Urban Studies Commons^™

A Community Needs Assessment To Improve Lung Health Within Substandard Housing Units, Stephanie M. Goble

Scholarly and Creative Works Conference (2015 - 2021)

The Census Bureau states “more than 45 million people, or 14.5 percent of all Americans, lived below the poverty line last year [2013].” Many of these individuals are living in substandard housing conditions, which are causing preventable poor lung health among the population. The CDC reported that asthma was linked to 3,404 deaths in 2010. The link between poor health and living conditions is a hypothesis that has been contemplated for a long time now. Florence Nightingale speculated, “The connection between health and the dwelling of the population is one of the most important that exists...” (Jacobs) Based on this …

Webinar: Impacts Of Roadway And Traffic Characteristics On Air Pollution Risks For Bicyclists, Alexander Y. Bigazzi

TREC Webinar Series

Active travel such as walking and bicycling can lead to health benefits through an increase in physical activity. At the same time, more active travelers breath more and so can experience high pollution inhalation rates during travel. This webinar will review the state of knowledge about how roadway and traffic characteristics impact air pollution risks for bicyclists, including the latest PSU research quantifying bicyclists' uptake of traffic-related air pollution using on-road measurements in Portland. The PSU research team including Alex Bigazzi, Jim Pankow, and Miguel Figliozzi quantified bicyclist exposure concentrations on different types of roadways, respiration responses to exertion level, …

Dash: The Portland Region's Next-Generation Activity-Based Model, Richard Walker

PSU Transportation Seminars

DASH is the next generation activity based model being developed by the Metro Research Center. Upon completion, it will be one of the most advanced in the nation. This model will be used extensively in estimating the activity and travel response of individuals to policies and infrastructure investments. Compared to past models, it will include enhanced consideration of the socio-economic roles of individuals, discrete temporal dynamics, and intra-household dependencies.

Container Houses, Tran Joseph, Anissa Rosbaugh, Sydne Scott, Hanan Yassin

PSU High School Innovation Challenge

We have noticed that there is an increasing number of homeless in our community. People who are homeless have a more difficult time getting jobs, making it harder to for them to get back on their feet.

Homeless is defined as a person without a stable place to live, in risk of being homeless. Homeless under Federal status, is defined as fleeing/attempting to escape domestic violence. Examples of homelessness include couch surfing, sleeping in shelters, and living in a car.

Our proposal was to build homeless shelters out of shipping containers.

Cleaning Up The Cities Of Tomorrow, Miguel Campos, Jack Chen, Alex Gaiovych, Fernando Lauer, Kaleb Swoverland, Anna Velikoretskikh, Jason Yu

PSU High School Innovation Challenge

A huge problem with current modernized and non modernized cities is the amount of trash being thrown away. There is a tremendous amount of recyclable material that is being thrown away with non recyclable waste into massive landfills. Even though we can not physically see the trash that we throw away on the street, it must still go somewhere. Some of that waste is toxic, other waste is made of non decomposable material. These massive waste disposal sites hurt animals, damage soil, and harm the health people living nearby.

In 2007, Americans threw out about 570 billion pounds of municipal …

Smarter Cycling, Cory Koehler, Richard Smith, Sarah St. Clair, Alex Taylor, Aubrey Masten, Konon Phillips

PSU High School Innovation Challenge

With the current trend of urbanization, the populations of major cities such as Portland are steadily increasing. This is causing a variety of problems, both within the city and in rural areas. In regards to the city, the major challenges facing city planners are the need for the expansion of residential neighborhoods and a rise in traffic throughout the city. One way to tackle the issue of an abundance of traffic, is to make alternate means of transportation more appealing to residents. We chose to focus on bicycling because of the bike‐friendly culture already in place in Portland. An increase …

Developing Capacity And A Culturally Appropriate Mindfulness Intervention For Inner City Survivors Of Violence, Stephanie Hartwell, Anna Andrews

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

This project examines the acceptability and cultural relevance of Mindfulness for low-income communities of color most affected by urban/gun violence. The burden of violence extends to classmates, friends, family members, and communities through adverse effects on parenting, quality of life, economic productivity, and social cohesion.

