Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

A Qualitative Exploration Of Social Capital And Its Influence On Baccalaureate Degree Completion Of First-Generation African American Men At The University Of Louisville., Joseph Marshall Goodman Iii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation was designed to examine influences which various forms of social capital have on post-secondary degree attainment of first-generation individuals who self-identify as African American men. Additionally, the sample population consisted of Black men who successfully matriculated to earn baccalaureate credentials across differing academic disciplines at a public historically White institution located in the mid-south region of the United States. The research data was extracted from one-on-one, semi-structured interviews using authentic dialogue through open-ended questions. Theoretical paradigms of the study involved a phenomenological approach and an ontological philosophical assumption, integrated with critical theory, critical race theory and social …

Impervious Surfaces From High Resolution Aerial Imagery: Cities In Fresno County, Yushin Ahn, Richard Poythress

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study investigates impervious surfaces — areas covered by materials with restricted water permeability, such as pavement, sidewalks, and parking lots—due to their crucial role in influencing water dynamics within urban landscapes. The impermeability of these surfaces disrupts natural water absorption processes, resulting in adverse environmental consequences such as increased flooding, erosion, and water pollution. The research employs impervious surface analysis, a method involving the mapping and analysis of these surfaces within specified study areas, including cities, counties, and census tracts. Remote sensing techniques, specifically satellites and aerial imagery, are commonly utilized for the identification and classification of impervious surfaces. …

Does California High-Speed Rail Promote Accessibility For Station Cities?: Case Study Of Fresno And Merced, Chih-Hao Wang, Na Chen

Mineta Transportation Institute

California High-Speed Rail (CHSR) will largely change transportation cost across the state after it starts operating. Past studies show that only Fresno and Merced among station cities in the Central Valley would attract more future activities with the CHSR. The establishment of active CHSR also implies a new daily living sphere for all the station cities, and, therefore, accessibility to work and residential amenities should be reviewed to inform planners of future land-use and transportation developments. A research framework has been developed better to understand the impact of CHSR on job and amenity accessibility by driving, transit, and walking in …

Shifting Gears: Toward A New Way Of Thinking About Transportation, Susan Handy

PSU Transportation Seminars

The transportation system in the U.S. has been shaped by a core set of ideas that are embedded in professional practice. These ideas – freedom, speed, mobility, vehicles, capacity, hierarchy, separation, control, and technology – have produced a system in which most people are dependent on driving, with all the negative consequences that entails. Shifting to a system that offers people choices about their daily travel requires a shift in thinking on the part of the transportation profession. In this talk, I take a critical look at the way of thinking that, for the last century, has shaped our transportation …

Webinar: Marginalized Populations’ Access To Transit, Marisa Zapata

TREC Webinar Series

How do people with intersecting marginal identities experience social exclusion as they travel via mass transit? To answer this question, PSU researchers employed a qualitative method less common in transportation studies: photovoice. Researchers asked participants to describe the factors that shape their travel behavior and provide photographic data of their experiences. Then, they conducted in-depth video interviews to gain further depth and clarity regarding the visual data. The findings from this study can help transit system designers better understand how experiences of harassment and discrimination across the entire users’ journey affects the riders’ decisions about whether and when to take …

Contemporary Voter Suppression: Impact On The 2020 General Election, Tiffany Henley, Samuel Brown, Norou Diawara, Md Iqbal Hossain, Gregory Rivera

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

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Health And Healthcare: Designing For The Social Determinants Of Health And Blue Zones In North Nashville, Rebecca Tonguis, Honor Thomas, Olivia Hobbs

[Archive] Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Owned by North Nashville’s First Community Church, a now empty site in the Osage-North Fisk neighborhood of North Nashville has been identified as a potential site for a new location of The Store, in addition to a community-centric architectural development based on the social determinants of health and informed by the principles behind Blue Zones, the locations with the highest lifespans in the world. Opened by Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley, The Store is a free grocery store that “allow[s] people to shop for their basic needs in a way that protects dignity and fosters hope”, for which North Nashville …

