Urban Studies Commons^™

Climate Adaptation And Resiliency Planning For New England Communities: First Steps And Next Steps, Charles Colgan, Jack D. Kartez Ph.D., Martha P. Sheils

Publications

Hurricane Irene tearing Vermont roads and bridges apart and Superstorm Sandy ripping through coastal areas; such phenomenal events are being joined by more frequent rain, tide and wind impacts that are disrupting communities and risking property and lives. New challenges arise from weather events that are driven by a less stable climate. The key difference between what communities already plan for and climate adaptation planning is the level of uncertainty about how impacts may change in the future and the potentially enormous and devastating damages that a community may sustain. This Guide presents an overview of that task, with links …

The Manifestation Of Blight: Examining The Effects Of Inner City Decline On Populations In The Bronx, New York And New Orleans, Louisiana, Bianca R. Stewart

Honors Theses

Urban decline, and the developments that trigger a collapse among formerly prosperous cities, is a phenomenon that is capable of leaving a lasting mark on any urban system. The collapse and disintegration of the urban landscape carries a variety of facilitators, and with that, this research sought to examine two distinct representations of urban decline and the populations that shifted in tandem with blight: the New York City fiscal crisis of the 1970s and post-Katrina conditions in New Orleans, Louisiana. Through New York City’s fiscal crisis and the act of condensing a city in hopes of rectifying urban decline, known …

How Code Enforcement Mitigates Hoarding In The Community, Jason Gibilisco

Master's Projects

No abstract provided.

Healthy Fails To Wealthy Trails: Revitalization Opportunities For Underused Spaces Alongside Residential Areas In Arleta, California, Jorge Martinez

Master's Projects

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Study Of Urban Forest Management Programs For Three Major Cities In Santa Clara County: A Benchmarking Study, Suzanne Remien

Master's Projects

No abstract provided.

Constructing Urban Life : A Study Of Automobile Dependency In 148 Mid-Size U.S. Cities., Chad Paul Frederick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Automobile-dependent sprawl remains the dominant urban development paradigm in the United States. One reason for this is that the automobile is assumed to be more beneficial to the local economy than it is detrimental to society. Both sides of this assumption are wrong. First, local economies do not benefit much from automobile dependency. On the contrary, multimodal cities have lower unemployment, higher wages for African-Americans, and more efficient property markets. In addition, while it is true that multimodality means slightly higher taxes, the total value of living in multimodal cities far surpasses automobile-dependent cities with a massively improved quality of …

Exchange Patterns And Relations In Collaborative Governance., Charles Wharton Kaye-Essien

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collaborative governance has received considerable attention in recent years. From environmental resource management to public safety, collaborative governance continues to play a vital role in regional problem solving. In spite of this increasing popularity previous attempts to model the political, economic, and demographic determinants of collaboration have in most cases produced inconsistent results, thereby undermining the ability to generalize from such findings. Additionally, our understanding of the relational patterns that emanate from collaborative agreements remains fairly rudimentary. The main objective of this research is to address some of the gaps in the literature and improve our understanding of collaborative governance …

The Impact Of Successful Ncaa Division I Athletics Programs On The Social Capital Of Urban Communities, Paul Woody

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examined how urban communities might grow social capital from the passion and support offered by a college athletics program. Given the increasing emphasis on fiscal responsibility from local governments and public universities, recognizing how college athletics programs influence local community social capital, such as anchor attachments formed by alumni and fans, is an important perspective. Historically, the exhausted conversation has focused on economics, such as the economic impact of athletic venues and franchises. (Coates, 2007; Crompton, 2004). Through decades of research, social capital has been measured at various depths and viewed through social, economic, psychological, and even historical …

Problem Analysis In Community Violence Assessments: Reavealing Early Childhood Trauma As A Driver Of Youth And Gang Violence, Laurie Ross Phd, Samantha Arsenault, Sergeant Miguel Lopez

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Problem analysis conducted by a university-based research partner can provide communities with data-driven options to address the local drivers of serious youth and gang violence. Situated in Worcester, Massachusetts, this article describes how after early childhood trauma was identified as a potential driver of adolescent and young adult violence, problem analysis using local data confirmed that being the victim or witness of a traumatic incident before the age of 12 was significantly correlated with involvement in violence in adolescence or young adulthood. While there is a robust literature on the relationship between early childhood trauma and later delinquency, local decision-makers …