Chronic Physical Health Conditions Among Homeless, Nooshin Nikoo, Marjan Motamed, Mohammad Ali Nikoo, Verena Strehlau, Erika Neilson, Sahoo Saddicha, Michael Krausz

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

ABSTRACT

Objective: Morbidity and mortality among homeless individuals is higher than the general population. This study aims to determine the prevalence of current self-reported, chronic physical health conditions in a large sample of homeless people with sub-samples from shelters and street in British Columbia, Canada. Methods: Cross-sectional survey applying modified version of the ‘National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (NSHAPC)’ questionnaire in multiple sites in Vancouver, Victoria and Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. Sample: Five hundred homeless individuals were surveyed between May and September of 2009. A person was defined as homeless if he/she had a …

An Intersectional Approach To Criminological Theory: Incorporating The Intersectionality Of Race And Gender Into Agnew's General Strain Theory, Wyatt Brown

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

Mainstream criminological theories often fail to incorporate demographic characteristics (which are robust predictors of criminal behavior). Also, many scholars suggest that theories of criminality need to move beyond sex or race or class etc. and utilize these dynamic characteristics in tandem. This theoretical perspective is often referred to as intersectionality. There is some criminological literature on the individual effects of these demographic characteristics as they represent social status as such they interact to effect experience, agency, and power. This analysis discusses how studying the intersectionality of gender and race may change explanations of criminal behavior. Specifically, how knowledge of gender …

Shelby County V. Holder: Nullification, Racial Entitlement, And The Civil Rights Counterrevolution, Albert L. Samuels

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

- 188 - Shelby County v. Holder: Nullification, Racial Entitlement, and the Civil Rights Counterrevolution Albert L. Samuels Southern University The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Shelby County v. Holder (2013) which invalidated the “coverage formula” of Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 bears an eerie resemblance to the spirit of the Civil Rights Cases (1883). In a tone similar to the one exhibited by the Supreme Court in The Civil Rights Cases, Chief Justice Roberts cited progress achieved in electoral participation and office holding by African Americans as evidence that the special protections that the Voting …

The Winding Journey To Justice: An Analysis Of The Voting Rights Act On Disenfranchised Populations And Its Impact In The State Of Georgia, Kristie Roberts-Lewis, Lakerri Mack

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

Today, the American landscape is more racially and ethnically diverse, yet minority populations have been and will likely be disenfranchised in the Post-Section 4 era. Minority voter participation Post-VRA has experienced some gains but achieving equality in terms of access and civic participation may be compromised. Hence, section one of this research will provide an introduction and highlight the conceptual framework that guides it. Section II will first provide a historical analysis of the significance of the VRA and its impact on minority voting rights from 1965 to the present. Section III will outline the methodology and theoretical framework that …

Editors’ Introduction: Exploratory Issues On Section 4 Of The U.S. Voting Rights Act Of 1965, Andrew I.E. Ewoh, Sarita Mccoy Gregory

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

No abstract provided.

Antidiscrimination Versus Nondiscrimination: Competing Perspectives On The Voting Rights Act, David Blanding

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

The Voting Rights Act is perhaps the most successful civil rights law ever. Yet while one set of scholars regards the legislation’s success as evidence that it remains necessary and appropriate, another set of scholars regards that success as a sign that the VRA is obsolete and inappropriate. In this article, I argue that disagreement about the VRA stems from two fundamentally different analytical approaches. The antidiscrimination paradigm focuses on how key indicators of political empowerment have progressed since 1965. The nondiscrimination paradigm focuses on how far those indicators are from what would be observed in the absence of racial …

Redistributing Power In Mississippi: The Reversal Of Section 4 Of The Voting Rights Act, Gloria J. Billingsley, Sylvester Murray

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court declared Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 unconstitutional, essentially defanging preclearance requirements of Section 5 and leaving racial and other previously disenfranchised minorities unprotected. Using social contract theory as the theoretical framework, empirical field study research was used to examine whether the Voting Rights Act has achieved the results in Mississippi that the Supreme Court’s decision to revoke Section 4 has assumed. Data were collected on race-specific voter registration and voting data, measures of vote discrimination, litigations and Mississippi legislative activity regarding voting rights. Findings indicate that the gap between minority and …

Developer Funding Of Affordable And Work Force Housing Through Impact Fees And Land Value Recapture: A Comparison Of American And Spanish Approaches, Julian C. Juergensmeyer

Faculty Publications By Year

This article explores the differences, similarities, comparative advantages and disadvantages between developer funding requirements for Affordable and Work Force Housing in the United States and Spain. Emphasis is placed on impact fees as a revenue source in the United States and value recapture requirements in Spain and in Catalonia in particular. The author concludes that American impact fees provide a broader base for developer funding requirement but that Spanish land value recapture programs offer greater flexibility to planning officials when they are applicable.

