed properties to support neighborhood stabilization and revitalization. However, the costs of pursuing this strategy far exceed the resources available to typical CDCs. Thus, our project seeks to solve the following decision problem: What subset of a …

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Hidden Strategic Challenges Posed By Housing Mobility Policy: An Application Of Dynamic Policy Modeling, Michael P. Johnson, Jonathan P. Caulkins, Gustav Feichtinger, Gernot Tragler, Yuri Yegorov Sep 2010

Hidden Strategic Challenges Posed By Housing Mobility Policy: An Application Of Dynamic Policy Modeling, Michael P. Johnson, Jonathan P. Caulkins, Gustav Feichtinger, Gernot Tragler, Yuri Yegorov

Michael P. Johnson

Over the past decade, shifts in subsidized and affordable housing policy have led to a greater role for market dynamics and individual choice on the part of program participants and their new neighbors, and a greater awareness of the importance of neighborhood on family outcomes. Given these trends, there is an opportunity for innovative prescriptive planning models to assist in the design of policy related to regional housing mobility. The goal of this paper is to identify, and answer, some housing policy analytic questions with these models.

The fundamental question motivating this paper is the following: over the long run, …

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Senior Center Network Redesign Under Demand Uncertainty, Osman Ozaltin, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Andrew Schaefer Mar 2010

Senior Center Network Redesign Under Demand Uncertainty, Osman Ozaltin, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Andrew Schaefer

Michael P. Johnson

Senior centers off#11;er a variety of services to facilitate independent living of older adults. In the U.S., increasing suburbanization and aging of suburban residents necessitate reconfiguring senior services. We propose a two-echelon network of senior centers across large study areas and formulate a stochastic facility location/allocation model with mixed-integer recourse. We apply our model to Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, which has one of the oldest population in the U.S. Our model shows that a two-echelon network design is appropriate for increasing the occupancy of senior centers as community focal points while maintaining customized and accessible programming in small neighborhood areas.

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Housing And Community Development, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Dec 2009

Housing And Community Development, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

No abstract provided.

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Public Policy Phd Program Large-Format Brochure, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Dec 2009

Public Policy Phd Program Large-Format Brochure, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

No abstract provided.

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Housing And Sustainable Community Development: Enhancing Minority Home Ownership, Volume One, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Harvey L. White Dec 1999

Housing And Sustainable Community Development: Enhancing Minority Home Ownership, Volume One, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Harvey L. White

Michael P. Johnson

The articles in this volume are from the Housing and Sustainable Community Development Track of the Twenty-Eighth National Meeting of the Conference of Minority Public Administrators (COMPA). They represent COMPA’s enhanced role in supporting academics and practitioners interested in housing and sustainable community development. These articles span the subject areas of urban revitalization (Herrington 2000), residential and housing concentration (Foster 2000), financial institution practices (Rhodes and White 2000, Ejigiri 2000), community socioeconomic characteristics (Martin 2000), homeownership (Baulding 2000) and subsidized housing (Johnson 2000). They address new and innovative strategies for community growth and revitalization and the need to communicate practicing …

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