Political Values, Democracy, And The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, George K. Kieh

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Limits Of Free Speech And Election Misinformation: A Case Study Of 2020, Scott Hofer

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

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Webinar: Assessing Cool Corridor Heat Resilience Strategies For Human-Scale Transportation, Ladd Keith, Kristina Currans

TREC Webinar Series

Heat is the number one weather-related killer in the United States, and the implications of heat impacts range from individual transportation users, to emergency management services, and entire transportation networks and systems. In this presentation, we'll cover key concepts for urban planning and heat resilience, including heat mitigation and management strategies. Additionally, we will discuss the original NITC-sponsored data collection evaluating one such cool corridor strategy--PlusTI cool pavement rejuvenator--and the associated challenges of researching impacts of strategies on human-comfort in natural and built environments.

Measurement Of Regional Electric Vehicle Adoption Using Multiagent Deep Reinforcement Learning, Seung Jun Choi, Junfeng Jiao

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This study explores the socioeconomic disparities observed in the early adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the United States. A multiagent deep reinforcement learning-based policy simulator was developed to address the disparities. The model, tested using data from Austin, Texas, indicates that neighborhoods with higher incomes and a predominantly White demographic are leading in EV adoption. To help low-income communities keep pace, we introduced tiered subsidies and incrementally increased their amounts. In our environment, with the reward and policy design implemented, the adoption gap began to narrow when the incentive was equivalent to an increase in promotion from 20% to …

Examining Causes And Outcomes Of Migration Patterns Out Of Southeast Michigan, Alex B. Hill, Rayman Mohamed, Allan Yang

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

This report describes a survey of U-Haul patrons regarding their experiences utilizing U-Haul to move out of the Southeast Michigan region.

Executive Summary

In the latest U-Haul Growth Index, the state of Michigan moved from ranking 48 out of 50 states up to 46. This represents a relatively small change that doesn’t relate to the documented population loss in the state.

The city of Detroit and Michigan are both at critical crossroads. Population declines are pushing local officials to come up with new and unique programs to attract new residents, new business investment, and new tax revenue.

The reasons that …

Containerization Of Seafarers In The International Shipping Industry: Contemporary Seamanship, Maritime Social Infrastructures, And Mobility Politics Of Global Logistics, Liang Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation discusses the mobility politics of container shipping and argues that technological development, political-economic order, and social infrastructure co-produce one another. Containerization, the use of standardized containers to carry cargo across modes of transportation that is said to have revolutionized and globalized international trade since the late 1950s, has served to expand and extend the power of international coalitions of states and corporations to control the movements of commodities (shipments) and labor (seafarers). The advent and development of containerization was driven by a sociotechnical imaginary and international social contract of seamless shipping and cargo flows. In practice, this liberal, …

Beneath I-280: Excavating A Neighborhood Lost To San José Freeways, Leila Ullmann, Gordon Douglas

Mineta Transportation Institute

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, thousands of people in San José, California were displaced from their homes as the state used eminent domain to purchase land and uproot neighborhoods for the construction of Interstate freeways. This report presents a multifaceted research and public knowledge effort that uncovers some of the communities buried beneath these freeways, in the area where I-280 and CA-87 meet today near downtown San José. The project builds primarily from previously unprocessed California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) archival documents, which this project studies for the first time. The records are rich in detail about valuation and sale …

Forests Are Chill: The Interplay Between Thermal Comfort And Mental Wellbeing, Loïc Gillerot, Kevin Rozario, Pieter De Frenne, Rachel Oh, Quentin Ponette, Aletta Bonn, Winston T. L. Chow, Douglas Godbold, Matthias Steinparzaer, Daniela Haluza, Dries Landuyt, Bart Muys, Kris Verheyen