Financiación Por Promotores De Vivendas Asequibles Para La Clase Trabajadora Mediante Impuestos Y Recuperación De Plusvalías: Una Comparación De Los Enfoques Estadounidense Y Español, Julian Conrad Juergensmeyer

Faculty Publications By Year

Este artículo explora las diferencias, similitudes, ventajas y desventajas comparativas entre los deberes de financiación de los promotores urbanos de viviendas asequibles y para la clase trabajadora en los Estados Unidos y España. Se hace hincapié en las impact fees como fuente de ingresos en los Estados Unidos y los requisitos de recuperación de plusvalías en España y en Cataluña en particular. El autor concluye que las impact fees norteamericanas proporcionan una base más amplia para los deberes de los promotores de financiación, pero que los programas españoles de recuperación de plusvalías ofrecen una mayor flexibilidad a las autoridades encargadas …

Affordable Housing For Sustainable Cities: A North American Perspective, Detroit Metropolitan Area And Montreal (Quebec), Courtney Lauren Anderson, Maryse Grandbois

Faculty Publications By Year

Housing is an integral part to elevating and maintaining a quality of life to ensure a healthy and productive citizenship. The overwhelming number of citizens in Montreal and the United States who are unable to find housing that is less than 33% of their income stifles that economic progression of individuals and the society in which these individuals live. The ability for cities to dictate their own plans for creating and maintaining affordable housing without mandates from the federal vacillates among the various levels of government with each level having certain positive and negative elements. Although city autonomy can provide …

Methods To Increase Fuel Efficiency In Post-Production Automobiles, Hope J. Corsair

TREC Final Reports

While much focus has been placed upon the identification of completely novel technologies for the future of personal transportation world-wide, the majority of the US and the world at large will be reliant upon petrol for personal transportation well into the future. While EVs, alternative fuels, and hybrid cars have all started to make an impact on the market, with varying amounts of success and consumer accessibility, their relative market share is and is projected to continue to be low. Furthermore, a large segment of the population is not readily able to ever purchase a new car as a consumer …

The Smart Cities Movement And Advancing The International Battle To Eliminate Homelessness - Barcelona As Test Case, John Travis Marshall, Jessica Venegas

Faculty Publications By Year

Barcelona is a leader in the smart cities movement, a movement that aims to help cities deliver services to citizens more efficiently and economically as a way of making the city a more inviting and inclusive place to live and work. As with any city committed to forward-looking economic, social, and urban development initiatives, it is important to consider whether ambitious goals to reinvent the city include an agenda to solve the persistent problems that have faced major cities for decades, including affordable housing and caring for roofless or homeless men and women. This article ties together the challenges Barcelona …

Alleviating Barcelona's Public Housing Shortages Through Historic Properties, Ryan Rowberry

Faculty Publications By Year

Creating public housing space in Barcelona requires rethinking how its historic properties might maintain their cultural and structural vitality while serving critical social and economic needs. Drawing on programs from the United States, Europe, and China, I suggest two strategies that Catalan officials might use to effectively leverage Barcelona's historic properties to reduce its public housing deficit. The first strategy considers successful financial incentives promoting public housing in historic properties within the United States - the Low Income Housing Tax Credit and the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit - and proposes how the Catalan government might find seed money to fund …

Lawyered Up: Local Communities, Courts, And Urban Renewal, Madeline Spolin

Sociology Honors Projects

What is the role of the judicial system in solving issues of urban renewal? I propose that communities use courts as a redress to become part of the decision making process on urban renewal issues, because courts provide procedural issues that are easily open to challenge in federal statute. I analyze public statements made throughout the construction of the Green Line in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, a federally funded urban renewal project. In spite of built in public consultation processes, changes to transit design do not occur when concerns are raised at public consultation meetings; instead, they come from …

Forensically Discovering Simulation Feedback Knowledge From A Campus Energy Information System, Clayton Miller, Arno Schlueter

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Simulation model calibration has been long identified as a key means of reconciling the consumption and efficiency characteristics of buildings. A key step in this process is the creation of the actual diversity factor profiles for occupancy and various energy end uses such as lighting, plug-loads, and HVAC. Creation of these model inputs is conventionally a tedious process of site surveys, interviews or temporary sensor installation. Sometimes measured energy data can be used to create these schedules, however there are many challenges, especially when the sensor network available is large or unorganized. This paper describes a process applying a series …

Towards A Healthy Neighborhood: Recommendations For Health Assessments Of Future Development In Upham’S Corner, Luc Figueiredo Miller

