Digital Commons Network^™

Greenroof Study: Final Report, An Assessment Of Greenroof Design And Maintenance In Portland, Oregon: 2011 – 2013, Windy Carney Beck

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

In 1999 the City of Portland (City) began to require that stormwater management facilities (SMF) be built when private property is newly developed or redeveloped (City Code Chapter 17.38). Proper maintenance and upkeep of SMFs is essential to ensuring they function appropriately. The City's Maintenance Inspection Program (MIP) is tasked with inspecting stormwater management facilities on private properties in order to ensure that they are being properly operated and maintained and to meet provisions of the City's NPDES Municipal Separated Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit.

Greenroofs are one type of SMF that are installed to satisfy this requirement. Understanding the …

Integrating Freight Into Livable Communities, Kristine M. Williams, Alexandria Carroll

TREC Final Reports

Where livability is a goal of the planning process, freight runs the risk of not being considered except as an afterthought or as something to be excluded. Yet, freight is an integral part of local economic development. Because economic prosperity is a key characteristic of livable communities, freight must be incorporated into the planning process. This study explores the relationship between freight and livability through a comprehensive literature review and case study research. The final report includes a menu of strategies and case study perspectives that highlight the importance of transportation and land use integration, interagency coordination, and context-sensitivity in …

Model-Based Analytics And Processes For Transportation Investment Alternatives Analyses: From Least Cost Planning To Multi Criterion Evaluation, Jeff Frkonja

PSU Transportation Seminars

Many public and private organizations that make decisions regarding whether and how to invest in transportation assets or programs do so via a structured decision-support process. This talk will address the technical aspects of the family of such processes that use travel demand model outputs—and other sources of quantified performance data—as inputs to analytic tools including benefit cost analysis (BCA) and multi criterion evaluation. Example applications of this framework have included tolling and pricing studies, capital investment alternatives analyses, and programmatic evaluations. Example processes include "Least Cost Planning" frameworks borrowed originally from the power generation industry.

The talk will also …

Examining The Right To Bicycle: Synergies And Tensions Between Human Rights, Civil Rights, And Planning For Cycling, Aaron Golub

PSU Transportation Seminars

Securing and expanding the broad right to bicycle, including the right to adequate and safe street space and related infrastructure for cycling along with other policies and protections for cyclists, is the obvious goal of cycling advocacy efforts in their various forms. All rights are situated within frameworks for promulgating and insuring they are honored, and the right to cycling is no different. This project investigates how the right to bicycle falls within various rights frameworks, focusing on broad human rights and civil rights frameworks while reflecting as well on traffic safety codes and transportation planning frameworks. While certain aspects …

Crafting Change: Practicing Activism In Contemporary Australia, Tal Fitzpatrick, Katve-Kaisa Kontturi

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

This article brings together thoughts and practices of two Melbourne-based women working across the fields of craftivism, practice-led research and contemporary art history. While introducing and analysing Australian craft(ivist) projects, this article also suggests new concepts useful in tackling the contemporary phenomenon of craft activism.

Portland State Magazine, Portland State University. Office Of University Communications

Portland State Magazine

PSU’s alumni magazine, published 2-3 times a year. In this issue: PSU’s part in making Portland a national transportation model; sipping coffee in zero gravity; new possibilities for foster youth; PSU’s Ooligan Press—a unique, student-run publishing house; graduating at 77; and more.

A Critical Physical Geography Of Urban Soil Contamination, Nathan Mcclintock

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Anthropogenic lead (Pb) is widespread in urban soils given its widespread deposition over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries via a range of point- and non-point sources, including industrial waste and pollution, leaded paint, and automobile exhaust. While soil scientists and urban ecologists have documented soil Pb contamination in cities around the world, such analyses rarely move beyond proximal mechanisms to focus on more distal factors, notably the social processes mediating Pb accumulation in particular places. In this paper, I articulate a critical physical geography of urban soil Pb contamination that considers the dialectical coproduction of soil and …

