Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Do Tods Make A Difference?, Arthur C. Nelson, Matt Miller, Dejan Eskic, Keuntae Kim, Reid Ewing, Jenny H. Liu, Matt Berggren, Zakari Mumuni

TREC Final Reports

In this report, we present research that measures the outcomes of TOD areas in relation to their metropolitan area controls with respect to (1) jobs by sector; (2) housing choice for household types based on key demographic characteristics; (3) housing affordability based on transportation costs; and (4) job-worker balance as a measure of accessibility. Prior literature has not systematically evaluated TOD outcomes in these respects with respect to light rail transit (LRT), commuter rail transit (CRT), bus rapid transit (BRT), and streetcar transit (SCT) systems. Our analysis helps close some of these gaps. We apply our analysis to 23 fixed-guideway …

Investigations In Transportation, William G. Becker, Carol Biskupic Knight

TREC Final Reports

The Investigations in Transportation program is an elementary school partnership and curriculum development project that will engage science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals in school-based activities and projects that will bring real-world applications to elementary classrooms for grades 3-5. The Portland Metro STEM Partnership (PMSP) is providing leadership and facilitation to a team of educators from Portland State University, Beaverton School District and Hillsboro School District who will work with volunteers from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to design, develop, implement and assess the impact of an in-class unit entitled "Investigations in Transportation". This report presents a study …

Delivering Green Streets: An Exploration Of Changing Perceptions And Behaviours Over Time Around Bioswales In Portland, Oregon, Glyn Everett, Jessica Lamond, Anita T. Morzillo, Annie Marissa Matsler, Faith Ka Shun Chan

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Green Infrastructure (GI) is an increasingly popular means of dealing with flooding and water quality issues worldwide. This study examines public perceptions of, and behaviour around, bioswales, which are a popular GI facility in the United States. Bioswales are highly visible interventions requiring support from residents and policy-makers to be implemented and maintained appropriately. To understand how the residents’ perceptions and attitudes might develop over time, we interviewed residents of Portland, Oregon, living near bioswales installed 1–2, 4–5 and 8–9 years ago, to determine awareness, understanding, and opinions about the devices. We found no consistent patterns across time periods, but …

Data Colonialism Through Accumulation By Dispossession: New Metaphors For Daily Data, Jim Thatcher, David O'Sullivan, Dillon Mahmoudi

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

In recent years, much has been written on ‘big data’ in both the popular and academic press. After the hubristic declaration of the “end of theory” more nuanced arguments have emerged, suggesting that increasingly pervasive data collection and quantification may have significant implications for the social sciences, even if the social, scientific, political and economic agendas behind big data are less new than they are often portrayed. Compared to the boosterish tone of much of its press, academic critiques of big data have been relatively muted, often focusing on the continued importance of more traditional forms of domain knowledge and …

National Study Of Brt Development Outcomes, Arthur C. Nelson, Joanna Ganning

TREC Final Reports

Bus rapid transit (BRT) is poised to become the “next big thing” in public transit. From virtually no systems a generation ago, there are now 19 lines operating with at least seven under construction and more than 20 in the planning stages. BRT is gaining popularity because of its combination of low capital cost and potential for high levels of benefits. But are BRT systems effective in attracting development?

To answer this and many more trending BRT questions, the Metropolitan Research Center (MRC) reviewed multiple studies using data from the United States Census Bureau, Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics, and CoStar data …

Portland Needs A Higher Minimum Wage, City Club Of Portland (Portland, Or.)

City Club of Portland

No abstract provided.

Transportation Leadership Education: Portland Traffic And Transportation Course A Case Study And Curriculum, Nathan Mcneil

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Portland Traffic and Transportation course serves a number of different purposes. On one hand, it is designed to develop citizens who are informed about the transportation system, including how it got where it is today, what agencies and actors play a role in its operation and development, and how they, as citizens, play a role in its future. In this sense, there is a goal of broadening and deepening the existing knowledge about the system among the general population. On the other hand, there is an implicit goal of encouraging participation in the system with the understanding that doing …

Portland’S Streets: End The Funding Gridlock, City Club Of Portland (Portland, Or.)

City Club of Portland

No abstract provided.

