Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Residential Foreclosures' Impact On Nearby Single-Family Residential Properties;A New Approach To The Spatial And Temporal Dimensions, Timothy F. Kobie

ETD Archive

This dissertation analyzes the impact that foreclosures have on neighboring property values. It focuses on foreclosures' impact based upon face blocks, not straight-line distances and it also incorporates time and the use of spatial statistics. Findings from this study show that properties in the foreclosure process longer have a greater negative impact on nearby property values than properties with more recent foreclosure filings. The first negative impact is not seen until a year after the filing. Therefore, policy responses need to be as swift as possible in preventing any negative impact on neighboring property values and should not focus on …

The Influence Of Organizational Culture On Sustainable Competitive Advantage Of Small And Medium Sized Establishments, Best Business Practices For Achieving World-Class Status, The Link Between Business & Region, Wael H. Ramadan

ETD Archive

This is a three-essay dissertation that examines the effects of objective aspects of business organizational culture and the region on objective measures of the outcomes of sustainable competitive advantage. The first essay examines the association of objective aspects of business organizational culture on objective measures of sustainable competitive advantage. The first essay recommends that firms increase the number of training hours devoted annually to each employee and increase the percentage of production employees participating in empowered work teams. The second essay describes a conceptual model and provides recommendations for best business practices for manufacturing firms that realize the ultimate ability …

Who Cares About School Quality?; The Role Of School Quality In Household Preference, School District Choice, And Willingness To Pay, Youngme Seo

ETD Archive

School quality is considered a key factor affecting homebuyers' location choices and willingness to pay. Previously, many studies found that school quality plays a critical role in determining housing prices and location choice. School quality is positively capitalized into housing prices. Households are willing to pay for school quality, in particular, school outcomes such as test scores and performance index. However, there is a view that willingness to pay for school quality is different based on household demographics and socioeconomic status (SES). The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate heterogeneous preference for school quality, school district choice, and willingness …

A Benefit/Cost Analysis Of Three Student Enrollment Behaviors At A Community College;Dropout, Transfer And Completion Of An Associate's Degree/Certificate, G. Robert Stuart

ETD Archive

This dissertation seeks to increase our understanding of the factors that lead to student success at community colleges. Using data on a cohort of students enrolled at a two-year college, this dissertation presents the results of a longitudinal analysis. Citing the results of several persistence studies as well as the literature on sub-baccalaureate job markets, this dissertation constructs a hybrid model of student persistence. This model combines Tinto's theory of student dropout behavior with human capital theory to derive a benefit/cost model of student enrollment behavior. Several hypotheses are developed regarding the relationship between various benefits and costs and students' …

Residential Property Tax Abatement;Testing A Model Of Neighborhood Impact, Doreen Swetkis

ETD Archive

Using a quasi-experimental research design, this study examines the relationship between residential property tax abatement for new construction, and urban neighborhoods in four Ohio cities. Neighborhoods were defined as census tract. The purpose of this research is to determine if there is a statistically significant relationship at p < .05 between residential property tax abatement programs for new construction and several different measures of neighborhood outcomes. The neighborhood outcome measures can be grouped under the broad concepts of increased private investment, blight removal, decreased criminal activity, and property tax equity. Subsequent questions investigated are the direction of these relationships and the existence of a threshold level at which point relationships become significant. The utilization of a comparable comparison group addresses the counterfactual scenario. Independence of samples tests and multivariate cubic regression are employed to answer the research questions. Results indicate that there are no discernable effects between residential property tax abatement and the indicators of neighborhood change as defined in the study. Second, there appears to be no threshold at which the number of tax abated residential units becomes significantly associated with the indicators of neighborhood change. Third, there were no significant differences on the indicators of neighborhood change between subject and comparison groups. In essence, there are no effects from residential tax abatement policy seen at the neighborhood level

Linking Highway Improvements To Changes In Land Use With Quasi-Experimental Research Design: A Better Forecasting Tool For Transportation Decision-Making, R. G. Funderburg, Hilary Nixon, M. G. Boarnet

