Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Transportation Financing Opportunities For The State Of California, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Jennifer Dill, Todd Mitchel Goldman, John Hall, Franziska Holtzman, Joe Recker, Eileen Goodwin

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Significant investments will be required to maintain, operate, upgrade, and expand California's transportation infrastructure if the state is to retain its economic position in the global economy and accommodate a projected near doubling of the current population by 2040. At the same time, available funding for transportation will decline significantly over the next 15 years if the current transportation finance system remains unchanged. This report analyzes a range of alternative sources of revenue, as well as different finance options. The research is based upon reviews of existing literature, interviews with key stakeholders, and two statewide phone surveys. The facility-based sources …

The Economic Impact Of Early Life Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure: Early Intervention For Developmental Delay, Thaddeus R. Miller, Virginia A. Rauh, Sherry A. M. Glied, Dale Hattis, Andrew Rundle, Howard Andrews, Frederica Perera

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Early-life exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) can result in developmental delay as well as childhood asthma and increased risk of cancer. The high cost of childhood asthma related to ETS exposure has been widely recognized; however, the economic impact of ETS-related developmental delay has been less well understood.

METHODS AND RESULTS:The Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) has reported adverse effects of prenatal ETS exposure on child development in a cohort of minority women and children in New York City (odds ratio of developmental delay = 2.36; 95% confidence interval 1.22-4.58). Using the environmentally …

Age-Related Shifts In Housing And Transportation Demand : A Multidisciplinary Study Conducted For Metro By Portland State University's College Of Urban And Public Affairs, Final Report, Margaret B. Neal, Nancy J. Chapman, Jennifer Dill, Irina V. Sharkova, Alan Kenneth Delatorre, Kathleen A. Sullivan, Tomoko Kanai, Sheila A. Martin

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Understanding where middle-aged and older adults live, where they are moving, how they get around, and the factors influencing these decisions is essential for planning for the future. To gain an understanding of the impact of age-related shifts on housing and transportation demand, Portland State University's College of Urban and Public Affairs, via its Institute on Aging, was contracted to conduct a review of the literature and to analyze existing key local and national data sources. A multidisciplinary team of faculty and graduate students was assembled and performed the work in the summer of 2006. The literature reviewed and the …

Regional Travel Options 2004-05 Program Evaluation, Jennifer Dill

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Regional Travel Options contracted with the Portland State University Center for Urban Studies to evaluate all program efforts over the 2004-05 fiscal year. Services provided were shown in relationship to the Regional Travel Options program 5-year strategic plan. The level of participation, satisfaction and the use of alternative travel options were measured where possible. Finally, the extent to which programs supported RTO objectives and connections to other regional goals was assessed. Results included auto-trip reductions. Recommendations for improving data collection were made. Each RTO-partner program is detailed individually in the appendices.

How To Pay For Transportation? A Survey Of Public Preferences, Jennifer Dill, Asha Weinstein Agrawal

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

States around the nation are scrambling to find new sources of revenue to maintain and expand their transportation systems. The traditional major source of funds, state and federal fuel taxes, has rarely kept pace with inflation. In most cases state legislatures have been unwilling to raise fuel taxes high enough to cover desired levels of expenditure, thus pushing state and local governments to look for new sources such as sales taxes and tolls. Another outcome of legislative reluctance to raise fees and taxes that generate transportation revenues has been to put any potential revenue measure before the voters, as a …

Travel And Transit Use At Portland Area Transit-Oriented Developments (Tods), Jennifer Dill

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

In recent years there has been a growing interest in using land use planning to reduce reliance on the automobile long-term, through ideas such as smart growth, New Urbanism, pedestrian pockets, and transit-oriented development (TODs). Many growing regions throughout the United States, are turning to these concepts to address problems of traffic congestion and suburban sprawl. However, the effectiveness of such policies in reducing automobile travel and improving livability is largely unknown. Portland was one of the early adopters and is often pointed to as a model for other regions. The Region's 2040 Growth Concept, adopted by the Metro regional …

Community-Based Learning And Social Justice, Karen Gibson

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This is a reflective essay on the ways in which community-based learning (CBL) enriches the work life of a faculty member who retains working-class roots and an interest in social justice. Using examples from courses and applied research on community development, housing, ,:and poverty, the essay explains how meaningful relationships with community organizations act as a counter-balance to the isolation of an academic career. It also discusses the value of community-based learning when teaching about social justice themes.

The Light On The Horizon: Imagining The Death Of American Cities, Carl Abbott

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Cities in the United States have never known the direct effects of total war. Lacking this bitter experience, Americans have had to imagine the impacts of catastrophic warfare on their urban centers. This paper examines fictional depictions of future warfare as it has been imagined to affect U.S. cities, particularly since 1945. It draws on films, short stories, and novels from the "thriller," "future war," and science fiction genres to explore common assumptions and underlying attitudes about cities and city life. It finds that cities are conspicuous by their absence from such stories of future war and its impacts. Cities …

Evaluating A New Urbanist Neighborhood, Jennifer Dill

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

New Urbanist neighborhoods aim to improve sustainability by reducing automobile use, increasing walking and cycling, increasing the diversity of land uses and people, and increasing social capital, through strengthened personal and civic bonds. With more New Urbanist communities being constructed, it is now more feasible and necessary to evaluate their success. Much of the existing research uses older, traditional neighborhoods as a proxy for New Urbanism. This research compares a New Urbanist development with two conventional subdivisions and finds that some of the objectives are being fulfi lled, in both direct and indirect ways. While New Urbanist residents are walking …

Urban History For Planners, Carl Abbott

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article analyzes the conceptual and historiographic differences between the closely related fields of urban history and planning history. It reviews the origins of urban history as a distinct field and argues that work in urban history falls into three broad categories dealing with civic life, individual and group relations, and the physical evolution of urban places. It identifies topics that are particularly fruitful and generate new scholarship, and suggests ways in which each of these realms of urban history raises questions of relevance to urban planning and urban policy.