Crowdsourcing The Collection Of Transportation Behavior Data, Christopher Bone, Seth Kenbeek, Ken Kato, Jacob Bartruff

TREC Final Reports

Understanding the travel behaviors of individuals who use public transit is essential for enhancing the performance, sustainability and efficiency of public transportation. Contemporary methods for collecting data on transportation behavior are focused on manual or automated procedures for counting the number of individual passengers entering or exiting transit vehicles. While such methods provide useful data for understanding transit demand throughout a network, they ignore the important details of how passengers travel to and within a network as well as their personal experiences during their commute, all of which can enrich the ability of transit agencies to provide sustainable transportation. To …

Neighborhood Change And The Role Of Environmental Stewardship: A Case Study Of Green Infrastructure For Stormwater In The City Of Portland, Oregon, Usa, Vivek Shandas

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Throughout the history of cities, the ecological landscape has often been buried, removed, or taken for granted. A recent recognition that humans are part of the global ecosystem, and that human actions both cause and are affected by ecological change, brings with it an awareness of the value of nature in cities and of natural systems on which cities depend. The feedbacks between humans and their environment within an urban context can have profound implications for the growth of and change in cities, yet there is a limited understanding of the interactions between biophysical changes in cities and the implications …

Creswell Policing Project Final Report, Portland State University. Hatfield School Of Government. Center For Public Service, Kent Robinson, Robert Winthrop, Rachel Sykes, Rebecca Craven

Center for Public Service Publications and Reports

The Center for Public Service worked with the City of Creswell, Oregon to assess their current policing arrangements and service demand, and to develop a series of options for police services. Creswell is a small city of about 5,000 just south of Eugene, Oregon. Creswell currently purchases its police services from the Lane County Sheriff under an annual intergovernmental agreement (IGA). Citizens in the community have challenged this model and proposed the establishment of a city police department. This study developed scenarios and cost analysis for several options including a city police department, an independent public safety special district, and …

Promising Practices For Long-Term Community Engagement, Meg Merrick, Andrée Tremoulet, Tina Dippert

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies Publications

Washington County has initiated a planning process to rethink the structure and support system for its ongoing, long-term community participation program. The impetus for this planning process began with a fall 2014 announcement by the service provider that had supported the county’s Citizen Participation Organizations (CPOs) and the Committee for Citizen Involvement (CCI) for several decades, Oregon State University Extension, that it would no longer continue this role effective fall 2015. The planning process has since evolved into an opportunity to take a thorough look at the program and plan a system of engagement for the 21st century.

Washington County …

Portland’S Food Economy: Trends And Contributions, Jamaal Green, Greg Schrock, Jenny H. Liu

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

The primary goal of this report is to document the scope, growth, and contribution of the food economy to the city of Portland and the region. Specifically, this report addresses the following research questions:

• What is the "food economy," and how is it defined?
• What is the size of Portland’s food economy, and how has it changed in recent years?
• How is the food economy distributed spatially within the city and the region? How is this changing?
• What kind of employment opportunities does Portland’s food economy offer? How do they compare to the broader economy?
• Who works in Portland’s food …

Who Votes For Mayor? A Psu Pilot Research Report, Jason R. Jurjevich, Phil Keisling, Kevin Christopher Rancik, Carson Gorecki

Center for Public Service Publications and Reports

Phil Keisling is director of the Center for Public Service at Portland State University in Oregon, which recently conducted research on who votes in mayoral elections with Knight Foundation support.

The last 10 to 20 years have been times of revitalization and progress for many of America’s big cities. While there are certainly exceptions, many major city downtowns have been revitalized, often with the money and energy of younger entrepreneurs. Committed and often well-educated “young creatives” have helped turn many urban cores into desirable places to live, work, and raise families.

But as much as younger residents have often played …

Columbia Corridor Drainage Districts Governance Study, Thomas Potiowsky, Jenny Liu, Mike Paruszkiewicz, Jeff Renfro, Marisol Cáceres, Peter Hulseman

Northwest Economic Research Center Publications and Reports

This study focused on major questions related to drainage district consolidation in the Columbia Corridor, arising from the geographic and economic diversity that characterizes the four entities. The magnitude and type of economic activity within the districts varies considerably, and results in a broad range of operational resources and levee system requirements.