Track Time And Monetary Costs Of Transportation As A Comprehensive Performance Measure: Development And Application Of Transportation Cost Index, Liming Wang

PSU Transportation Seminars

As federal and state policies place increasing emphasis on using comprehensive transportation performance measures to guide transportation decision making, there is a gap in such measures of transportation and land use systems. This seminar reports the results from a research project aiming to fill the gap in the type of applications and policy areas covered by existing measures. Modeled after the popular Consumer Price Index, the project refines and develops a transportation cost index (TCI) measure for transportation and land use systems by tracking the time and monetary costs of transportation for households as they travel to satisfy their daily …

Putting The Fun Before The Wonk: Using Bike Fun To Diversify Bike Ridership, Lillian Karabaic

PSU Transportation Seminars

The Community Cycling Center has been at the business of broadening access to bicycling for 22 years. Far before anyone was talking about "equity" in the world of bike commuting and advocacy, the Community Cycling Center was working directly with youth of color to make biking accessible. How have they been doing it? What have they learned?

Lillian Karabaic explains the secret to the Community Cycling Center's work to build bike capacity in underserved neighborhoods: bike fun. Many bike advocacy organizations look down at making bikes fun because they think it lowers the status of serious transportation to "recreation" or …

Webinar: Evaluation Of An Electric Bike Pilot Project In Portland, Oregon, John Macarthur

TREC Webinar Series

Oregon, and Portland in particular, is internationally known for its love for bikes. Not only does the region have some of the highest bike ridership in the nation but the Oregon bike manufacturing industry is quickly growing as well. Oregon’s electric bike (e-bike) market is also growing, but little data are available on the potential market and e-bike user behavior and interest.

Only a limited amount of research has explored the potential new market segments for e-bikes and the economic, operational, safety, and transportation issues surrounding e-bikes in the United States. This webinar will present findings from a research project …

Understanding Transportation In Urban China - Local Residents Vs Migrant Workers, Jenny H. Liu

PSU Transportation Seminars

With rapid urbanization in China and other developing economies around the world, it has become imperative to understand household transportation behavior and expenditures in these urban areas. The objective of this study is to examine the differences in the determinants of household transportation expenditures within two very distinct populations in Chinese cities: local residents and migrant workers.

In order to craft policies or strategies promoting sustainable transportation or livability, it is essential to understand whether the drivers that push the migrant population towards spending more on transportation or owning bikes or motorbikes are similar to drivers for the rest of …

The Myth Of Oregon's "Freight Dependent" Economy, Joe Cortright

PSU Transportation Seminars

Although it is widely claimed that Oregon's economy is dependent on freight movement, economic activity in Oregon has decoupled from physical goods movement. Truck traffic per unit of gross state product has fallen, and even the loss of regular container service to Portland has had no measurable effect on the region's economy.

Oregon's economy has shifted away from freight intensive industries and now depends on knowledge driven sectors (e.g. electronics, software, athletic apparel and footwear professional services) that move very small amounts of freight. In addition freight costs for most output is so small—and declining—that it is a negligible factor …

Inequality, Mobility, And Cities, Alan Berube

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Inequality may be the result of global economic forces, but it matters in a local sense. Large population, diverse housing types, and generally progressive politics mean that big cities will always have higher shares of the rich and poor than smaller places. But a city where the rich are very rich, and the poor very poor, is likely to face difficulties educationally, fiscally, and socially. In the face of these economic forces and political gridlock in Washington, many cities are becoming the testing ground for new public policies to fight inequality and promote social mobility: local minimum wages, new affordable …

Minimum Wage Increases And Oregon’S Long-Term Care Sector, Mike Paruszkiewicz, Peter Hulseman, Emma Willingham

Northwest Economic Research Center Publications and Reports

Analysis of direct and "ripple" effects of Oregon's recent minimum wage increase in the long-term care industry.