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, …

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 …

Building Social Sustainability From The Ground Up: The Contested Social Dimension Of Sustainability In Neighborhood-Scale Urban Regeneration In Portland, Copenhagen, And Nagoya, Jacklyn Nicole Kohon

Dissertations and Theses

In response to growing social inequality, environmental crises, and economic instability, sustainability discourse has become the dominant "master signifier" for many fields, particularly the field of urban planning. However, in practice many sustainability methods overemphasize technological and economic growth-oriented solutions while underemphasizing the social dimension. The social dimension of sustainability remains a "concept in chaos" drawing little agreement on definitions, domains, and indicators for addressing the social challenges of urban life. In contrast, while the field of public health, with its emphasis on social justice principles, has made significant strides in framing and developing interventions to target the social determinants …

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 …

Peripheral No More: Repositioning Narratives For Empowerment And Change In Sustainability Education, Rell G. Ohlson

Leadership for Sustainability Education Comprehensive Papers

The field of sustainability education challenges dominant modes of thought, with a particular emphasis on the need for diversity and "multiple perspectives" in order to confront complex issues (Capra, 2005; Sterling, 2001; Wheatley, 2006). If this is the case, why are certain perspectives still missing and what narratives have been given prominence? This comprehensive paper examines the problems of a dominant narrative in sustainability education. In order for sustainability education to be truly transformative and empowering for students, leaders, and their communities, the narrative of sustainability must be repositioned from a dominant, white, middle-class context to one that affirms, values …

Urban Ecology & Conservation Symposium 2015: 13th Annual (Abstracts), Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium Of Portland/Vancouver

Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium of Portland/Vancouver

The UERC is a consortium of people from various universities and colleges, state and federal agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations and independent professionals interested in supporting urban ecosystem research and creating an information-sharing network of people that collect and use ecological data in the Portland/Vancouver area.

UERC Mission Statement:

To advance the state of the science of urban ecosystems and improve our understanding of them, with a focus on the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan region, by fostering communication and collaboration among researchers, managers and citizens at academic institutions, public agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations, and other interested groups.

The principal organizers span …

Putting Impact First: Community-University Partnerships To Advance Authentic Neighborhood Sustainability, Michelle L. Holliday, Tony Defalco, Jacob Sherman

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

This article profiles a partnership between the Living Cully ecodistrict and Portland State University’s Sustainable Neighborhoods Initiative. The case studies presented in this article explore how Living Cully leveraged PSU assets to advance their goals, highlighting successes and lessons learned. This article also addresses how the partnership was formed, what makes the partnership innovative, the role of interdisciplinary/intercommunity organizational strategies, and how the community partner commits to urban sustainability and social justice.

Bulletin: General Catalog Issue 2015-2016, Portland State University

Bulletin & Curriculum Change Documents

Volume 1 is available via the Download option, Volume 2 is available in the Additional Files below

Institute For Sustainable Solutions Annual Report (2013-2014), Portland State University. Institute For Sustainable Solutions

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

This brief annual report from Portland State University's Institute for Sustainable Solutions captures the highlights from the year and signals where sustainability at PSU is headed in the years to come.

The Equity Baseline Report: A Framework For Regional Equity, Jared Franz, Cat Goughnour, Duncan Hwang, Kayse Jama, Meg Merrick, Andre Riley, Gerardo Vergara-Monroy

Institute of Metropolitan Studies Publications

The Equity Baseline Report: A Framework for Regional Equity is an authentic community-led report resulting from a yearlong collaborative effort conducted by six local community based organizations (CBOs). The organizations were selected competitively to work under contract with Metro staff to identify, inventory, classify and recommend quantitative and qualitative evidence-based indicators and corresponding data sets that measure the varying degrees by which people experience equity in our region.