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

As global warming and urbanisation intensify unabated, a growing share of the human population is exposed to dangerous heat levels. Trees and forests can effectively mitigate such heat alongside numerous health co-benefits like improved mental wellbeing. Yet, which forest types are objectively and subjectively coolest to humans, and how thermal and mental wellbeing interact, remain understudied. We surveyed 223 participants in peri-urban forests with varying biodiversity levels in Austria, Belgium and Germany. Using microclimate sensors, questionnaires and saliva cortisol measures, we monitored intra-individual changes in thermal and mental states from non-forest baseline to forest conditions. Forests reduced daytime modified Physiologically …

Research Space At Public R1 Universities In The Mountain West, 2021, Zachary Billot, Jesse Fager-Larsen, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet reports data on research space square footage for public R1 universities in five Mountain West States: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. This fact sheet includes national rankings of public R1 universities in the Mountain West states based on total square footage and reports square footage for individual research disciplines for the two public R1 universities in Nevada: the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR).

Aligning Tobacco Free Living Agendas In A Community Health Improvement Plan: A Case Study On Democratic Participation And Economic Interests In U.S. Health Policy Development, David B. Tataw

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

This paper addresses the gap in studies which use democratic policy making frameworks to analyze health policy development in Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs). The study describes and analyzes three streams of the tobacco free living policy cycle in a Community Health Improvement Plan implemented in a Mid-Western Region of the United States from 2016 to 2020. The roles of public health interest, economic interests, and democratic participatory rights in Tobacco free health policy making are assessed. The policy making process is assessed within an integrated framework of analysis that weaves pluralist, power elite, critical democratic theories, and participatory governance …

Policy Entrepreneurs And The Advocacy For Vaccination During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Julius A. Nukpezah, Latara M. Arterberry

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

The article draws on Kingdon's Multiple Streams Framework to examine the policy entrepreneurs that emerged, the windows of opportunity they identified, and the strategies they used to advocate for mass vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article indicates that politicians, public figures, and governmental and non-governmental organizations played the role of policy entrepreneurs. The article asserts that the problems of high morbidity, mortality, and economic challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic have social equity implications. Although COVID-19 vaccines are available, there is low political support for vaccination. The article draws attention to the problems, politics, and challenges of asserting COVID-19 …

Systemic Racism And Covid-19: Vulnerabilities With The U.S. Social Safety Net For Immigrants And People Of Color, Adam M. Butz, Jason E. Kehrberg

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

America has a mythologized reputation as an accommodative “melting pot” nation that welcomes individuals from all races and countries seeking improved quality of life and reduced material hardship. However, our U.S. social welfare system is more broadly characterized as underdeveloped, restrictive, and exclusionary, especially toward immigrants and people of color. Public health benefits (e.g., Medicaid), food assistance programs (e.g., SNAP), rental assistance (e.g., HCV/Section 8), and cash assistance (e.g., TANF) are oftentimes restricted for immigrants and racial minorities, making them more vulnerable to material hardship and more exposed to pandemic conditions under COVID-19. Moreover, these welfare restrictions are oftentimes rooted …

Gentrification And Nonprofit Activities For Neighborhood Development In Baltimore, Maryland And Houston, Texas, Jesseca E. Lightbourne, Aminata Sillah, Julius A. Nukpezah

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

This study examines the role of community-based nonprofit organizations in neighborhood revitalization/community development and their impact on the level of housing services. The neighborhoods in the study represent certain universalities of gentrification in older communities, and therefore selected for the study. By going beyond the profitability of gentrification, this study examines the social costs associated with gentrification through the lens of nonprofit organizations using quantitative data from Baltimore, Maryland and Houston, Texas. Taking into account nonprofit organizations as important actors in the gentrification field, this study contributes to the understanding of the social cost of gentrification and how community-based nonprofit …

From Gentrification, Systematic Racism, Policy Entrepreneurs To The Myth Of Expertise In Academia And Community Health Improvement, Andrew Ewoh

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

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Jpmsp Introductory Pages, Andrew Ewoh

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

None

Jpmsp Cover Page, Andrew Ewoh

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

None

Re-Evaluating The Land Use Impacts Of Utility-Scale Solar Energy Development In Virginia, Damian Pitt, Aaron R. Berryhill, Jennifer M. Ciminelli

L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs Publications

Utility-scale solar energy is the fastest-growing source of energy in the United States, and it provides many benefits related to climate change mitigation, pollution reduction, and tax revenue for the impacted localities. However, the rapid expansion of this technology raises some concerns, including the possible loss of farmland, forest land, and sensitive ecosystems, as well as potential environmental justice impacts from concentrating these facilities in low-income and/or minority communities.