Cathedral Waterfront Plan, Mathangi Murthy, Tabitha Boschetti, Michelle Anderson, Saumya Kini, Rosa Lehman, Violet Brown

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Cathedral Park Neighborhood Association anticipated the imminent development of 15-acres of waterfront property (the Steel Hammer Site) in the heart of their community and worked with the PSU MURP team to bolster the voice of the community through public engagement and thoughtful urban planning. The student team reached out to the neighbors, talked with shareholders, conducted site analysis, and developed a shared community vision for the Steel Hammer Site, which resulted the Cathedral Waterfront Plan that includes:

• Twelve community goals for future development
• Three scenarios demonstrating how development on the Steel Hammer Site could contribute to community priorities without …

North Portland Greenway Trail Strategic Plan, Lewis Kelley, James Dubois, Savannah Erzen, Gena Gastaldi, Lisa Harrison, Nick Stoll

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Grow Willamette Greenway was initiated through a partnership between npGreenway and Willamette Planning Studio, a group of six Portland State University graduate students in the Masters of Urban and Regional Planning program. Through a four month collaborative process of community engagement and analysis, including health impacts, economic development, and traffic demand modeling, a series of findings and recommendations were developed. The process built upon previous work undertaken by npGreenway, Metro, Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), Portland Parks and Recreation (PP&R), and other government agencies and community organizations to present a strategic action plan for npGreenway to pursue what moves the …

Making South Downtown Portland, Artur Queiroz, Beth Gilden, Flávia Martins, Hannah Six, John Todoroff, Linn Davis, Maria Schafaschek, Nely Silveira, Sayonara Batista, Taissa Sanccao

Urban Design Workshop

Principals that guided the project:

(1) Create connection between existing activity centers.

• Education: Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, and Portland State University
• Parks: Halpern Sequence, Park Blocks, and Waterfront
• Transit centers: Orange Line, Yellow Line, Streetcar and Bus Connection

(2) Add to multi-use nature of area to provide a 24 hr neighborhood environment. Additional residential Development - catering to late night and residence not just office crowd.

(3) Improve pedestrian experience: Increase safety by making traffic changes, add wayfinding and dampen freeway noise.

(4) Design for a diversity of ages

(5) Activate existing/underutilized "dead" …

Tachomea: Infill Tools For A Happy City, Anaïs Mathez, Michael Cynkar, Hannah Silver, Nicholas Kobel

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The City of Tacoma has policies that both encourage the densification of neighborhoods through a broadened range of residential infill options and also protect the character of single-family housing patterns. However, recent residential development has illustrated the difficulty of achieving goals of compatibility and density simultaneously. How can development incorporate better design standards and placemaking practices that respond to a neighborhood’s unique character, while diversifying the housing stock to provide a greater variety of housing options?

Relating to the city’s anticipated population growth, as well as regional environmental and economic pressures, this report frames the discussion, analysis and recommendations around …

Fourth Plain Forward: Action Plan For Vancouver's Multicultural Business District, Mandia Gonzales, Jamin Kimmell, Eddie Montejo, Lauren Patton, Kate Rogers, Anthony Thompson

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Fourth Plain Forward is an action plan for Fourth Plain's multicultural business district, created in collaboration with the City of Vancouver, Washington. Fourth Plain's business district reflects the rich diversity of its surrounding communities, but the area faces significant economic challenges. To address these issues, the action plan builds on the economic development goals outlined in the 2007 Fourth Plain Corridor Subarea Plan, and aims to improve conditions along the corridor for both businesses and residents. Broadly, Fourth Plain Forward outlines strategies and actions to grow economic security and opportunity, and maintain the area's diversity.

This project was conducted under …

Green Loop Swpdx Concept Plan: Alignment And Design Treatment Recommendations For The Southwest Green Loop, Ashley Eaton, Brian Gunn, Jake Adams, Kate Washington, Mohd Meidiansyah

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Green Loop SWPDX project was conducted by five students in partnership with the Portland Bureau of Planning & Sustainability Urban Design Studio and Portland State University's Campus Planning Office. It explores potential alignments and design treatments for Portland's Green Loop, specifically with the southwest downtown quardrant of the Central City. The southwest quadrant of the Green Loop links the South Park Blocks to the non-automobile Tilikum Crossing bridge. The Green Loop SWPDX project explores both large and small-scale possibilities for creating a sense of safety and a place for cyclists and pedestrians in the Central City. This document reports …

Getting Green To Work In The Northwest Industrial District, Stefan Heisler, Sara Ivey, Alexis Kelso, Ryu Sakuma, John Dornoff, Dianne Yee