Effects Of Particulate Matter And Antioxidant Dietary Intake On Blood Pressure, Amy J. Schulz, J. Tomothy Dvonch, Angela G. Reyes, Betty T. Izumi

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objectives—We assessed 2 pathways through which dietary antioxidants may counter adverse effects of exposure to particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5) on blood pressure (BP): main (compensatory) and modifying (protective) models. Methods—We used 2002 to 2003 data from the Detroit Healthy Environments Partnership community survey conducted with a multiethnic sample of adults (n = 347) in low- to moderate-income, predominantly Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black neighborhoods in Detroit, Michigan. We used generalized estimating equations to test the effects of ambient exposure to PM2.5 and dietary antioxidant intake on BP, with adjustment for multiple confounders. Results—Dietary antioxidant intake was …

Comparing Two Common Approaches To Public Transit Service Equity Evaluation, Alex Karner, Aaron Golub

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Understanding the equity effects of transit service changes requires good information about the demographics of transit ridership. Both on-board survey data and census data can be used to estimate equity effects, though there is no clear reason these two sources will result in the same finding of impact. Guidance from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recommends using either of these data sources to estimate equity impacts. This article makes a direct comparison of the two methods for the public transit system in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area. The results indicate that, although both sources are acceptable for FTA compliance, the …

Topic Team Feedback From The Strategic Ice Cream Social, Strategic Planning Development Team

Resource Archive

The Strategic Planning Development Team held an ice cream social event where they solicited feedback regarding the mission, vision and values of the university. Topic teams used the information gathered from the university community to help inform their decisions in the strategic planning development process.

Research & Strategic Partnerships: Quarterly Review, Volume 2, Issue 1, Portland State University. Research & Strategic Partnerships

Portland State Research Magazine

This Review describes connections among Portland State University, society's needs, and innovation: engineer Evan Thomas’s public health program in Rwanda, chemist Steve Reichow's protein research in the Collabo­rative Life Sciences Building, environmental historian Catherine McNeur's look back at urban agriculture in New York City, the "My Life" mentoring program for foster teens, and "Reclaiming Futures" interventions that help at-risk kids avoid incarceration.

It also focuses on EXITO. EXITO, Portland State University's largest-ever federal grant, awarded by the NIH to a team headed by Professors Carlos Crespo and Tom Keller. In the next decade, EXITO will help hundreds of underrepresented students …

El Reto De Una Democracia Planetaria: Vandana Shiva Y La Relevancia Del Feminismo Tradicional, Priya Kapoor

International & Global Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Este artículo analiza el caso de la activista ambiental y científica Vandana Shiva y su visión de una tierra democrática, al tiempo que examina la teoría feminista. Shiva media múltiples realidades de compañías multinacionales de biotecnología, movilizaciones populares y su propia marca de prácticas feministas. El activismo de Shiva muestra la posición intermediaria de mujeres líderes que deben balancear y comunicar asertivamente las relaciones entre el Estado y las corporaciones, mientras al mismo tiempo reivindican un liderazgo moral.

While examining transnational feminist theory, this article scrutinizes the case of environmental activist and scientist Vandana Shiva and her vision of an …

Socio-Spatial Transformation And Contested Space At The Street Level In Latin America: The Case Of Cali, Colombia, Maria Janeth Mosquera Becerra

Dissertations and Theses

Since 2008, more than 50% of the world's population has lived in cities and it is projected that by 2050 around 87% will do so. Designing infrastructure in urban spaces has become increasingly critical for achieving human well-being. This dissertation examines socio-spatial transformation processes related to urbanization, economic development and the marginalization of utilitarian cycling in Cali, Colombia, as a particular expression of the struggle for transportation space occurring in urban areas. The research analyzes (a) the socio-spatial processes that have restricted the use of bicycles as a means of transportation in the city of Cali, Colombia; and (b) the …

More Than A Citation Manager: Zotero For Scalable Embedded Librarianship And Instructional Assessment, Rebecca Kuglitsch

Library Instruction West 2014

Purpose – This paper aims to describe a new application of Zotero, a citation management system, for embedded librarianship and assessment. It explores student reception of this approach and maps Zotero’s capacities to represent citations to learning outcomes and information literacy frames that instruction librarians assess.

Design/methodology/approach – The librarian worked with a course using Zotero group libraries for collaborative work, used Zotero to communicate with students and assess their information literacy skills and surveyed the students to determine their perception of librarian participation via Zotero.