Minimum wage proposals have dominated recent policy debate in Oregon, culminating in the February 2016 legislative session that included the passage of Senate Bill 1532, a three-tiered minimum wage increase to be phased in between 2016 and 2022. Barring changes in other states, the law will give Oregon the highest minimum wage in the country. While the immediate impacts of the law on workers earning near the minimum are substantial and relatively clear-cut, businesses face less certain outcomes as the delicate balance between …

“La Guerra De Los Centavos” Y Contratos Sociales: Los Impactos Del Desarrollo Del Sistema Intermodal De Transporte Urbano En Loja, Ecuador / "The War Of The Cents" And Social Contracts: The Impacts Of The Development Of The Intermodal Urban Transportation System In Loja, Ecuador, Will Yetvin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El propósito de este estudio fue investigar el Sistema Intermodal de Transporte Urbano (SITU) en la ciudad de Loja, Ecuador. El contenido del estudio se basa en mis observaciones y entrevistas durante mi tiempo trabajando con la Unidad de Transporte del Municipio de Loja, y en fuentes bibliográficas relacionadas con los temas de transporte urbano, transporte sostenible, bus de rápido tránsito y gobiernos descentralizados. Además, utilicé un tesoro de documentos internos del Municipio y el Consorcio. Mi análisis es influenciado por el marco conceptual de desarrollo sostenible.

Este informe es organizado alrededor de tres temas vinculados pero distintos; 1) Un …

The Economics Of Residential Building Deconstruction In Portland, Or, Mike Paruszkiewicz, Jenny H. Liu, Rebecca Hanes, Eric Hoffman, Peter Hulseman, Emma Willingham

Northwest Economic Research Center Publications and Reports

Impact analysis of the nascent deconstruction industry, in light of recent legislation.

Detroit Health Department: Lead Report 2016, Abdul El-Sayed, Alex B. Hill, Haifa Haroon

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

The Epidemiology team at the Detroit Health Department rigorously stress- tested Detroit’s lead numbers. The findings suggest a true decline in EBLL levels rather than a decrease in lead testing or a change in the characteristics of the children who are being tested.

Social And Equal Justice In America In The Case Of Stand Your Ground Law, Andrew I.E. Ewoh

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

No abstract provided.

Stand Your Ground In Florida: The Effect Of Race, Location And Weapons On Convictions, Kevin M. Wagner, Dukhong Kim, Jeremy C. Hagler

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

The implications of laws allowing citizens to respond with deadly force when they believe they are threatened is the subject of significant conjecture in the media and scholarship. The adoption of “Stand Your Ground” laws has increased across the nation despite little data or findings that attempt to capture the ramifications of enacting this policy. This research explores the effect of the “Stand Your Ground” legal defense on criminal convictions in Florida. After exploring the historic assumptions and motivations behind the adoption and use of the Stand Your Ground law in Florida, we use data gathered from local newspapers, the …

The Fight Or Flight Response: A Look At Stand Your Ground, Andrea Headley, Mohamad G. Alkadry

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

In addressing the historical importance—or lack thereof—of the Stand Your Ground law, this article discusses the evolution of self-defense laws. Specific landmark cases are discussed as they relate to establishing the foundation of self-defense. The article also examines various issues that have been inherent within the Stand Your Ground debate. Statistical analysis of Stand Your Ground data from the State of Florida is conducted using binary logistic regression model to test the relationship between case outcomes and a number of other variables involving demographics, and the nature of the confrontation that led to the crime

Codification Of Fear: Syg Laws, Thelma L. Harmon

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

There is a long history of American states’ codification of “fear” into laws. Laws that can be traced as far back as the 17^th century, which were devised to appease white America’s perceived fear of Blacks. Slave Acts were the first of such laws. When slavery was abolished rendering slave laws obsolete, Black Codes and then Jim Crow laws took effect. For over three centuries, these overt racial laws justified racial fear and legitimized the deprivation of basic human and civil rights of Black Americans. Although overt racial laws such as the Codes and Jim Crow have …

Rerouting Mode Choice Models: ​H​Ow Including Realistic Route Options Can Help Us Understand Decisions To Walk Or Bike, Joseph Broach

PSU Transportation Seminars

For a number of reasons—congestion, public health, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, demographic shifts, and community livability to name a few—the importance of walking and bicycling as transportation options will only continue to increase. Currently, policy interest and infrastructure funding for nonmotorized modes far outstrip our ability to successfully model bike and walk travel. In the past five years, we have learned a lot about where people prefer to bike and walk, but what can that tell us about whether people will bike or walk in the first place? The research presented here is designed to start bridging the gap …

Examining The Feasibility Of Implementing A Deconstruction Nonprofit In East St. Louis, Il, David M. Hoag Jr.