Faculty Publications, Urban and Regional Planning

An important issue for future improvement and extensions of highways will be the ability of projects to sustain challenges to Environmental Impact Statements based upon forecasts of regional growth. A legal precedent for such challenges was established in 1997 when a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the EIS for a proposed Illinois toll road was deficient because the growth projections were the same in the build and no-build scenarios. This paper incorporates popular regional growth forecasting models into a quasi-experimental research design that directly relates new highway investments in three California counties to changes in population and employment location, …

Responding To Foreclosures In Cuyahoga County: Program Year Three Evaluation Report, March 1, 2008 Through February 28, 2009, Kathryn W. Hexter, Molly Schnoke

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

Cuyahoga County, Ohio is at the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis. With close to 13,000 foreclosure filings a year since 2005, more than 10,000 vacant and derelict structures and thousands of homeowners losing their homes, the effects of the crisis will be long lasting and far reaching. In Ohio, County courts, agencies and departments have some level of authority and responsibility for virtually every step of the foreclosure process. So it is not surprising that the fifteen mayors of the First Suburbs Consortium2 turned to Cuyahoga County to help them address this crisis. In response, in August 2005, the Cuyahoga …

Portland Public Schools Enrollment Forecasts, 2008-09, Based On October 2007 Enrollments, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Charles Rynerson, Vivian Siu, Risa Proehl, Richard Lycan, George C. Hough Jr.

School District Enrollment Forecast Reports

The Enrollment Forecasts in this report were prepared in Spring 2008, based on historic enrollment data from Fall 2007 and previous years. However, the entire report was not ready for publication until after the Fall 2008 enrollment data became available. This preface briefly addresses the district-wide trends observed in Fall 2008 and evaluates the forecasts in the short term. The next report will include more analysis of enrollment trends with respect to area demographics and trends within sub-areas such as high school clusters. In Fall 2008, Portland Public Schools (PPS) enrolled 45,024 students in grades K-12, only 59 fewer students …

Clinton Street Max Visioning, Greg Barlow, Allen David, Hannah Dondy-Kaplan, Tammi Hawkins, Emily Rice, Kellen Smith, Ethan Berleman, Alicia Castro, Kathleen Critchlow, Brett Luttrell, Michael Noonchester

Urban Design Workshop

This report documents the initial analysis and visioning process performed in the area surrounding the Clinton Street Station, which is nestled between Hosford-Abernethy and Brooklyn neighborhoods and the Central Eastside Industrial District.

This project focuses on the future of the Clinton Street Station and how its development will impact the surrounding area over the next 50 years. This task involved acknowledging and balancing the current needs of the various stakeholders. The purpose of this report is to act as a tool for the Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood Association (HAND) to more adequately understand the opportunities and constraints that the future station area …

Spatial Patterns Of Air Toxins In The Region, Linda Acha George, Vivek Shandas

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This Atlas draws on the Portland Air Toxics Assessment (PATA) study to explore the regional variation of air quality. The PATA study presents an extraordinary opportunity to think about how the creation of new information can help us better plan our cities, but it also challenges us to think about the impacts of the choices we make.

The Landscape: Wine Country, Elizabeth Mylott

Metroscape

Provides a brief overview of the history of wineries and winemaking in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, including its history, economic impact and projected growth.

Indicators Of The Metroscape: Stocks, Elizabeth Mylott

Metroscape

A brief overview of stock prices in the Portland Metropolitan Area in the 2007-2008 time period.

A Journey To Tolerance: Overcoming The Politics Of Hate, Leanne Claire Serbulo

Institute of Metropolitan Studies Publications

The article examines the history of race relations in Oregon and Portland, as well as the growth of hate groups. It also discusses anti-gay and anti-abortion violence and rhetoric, and what opponents of hate groups did to stem the growth of extremism in Portland. The author argues that the institutional conditions that gave rise to extremism in the 1980s need to be addressed because we are still susceptible to homegrown hate.