In Virginia, 94 utility-scale solar facilities – defined as systems with a generating capacity of 5 megawatts (MW) AC or greater – have been built since December 2016. Hundreds more projects, …

Assessing The Benefits Of Distributed Solar In Virginia: 2024 Update And Status Report, Damian Pitt, Dagny Oakley

Institute for Sustainable Energy and Environment Publications and Presentations

Distributed solar energy is growing rapidly in Virginia, and prices are dropping. If these trends continue, the state has the potential to meet a significant percentage of its electricity needs via distributed solar, supporting thousands of jobs and achieving substantial economic benefits in the process. However, reaching these targets will require the continuation of a positive policy and regulatory environment. This includes the removal of several remaining policy barriers, particularly related to shared / community solar, and avoiding some of the negative policy changes that have slowed distributed solar in other states.

This report is an update to a VCU …

What Drives Housing Choices Of Refugees And Immigrants?, Diane Mitschke, Anne Nordberg, Stephen Mattingly, Katherine Kitchens, Yasmin Al-Zubi, Farah Naz

TREC Project Briefs

When newcomers to the US initially settle, if their chosen location does not meet their expectations or needs, that often propels them to relocate. To determine what helps drive those transition decisions, the researchers interviewed people if they fulfilled one of these requirements:

• They were members of the Dallas County community who were planning to move in the next five years.

• They had recently (within the past five years) moved from their initial residence following their arrival in Dallas County.
• They also had to be immigrants to or refugees in the US who were at least eighteen years old. Out …

An Additive Model Of Engagement: Considering The Role Of Front-End Criminal Justice Agencies In Treatment Provisions [Interim Report: Year Two], Kelsey S. Henderson, Christopher Campbell, Brian Renauer

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report provides the initial findings of Year 2 of a multi year project to understand the effects of successive drug policy efforts in Oregon, with special focus given to Ballot Measure 110 (M110). This report uses criminal justice metrics (e.g., arrests and drug court participation) and treatment resource information (e.g., number of individuals served through M110 monies) to better understand how individuals are connecting with services in Oregon, and the role that the criminal justice system can play as one component of a larger network.

Related Reports:

Key Points in Preparation for Oregon Legislative Session (2024): Examining the Multifaceted …

Alternative Shelter Evaluation Report, Jacen Greene, Todd Ferry, Emily Leickly, Franklin H. Spurbeck

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

This report summarizes research by Portland State University’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative for the Joint Office of Homeless Services on the cost, participant experiences, and client outcomes in village-style and motel shelters as compared to each other and to traditional, congregate shelters.

Suburban Bay Area City Approaches To Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion (Dei), Arianna Bush

Master's Projects

The ultimate goal of government is to serve the community for the greater good. Creating an inclusive and representative environment for those working in government and for the population they serve will improve many aspects of public service. In recent decades, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) have been increasingly prioritized as America has become increasingly diverse. However, this effort intensified in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests. “Three years after Floyd's death and the movement hit the streets, 74% of Black executives said they saw positive change in hiring, retention, and …

The Affordable Housing Crisis In New York City, Mexican Studies Institute Cuny, Hashim Abdul

Publications and Research

This paper examines the current housing crisis in The Bronx that worsened during and after the COVID pandemic. It examines social and economic factors that contribute to low home ownership and housing instability. Through a comparison with European models, the author concludes that solutions to alleviate the crisis may include rental price caps, increased Airbnb regulations and government “subsidization instead of profitability”.