Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Feasibility Of Closing Vehicle Crossings Along St. Charles Avenue: A Study Of Transit Safety And Performance, Vivek B. Shah

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The St. Charles streetcar is an important transit line in the city of New Orleans, with about 65,000 people living within a ½ mile walking distance from it. However, the line experiences a very high streetcar/automobile crash rate due in large part to the large number of grade vehicle crossings over the tracks that lack signalization. Through traffic modeling, the closure of many of these vehicle crossings and the diversion of automotive traffic to the remaining, signalized crossings is analyzed to determine traffic impacts on street network. The result is a modest increase in traffic, about 7-8%, at the remaining …

Contextualizing The Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site (40wg59): Understanding Landscape Change At An Upland South Farmstead., Daniel Whitaker Howard Brock

Masters Theses

This thesis focuses on a contextual archaeological approach to investigate the historic landscape of the Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site. Tipton-Haynes is a late eighteenth- through twentieth-century upland south farmstead located in Johnson City, TN. Home to two prominent Tennessee families and occupied until acquired by the state in the 1960s, the site has experienced many alterations to the landscape over time. The analysis presented views the landscape as material culture investigated through a multidisciplinary approach including historic research, architectural survey, geophysical survey, dendrochronology, and archaeology. To make sense of the complex nature of the Tipton-Haynes site, multiple methods were used …

Frank Lloyd Wright: Influences And Worldview, Brock Stafford

M.A. in Philosophy of History Theses

Wright was uniquely qualified to see the changing face of America. Born two years after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the end of the Civil War, Wright lived to nearly ninety-two years of age. During his lifetime, he lived through the American Industrial Revolution, both World Wars, the Wright Brothers flight, the invention of television.... Architecturally, he straddles the gap between the neoclassical period of the 19th century, marked by the admiration of Greek and Roman architecture, and the modernism of the 20th. Philosophically, he was a product of the early 19th century Romanticism, but followed his own, often …

Perform + Function: A Proposal For A Healthy Public Housing Community, Brandon M. Harvey

Masters Theses

PERFORM+FUNCTION: Proposal for A Healthy Public Housing Community

Architecture exists in Place, the integrated context of both the built and natural environments, including socio-economic, cultural, and political climates that influence our growth, development, and survival. As architecture necessitates around human purposes, it is important that architecture is built for and sited in an environment compatible for human well-being. My thesis focuses on human habitation and its immediate relationship with human health, assessing the performance and functionality of Place that have an impact on human health. Using public housing as the vehicle of my investigation, I will seek the appropriate application …

Narrative Processes In Urban Planning: A Case Study Of Swamp Gravy In Colquitt, Georgia, Ronald David Pate

Dissertations and Theses

In 1990 many in Colquitt, Georgia considered themselves to be a dying town due to the loss of jobs and outmigration that occurred when labor intensive farming transitioned to the machine. In response citizens brought in a theater director from Chicago who helped them launch a performance series of inclusive stories that were acted by local volunteers. The resulting series called Swamp Gravy has run from 1992 to present (2012), and has led to purported claims of community revitalization. The purpose of this study was to discover what this ongoing narrative community engagement meant to the people of Colquitt in …

Preserving Wildlife In San Luis Obispo City By Way Of San Luis Obispo Creek, Sydni Nicolici

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

The effectiveness of San Luis Obispo wildlife easements and city open space utilized to preserve species of concern is correlated to the health and maintenance of the San Luis Obispo Creek. I propose that the health of the Creek be addressed before more open space is added to the green belt surrounding the city. This bottom-up approach to preservation will ensure all steps of habitat will function as they should.

Getting On The Bus: Marketing San Luis Obispo's Regional Transit Authority, Jenna Higgins

Master's Theses

A new trend is emerging, seeking to recognize the benefits of and encourage the use of public transportation. In the past, public transit agencies have not directed much energy or focus at marketing, seeking to use limited funds elsewhere. “The common perception is that money spent on marketing would be better spent on transit systems themselves…over time, a sustained investment in marketing increases the number of people who use transit. Increased ridership leads to increased revenue, and ideally, an increase in service to match the new demand” (Arpi, 2009).

Even as marketing gains importance in the public transit world, questions …

Form-Based Codes, Design Guidelines And Placemaking: The Case Of Hayward, Ca., Cindy Ma

Master's Theses

Throughout history planning codes and standards have been used to regulate the built environment for health, power, order, and economic reasons. More recently, in the urban design and planning field, planning codes and standards have emerged to become tools in the process of “placemaking”. The concept of placemaking builds from the desire of humans to create places, not spaces, which are unique, attractive, identifiable, and memorable. It is a concept that is comprised of visual and social components, recognizing the need for both in the creation of successful places. In the field of urban design and planning, form-based codes (FBCs) …

Like Laws And Sausages: The Tale Of A Mere Portion Of The Process To Develop The South Broad Street Corridor Plan, Amy R. Lopez

Master's Theses

The processes to develop community plans share certain standard activities and stages while remaining distinctive and without pre-scripted procedures. This study documents the process that yielded the South Broad Street Corridor Plan June 2012 draft. The objective is to present the decision-making processes and their connections to the final plan document along with the plan document itself.