All Capstone Projects

Background: According to an environmental justice case study by Kozol (2005), East St. Louis is considered the country's most distressed city. It has suffered from environmental and economic misfortunes for several decades. Many residents of the city have left due to the economic conditions of the city, which resulted in a loss of tax base. According to Hou (2010), the loss of tax base has had a severe impact on the community; the city that once had flourishing parks, streets, and businesses has now become blighted with condemned, abandoned, and foreclosed structures. Poor maintenance and neglect has led to decay …

Disseminating The Sustainable City Year Program (Scyp) Education Model, Nico Larco, Marc Schlossberg

TREC Final Reports

The University of Oregon has developed a catalytic learning model that simultaneously meets the needs of both the next generation’s transportation workforce and cities looking for innovative and catalytic ways to advance a new era of transportation goals. Named the Sustainable City Year Program (SCYP), the model links local community priorities (as expressed through local plans and city council goals) with courses from a range of disciplines at a nearby university. The UO program engages 500+ multidisciplinary students annually in providing 60,000+ hours of work to city-identified projects using the existing administrative systems of both universities and local communities.

This …

Eating In East Harlem: An Assessment Of Changing Foodscapes In Community District 11, 2000-2015, Cuny Urban Food Policy Institute At The Cuny School Of Public Health And Health Policy, Nicholas Freudenberg, Melissa Fuster, Diana Johnson, Marissa Sheldon, Michele Silver, Apoorva Srivastava, Janet Poppendieck, Ashley Rafalow, Nevin Cohen

Publications and Research

The report analyzes changes in five domains -- food retail, food insecurity and food benefits, institutional food, food and nutrition education, and diet-related health conditions -- in East Harlem from before the election of Michael Bloomberg through the first two years of the de Blasio Administration. Its goal is to assess the ways in which food environments in East Harlem have improved, stayed the same, or worsened in this 15-year period in order to inform setting food policy goals for the next 5, 10 or 15 years.

Although East Harlem is blessed with a multitude of organizations and individuals dedicated …

The Kazaks Of Istanbul: A Case Of Social Cohesion, Economic Breakdown And The Search For A Moral Economy, Daniel Marc Auger

Dissertations and Theses

This research is focused on understanding the ways in which the community orientation of the Kazak ethnic community in Istanbul, Turkey have contributed to their economic success which in turn encourages strong community, and the nature of their community-based support networks for providing material and cultural support. It examines the role of social capital and cohesion in maintaining the community with its positive implications for the continued building of wealth or sourcing of funding on a community level. The theoretical concepts relevant to this project are based on the ideas that the shared values of a community are a positive …

Measuring And Modeling Cyclists’ Comfort And Stress Levels, Miguel Figliozzi

PSU Transportation Seminars

Some researchers have tried to categorize cyclists’ levels of traffic stress utilizing facility or traffic data that can be readily measured in the field, such as motorized travel lanes, travel speeds, and type of bicycle infrastructure.

This seminar will present data and modeling results utilizing two novel data sources:

(a) real-world, on-road measurements of physiological stress as cyclists travel across different types of facilities and

(b) data collected utilizing a smartphone app called ORcycle (http://www.pdx.edu/transportation-lab/orcycle).

This presentation will discuss key findings and potential policy implications.

Edged Out: Location Efficient Housing And Low Income Households In The Portland Region, Andrée Tremoulet, Ryan Dann

PSU Transportation Seminars

Transportation costs are typically a household’s second largest expense after housing. Low income households are especially burdened by transportation costs, with low income households spending up to two times as much of their income on transportation than higher income households (Litman, 2013).

Thus, access to location efficient housing is especially important to low income households, including those who use a housing voucher to help pay for housing costs.

This seminar presents the results of a two-year project supported by the Portland region's four public housing authorities to design and test tools to help people with housing vouchers find location efficient …