Sustainability Efforts At South Dakota State University, Joshua A. Schuttloffel

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

South Dakota State University wants to develop a sustainable environment. However, the University has, thus far, refused to make a formal commitment to sustainability. This paper examines how the ecology, communication networks, politic decisions, and issue networks of the University have influenced the University administration to have a goal towards sustainability yet refuse formal commitments to improving the sustainability of the University. Interviews with individuals intimately involved with issues of sustainability at the University are used to present a case study of events from the time sustainability became a goal of University to current. Public administration theory is used to …

Bailout Strategists: Thinking Through Philanthropy In A Time Of Troubles, Vivek Shandas, Marjory Hamman, Mark Holloway

Institute of Metropolitan Studies Publications

As the global economy spirals into the unknown, fiscal certainty remains hard to come by in the region, especially when it comes to issues of social justice and support for the underprivileged. It’s hard to hear marginalized communities over the din of big banks and corporate CEOs. Increasingly, philanthropic organizations are being relied upon to fill the gap between having and needing, but can we expect philanthropy to thrive given predictions of darkening financial gloom? Vivek Shandas recently sat down with the principals from two local foundations outside the mainstream to learn about their strategies for success. Marjory Hamman is …

From Urban Frontier To Metropolitan Region: Oregon's Cities From 1870 To 2008, Carl Abbott

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

An essay is presented which compares the development of Portland, Oregon, to the growth of other cities in the state. Particular focus is given to its economic stability and political influence. The changing relationship with Oregon's population, economics and cultural relations in the different parts of the state is examined. In addition, the urban-systems approach shows three equal periods in the state's development with close-in neighbors in modern economic geography.

Conservation Design In Chester County, Pennsylvania: Assessing Preservation Outcomes, Dorothy Ives-Dewey, Daniel Fitz-Patrick

Geography & Planning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Hiv And Aids Stigma And Discrimination In China: Results From A National Survey, Karen Hardee, Tim Manchester, Victor Yuan, Benjamin Y. Clark, Amy Qi, Sarah Bradley, Zoe Shen

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

Because stigmatizing and discriminatory attitudes and tendencies are largely prevalent in China, national and local mass media interventions have an important role to play in making Chinese citizens aware of the debilitating effects of stigma and discrimination and in reinforcing information on HIV/AIDS to reduce baseless fears of transmission.

[Introduction To] Sprawl, Justice, And Citizenship : The Civic Costs Of The American Way Of Life, Thad Williamson

Bookshelf

Must the strip mall and the eight-lane highway define 21st century American life? That is a central question posed by critics of suburban and exurban living in America. Yet despite the ubiquity of the critique, it never sticks--Americans by the scores of millions have willingly moved into sprawling developments over the past few decades. Americans find many of the more substantial criticisms of sprawl easy to ignore because they often come across as snobbish in tone. Yet as Thad Williamson explains, sprawl does create real, measurable social problems. Williamson's work is unique in two important ways. First, while he highlights …

No Vacancy, Rebecca Dann, Beth Somerfield, Emily Rice, Briana Meier

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Vacant lots and buildings, whether in stages of redevelopment or decline, are spaces in flux. Left unused, these empty spaces can pose difficult challenges for their owners and surrounding neighborhoods; however, the uncertain futures of vacant sites also present unique opportunities for a variety of temporary uses. In partnership with the Central Eastside Industrial Council, LocusLab is exploring the potential to enliven the Central Eastside Industrial District by activating vacant spaces with temporary activities and developments. We've worked to: uncover potential benefits of temporary use; find ways to overcome barriers faced by temporary projects; initiate a conversation between property owners, …

Cully Main Street: A Plan For Community-Serving Improvements, Daniel Costantino, Lani Edghill, Mary-Rain O'Meara, Jason Wallace

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Cully Main Street is defined by Metro's Region 2040 Plan and includes parts of NE Cully Blvd and NE Killingsworth St. Our mission is to provide the Cully community with a plan to encourage the location of more and better neighborhood businesses and services within a short distance of their homes and in a walkable and bikeable environment. Our approach is grounded in the belief that economic development at the local level should benefit the current community, by maintaining and promoting neighborhood livability and safety improvements. The major product of this project will be a set of zoning, infrastructure, …

The Beacon Of Hope/University Of New Orleans Community Recovery Project: 2009, Department Of Planning And Urban Studies, University Of New Orleans

Planning and Urban Studies Reports and Presentations

An LDRF grant was awarded to develop a pilot surveying and map­ping program in Gentilly. Without this generous grant, the current survey­ing and mapping project that is continuing to spread throughout Gentilly would not have been possible. This grant has allowed the Beacon of Hope to partner with The Univer­sity of New Orleans to create the Beacon of Hope/University of New Orleans Community Recovery Project (BUCRP) to create a more systematic approach to creating an overall surveying and mapping process that could be applied more broadly across the City of New Orleans.