Deep Play, Urban Space, Adolescent Place: A Multi-Sited Study Of The Effects Of Settings On Adolescent Risk/Reward Behavior, Benjamin A. Shirtcliff

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The extant literature on the play behavior of youth normalizes adolescent behavior in public space as transgressional, resistant, and in need of social control. The dissertation counters this trend by looking to see if physical qualities, peer effects, and neighborhood context of settings play a deeper role in youth behavior. The study documented urban context, peer effects, physical features, and play behavior across 21 urban settings in New Orleans. Unobtrusive observations employed a highly innovative technique based on YouTube videos and analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Coded observations of risk-taking and prosocial behavior demonstrated some stability in behavior amongst adolescents—“youth” …

Get Your Butt Off The Ground!: Consequences Of Cigarette Waste And Litter-Reducing Methods, Joyce Lee

Pomona Senior Theses

Cigarette butts are rapidly accumulating on our planet; trillions of them are discarded every year. In this paper, I examine why cigarette litter is a problem. I first discuss the biodegradability of filters and its scientific basis, including ways to enhance degradation rates by chemically manipulating filters. I also talk about the persistence of cigarette chemicals and their potential toxic effects on children and animals. I consider other social, economic, and environmental consequences of cigarette filters and chemicals. Furthermore, I discuss various solutions smokers and non-smokers alike have created to address the problem of cigarette litter; these methods come from …

True North: Transportation Issues In Riverdale And Edenwald, Amelia Zaino

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

Designing A Complete Community Center: Responsive Design In A Rural Setting, Sheryl Tubbs

Capstone Collection

It is a common sight to see community centers in use in various parts of the world. They have fulfilled a variety of roles in many communities for a number of years. This project’s focus is on the design of community center for a rural town. The main research question in this research asks, “What type of community center does this area need?” The sub questions also help to establish the kind of community center that is needed and wanted.

A review of current literature shows no specific way to build a community center or what to include. However there …

Designing An "Information-Experience" Using Creativity Science Theory And Tools, Stephanie Belhomme

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

An “information-experience” encapsulated by a technological/digital audio-visual tool presents data and potentially meaningful information to prompt actionable knowledge concerning: “unspoken creative process elements;” their profound impacts on both how well our “physiology of creativity” functions; but also on how well foundational creative thinking and behavioral prerequisites (energy, motivation, imagination, and ownership) are leveraged.

The product: 1) introduces the user to one component of the CPS (Creative Problem Solving) Facilitation Process - Exploring the Challenge; 2) features a content specific component which prompts exploration of the many correlations between societal, organizational / community, human physiological / behavioral data, and the direct …

The Potential Of Downtown Las Vegas Becoming A Creative Milieu, Ana Magdalena Barragan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The city of Las Vegas is attempting to revitalize downtown through a creative economy by bringing cultural and experiential activities to the area in a mixed use arrangement with residential, business and civic uses. This study looks at the possibility of not only revitalizing downtown, but on it becoming a true creative milieu - a place that fosters creativity and innovation. It does so by first identifying three major forces working upon the realization of these goals: 1) the regional socio-economic conditions, 2) the government strategies, and 3) the creative population's participation.

The study conducts a quantitative assessments of each, …

Measuring Spillover Effects Of Residential Amenity Improvements Using Spatial Hedonic Approach, Shruti Bishan Tandon

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a methodology for the estimation of the appropriate welfare benefits in the presence of spillover externalities. The ability to capture influences of the not so easily observed variables allow spatial lag models to measure the direct and indirect spillover effects. The direct effect measures the value of the property in question and the indirect captures the influences of neighboring properties, through a spatial multiplier effect.

Kim et al. (2003) through a path breaking approach estimated welfare benefits of air quality improvement. Their methodology captured spillover effects of amenity changes that lump both …

Exploring German And American Modes Of Pedagogical And Institutional Sustainability: Forging A Way Into The Future, Lindon N. Pronto

Pitzer Senior Theses

Rooted deep in Germany's past is its modern socio-political grounding for environmental respect and sustainability. This translates into individual and collective action and extends equally to the economic and policy realm as it does to educational institutions. This thesis evaluates research conducted in Germany with a view to what best approaches are transferable to the United States liberal arts setting. Furthermore, exemplary American models of institutional sustainability and environmental education are explored and combined with those from abroad to produce a blueprint and action plan fitting for the American college and university.

Revitalized Streets Of San Francisco: A Study Of Redevelopment And Gentrification In Soma And The Mission, Lucy K. Phillips

Scripps Senior Theses

San Francisco's South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood and the Mission District are facing new forms of redevelopment. The deindustrialization of SoMa has posed an opportunity for a 'new model' of gentrification to create a mixed-use, mixed-income neighborhood from an area previously occupied by abandoned warehouses and vacant lots. In the Mission, awareness of the threats of gentrification and increased community participation are fighting to preserve the neighborhood and eliminate displacement. The innovative approaches to urban revitalization in these two neighborhoods demonstrate how redevelopment may occur without gentrification.

Transport Manager Responsibilities And Risk Based Insurance Analysis, Ivana Simkova

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis addresses the issue of the responsibility of the transport manager. The transport manager´s conditions which have to be respected during his/ her work are analyzed. The transport manager is responsible for the decisions made during the whole transportation process. Individual decisions are evaluated and a probabilistic estimate of their importance is determined. A methodology for insurance for the transport manager is proposed.

Walking In The Land Of Cars: Automobile-Pedestrian Accidents In Hillsborough County, Florida, Marc Aaron Poling

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Analyses of traffic accidents are often focused on the characteristics of the accident event and hence do not take into account the broader neighborhood contexts in which accidents are located. This thesis seeks to extend empirical analyses of accidents by understanding the link between accidents and their surroundings. The case study for this thesis is Hillsborough County, Florida, within which the city of Tampa is located. The Tampa Bay region ranks very high in terms of accident rates within U.S. metropolitan areas and is also characterized by transport policies which favor private automobiles over mass transit options, making it an …