Findings – Using Zotero’s features made it possible to formatively and summatively assess student …

Accessibility-Based Transportation Planning: Literature And Applications For Shrinking Cities, Joanna Ganning

TREC Final Reports

For 15 years, scholars have claimed that accessibility-based transportation planning was at the brink of becoming a new paradigm, and yet this hope remains unrealized. Its implementation may lag due to vague definitions when compared to mobility, or because those who would benefit from accessibility-based planning lack political power to rally its support. Possibly, the lag in implementation reflects the missing linkages between theory and application for many contexts. This literature review synthesizes knowledge regarding the applications for accessibility-based transportation planning for shrinking cities along the themes of environmental, social, and economic sustainability. While residents in shrinking cities might especially …

Assessing Transit Fare Equity In Utah Using A Geographic Information System, Steven Farber, Keith Batholomew, Xiao Li, Antonio Paez, Khandker M. Nurul Habib

TREC Final Reports

The goal of this study is to develop and apply a new method for assessing social equity impacts of distance-based public transit fares. Shifting to a distance-based fare structure can disproportionately favor or penalize different subgroups of a population based on variations in settlement patterns, travel needs, and most importantly, transit use. According to federal law, such disparities must be evaluated by the transit agency, but the area-based techniques identified by the Federal Transit Authority for assessing discrimination fail to account for disparities in distances travelled by transit users. This means that transit agencies currently lack guidelines for assessing the …

Cultivating Common Ground? A Case Study Of A Community Garden Organization In Northeast Portland, Oregon, Bryan James Zinschlag

Dissertations and Theses

When it comes to the topic of environmental sustainability, most of us will readily agree that we face a litany of local and global environmental threats in the twenty-first century. As such, we would largely agree that the need to address climate change and other issues is urgent. Where this agreement tends to end, however, is on the question of whether this urgency is so great that we need not address issues of inequality and environmental justice when organizing sustainability efforts. Some are convinced that, because sustainability efforts are "saving the world for everyone", so to speak, issues of environmental …

Participation, Information, Values, And Community Interests Within Health Impact Assessments, Nicole Iroz-Elardo

Dissertations and Theses

Health impact assessment (HIA) has emerged in the U.S. as one promising process to increase social and environmental justice through addressing health equity issues within planning. HIA practice is guided by values such as democracy and equity and grounded in broad social determinants of health. The most readily applied definition of democracy is problematic because it implies an element of direct, participatory engagement with the public. This is at odds with HIA practice that largely relies on stakeholder engagement strategies.

This dissertation critically examines the engagement strategies of three transportation planning HIA cases to more fully understand how the HIA …

Allen Boulevard Corridor Plan, Anna Wendt, Samantha Petty, Jp Mcneil, Taren Evans, August Benzow, Art Graves

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Allen Boulevard corridor, home to diverse populations and a vibrant commercial district, is a community in transition and a community with potential. While Allen Boulevard possesses unique assets in its present state, it has seen little in the way of localized planning or City programs tailored to the area’s needs. As such, the City of Beaverton partnered with the Portland State University Master of Urban and Regional Planning program to produce a detailed corridor study and planning guide for the area. From that partnership, six graduate students formed a consulting group, InSite Planning, to produce this plan.

This project …

Gresham Opportunity Framework Plan, Belinda Judelman, Carlos Gonzalez, Hayley Pickus, Lori Parks, Mike Simpson, Pamela N. Phan

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Map Gresham project was a five-month long planning process led by Camassia Community Planning (CCP) to create “opportunity maps” and an Opportunity Framework Plan for the City of Gresham, OR. Opportunity mapping is a relatively new planning method for analyzing the spatial distribution of indicators linked to opportunity and determining which populations have access to these factors.

The overarching objective of the Framework Plan is to improve equitable access to opportunities for Gresham’s neighborhoods and diverse populations. We created the plan by putting community at the center and collaborating with local organizations, technical advisors, and City staff. It includes …