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Forest Park and its surrounding watershed experience measurable environmental problems such as urban heat island impacts, increased storm water runoff containing pollutants, fragmentations of habitat connectivity due to their proximities to high-impact land uses, poor air quality, absence of public space, and lack of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. Getting Green to Work in the Northwest Industrial District identifies strategies to address environmental issues that affect local human and environmental health in the Northwest Indusrial District, Forest Park and the Willamette River, while benefiting local businesses workers and firms. Getting Green to Work explores voluntary approaches to address local environmental problems …

Paalf People's Plan: East Portland Pilot, Todd Borkowitz, Lorrie Chang, Christine Corrales, Leslee Humphrey, D. H. Strongheart, Timothy Wood

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Recognizing the traumatic experience of being forced to move and losing community, this plan reflects the hopes of community members who seek to rebuild their lives in a new place. The East Portland Pilot Plan applies the urban planning practice of placemaking as a transformative intervention for addressing challenges and stabilizing the Black community in East Portland. This plan also emerges at a critical time, as existing city plans for East Portland indicate significant future public investment and development.

This plan has been written with a wide audience in mind. The material is relevant to homeowners, community activists, urban planners, …

2014 Transit Oriented Developments Survey, Jennifer Dill, Nathan Mcneil

TREC Final Reports

This report presents results from surveys of residents at several transit-oriented developments (TODs) in Portland, Hillsboro, Tigard, and unincorporated Clackamas County. The research complements our previous survey work for Metro done at eight TODs in 2010 and 11 TODs in 2007.

Making Streets Into Complete Streets, Marc Schlossberg, John Rowell

TREC Project Briefs

Researchers created a manual to aid planners in adopting complete streets policies and designs.

Mobility And Accessibility In Shrinking Cities, Joanna Ganning

TREC Project Briefs

A University of Utah researcher explores the synthesis of mobility- and accessibility-based transportation planning in the context of urban decay.

Transit-Oriented Development And Equity In Latino Neighborhoods: A Comparative Case Study Of Macarthur Park (Los Angeles) And Fruitvale (Oakland), Gerardo Francisco Sandoval, Roanel Herrera

TREC Final Reports

Transit-oriented development (TOD) projects in low-income neighborhoods have the potential to provide needed transportation access to a segment of the population that stands to benefit significantly from these large-scale transit infrastructure projects. This research project reveals that large-scale TOD projects have the potential of leading to neighborhood revitalization and equitable outcomes in low-income Latino communities. But these positive outcomes depend on both the process and context of these particular neighborhoods, and how transportation planners incorporate the various forms of political, financial and cultural capital that exist in these communities into the planning and implementation process of TOD projects. This comparative …

How Affordable Is Hud Affordable Housing?, Reid Ewing, Shima Hamidi

TREC Final Reports

This paper assesses the affordability of HUD rental assistance properties from the standpoint of transportation costs. HUD housing is, by definition, affordable from the standpoint of housing costs due to limits on the amounts renters are required to pay. However, there are no such limitations on transportation costs, and common sense suggests that renters in remote locations may be forced to pay more than 15 percent of income, a nominal affordability standard, for transportation costs. Using household travel models estimated with data from 15 diverse regions around the U.S., we estimated and summed automobile capital costs, automobile operating costs, and …

Retirement Security In Oregon, Jeff Renfro, Marisol Cáceres, Peter Hulseman

Northwest Economic Research Center Publications and Reports

By expanding access to retirement savings plans, a state-sponsored program for workers should increase the overall level of participation, and, ultimately, increase retirement fund income. The over 400,000 new enrollees estimated by this study suggests that these programs can have large impacts.

Economic Equity In Communities Of Color: The Effectiveness Of Minority Contracting Initiatives, Matthew Chorpenning, Ann Curry-Stevens, Greg Schrock, Nathen Lamb

Center to Advance Racial Equity Publications and Reports

As the movement for racial equity takes hold in Portland, Oregon, we look for examples of where the living conditions of communities of color are improving. One concrete initiative that many point to is the array of minority contracting efforts whereby minority-owned businesses are supported by various levels of government in ways that are entrenched in both policy and practice. This report looks at the most recent data on minority contracting, as well as minority hiring policies, research-based best practices and a case study of the Sellwood Bridge project and determines that much more can and should be done to …