Honors College Theses

Historic growth in Boston, Massachusetts, belies dramatic gaps in socio-economic status among residents and corresponding increases in health disparities between low income and more affluent Boston neighborhoods. The Fairmount/Indigo Planning Initiative Corridor Plan is a renewed investment in Boston’s poorest communities that may potentially tackle these inequities. The plan aims to link neighborhoods that are cut off from downtown to the heart of the city. Such investment in rapid transit may combat the spatial isolation found to negatively affect health outcomes but similar transportation upgrades in other American cities have been associated with gentrification and displacement (Pollack et al, 2010). …

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 …

Engaging-Up: Compromised Spaces And Potential Partners, Jennifer Necole Webb

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The anthropology of public policy critically examines policy and its processes and the myriad ways in which power is exercised. To explore these power dynamics, anthropologists studying policy often study up, or study through a particular policy field. This entails the risky work of studying powerful people, whose ability to retaliate against the researcher and others create methodological and ethical dilemmas and contradictions, as well as potentially harmful consequences. Politicians, bureaucrats, employees of powerful non-profits, and, in the public-private neoliberal reality, even the head decision makers within corporations are all prospective research participants--an intimidating prospect for most anthropologists. In contrast, …

Webinar: A Comprehensive Evaluation Of Protected Cycling Facilities: Lessons From Five Cities, Christopher Monsere

TREC Webinar Series

As cities move to increase levels of bicycling for transportation, many practitioners and advocates have promoted the use of protected bike lanes (also known as “cycle tracks” or “protected bikeways”) as an important component in providing high-quality urban infrastructure for cyclists. These on-street lanes provide more space and physical separation between the bike lane and motor vehicle lane compared with traditional striped bike lanes. However, few U.S. cities have direct experiences with their design and operations, in part because of the limited design guidance provided in the past. There is limited research from North America on protected bike lanes, but …

Oregon Highway Cost Allocation Study: Carbon Tax Issue Paper, Portland State University. College Of Urban And Public Affairs. Northwest Economic Research Center

Northwest Economic Research Center Publications and Reports

The basic insight behind carbon pricing is not new, and is based in mainstream economic theory. If market interactions are leading to the overuse of resources outside of the market, imposing a price on the overused resource will bring it into the market and increase efficiency. Currently, the negative impacts associated with the release of carbon through fossil fuel combustion is not incorporated into the market. By imposing a price on carbon, fossil fuel consumers are incentivized to reduce their fuel usage. This reduction in fuel demand is not necessarily associated with lower economic output. In fact, depending on the …

Empirical Evaluation Of Transit Signal Priority Through Fusion Of Heterogeneous Transit And Traffic Signal Data And Novel Performance Measures, Wei Feng

PSU Transportation Seminars

Transit signal priority (TSP) is designed to reduce delay for transit vehicles through signalized intersections. For an existing TSP system, it is important to assess how timely and effective TSP phases are granted to buses that request priority. It is also necessary to evaluate the time savings and delays for buses and other vehicles as a result of TSP phases. However, due to the lack of disaggregated and integrated transit, traffic and signal phase data, previous studies have not investigated the TSP performance at the phase level. This study collects and integrates three archived databases: bus automatic vehicle location (AVL) …

Perspectives On Abandoned Houses In A Time Of Dystopia, Kermit J. Lind

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article describes various perspectives on abandoned houses in urban neighborhoods and the reactions from those perspectives. It notes how conflicting reactions perpetuate the crisis of blight for individual residents and their communities. It argues that real solutions for management of abandonment must be based in local communities and tailored to local conditions. Priority must be placed on consistent maintenance in compliance with local housing and neighborhood health, safety and environmental codes. Housing preservation, rehabilitation, reutilization programs will not succeed without improved and sustained maintenance. Localities will need to take the lead in remodeling residential maintenance using new strategies, methods …

Staying Connected: Keeping Justice-Involved Youth “Close To Home” In New York City, Jeffrey A. Butts, Laura Negredo, Evan Elkin

Publications and Research

When justice-involved youth are supervised by local agencies and placed with locally operated programs rather than being sent away to state facilities, they are better able to maintain community ties. They stay connected with their families, and they are more likely to remain in local schools. Policy reforms that localize the justice system are often called “realignment.” New York’s “Close to Home” (or C2H) initiative is a prominent example of youth justice realignment. Launched in 2012, it is the latest chapter in a decade-long commitment by New York State and New York City to improve the justice system for young …