Accessri, Sean Almonte, Mark Anders, Kenneth Comia, Matthew Coogan, Jeff Gerlach, Aileen Gorsuch, Michael Porto, Mary Rocco, James Shaw, Michael Wallin, Laxmi Ramasubramanian

Publications and Research

AccessRI, a studio team comprised of ten graduate students in the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning at Hunter College, was commissioned by New York State Senator José M. Serrano to identify and provide strategies to address residents’ concerns regarding the quality of life on Roosevelt Island. Roosevelt Island, located between Manhattan and Queens in the East River, is an exceptional place within the varied fabric of New York City. The island provides its residents with an existence apart from the typical hassles associated with urban life, yet its proximity to the rest of the city allows residents to partake …

Washington Park Access & Circulation Plan, Ray Delahanty, Cathy Cibor, Mallory Atkinson, Brendon Haggerty, Talia Jacobson, David Amiton

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Portland's Washington Park is home to many of the region's most popular educational, recreational, and tourist attractions. As demand for these attractions continues to grow, the quality of transportation services offered at the park increasingly contribute - in ways both positive and negative - to the quality of the overall user experience. Recognizing the interplay between transportation and user experience, New Leaf Planning has worked closely with its client, the newly formed Washington Park Alliance, to identify transportation challenges and opportunities for improvement within Washington Park. This partnership will culminate in a Washington Park Access & Circulation Plan, which will …

Foodability, Kim Armstrong, April Chastain, Stephanie Vanrheen, Steve White, Elizabeth Chapin, Julia Person

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Portland Plan will consider current physical and socioeconomic conditions and trends and help establish shared visions, goals, and policies to guide the efforts of BPS and other city agencies over the next 20 years. BPS is interested in addressing food access issues in the Portland Plan, but does not have a defined, stakeholder-supported vision for food access. The Foodabilty project is developing a vision, goals, and strategy recommendations for food access in Portland that can be used to ground and direct future actions by the City and other organizations. It is supported by a set of maps displaying the …

Humboldt Community Action Plan, Sara Bedinghaus, Nikolai Ursin, Morgan Masterman, Mark Gilbert, Lizzy Warren

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Mosaic is working to develop an action plan that will enable the community to better address their concerns. The Humboldt neighborhood is one of the most diverse and rapidly changing areas in the Portland area, constantly challenging the neighborhood association's efforts to reach a diverse, representative population of residents. Through concerted outreach, interviews, and workshops Mosaic Planning has identified a series of goals the neighborhood hopes to one day realize. By thoroughly researching methods to achieve these goals, the group will provide a series of action items to the community, which can be implemented by residents. This plan will help …

Neighborhood Climate Action Planning Handbook, Hannah Dondy-Kaplan, Erica Timm, Beth Cohen, Dyami Valentine, Mariah Vanzerr, Devin Moller

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The City of Portland and Multnomah County are developing new plans and policies to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals of 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. To meet these new steep reduction targets, actions will be needed at every level of society. While neighborhoods have historically received little attention as a means of addressing climate change, they are ideally suited to bring people together to bridge the gap between individual actions and higher level government policies. To help neighborhoods develop strategies and actions to address climate change, C-Change Consultants worked with the Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Coalition to create a Neighborhood …

Private Sector Development In Xinjiang, China: A Comparison Between Uyghur And Han, Tyler Harlan

Sociology Faculty Works

Private sector development has been sluggish in China's west, where ethnic minorities make up a sizeable part of the population. In the northwest Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the state maintains a steady presence in the small but growing private sector, largely populated by Han-owned firms and entrepreneurs. The Uyghurs, one of fourteen recognised ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, primarily reside in the poorer agricultural south where the private sector has made few inroads. Not surprisingly, Uyghurs have little presence in the private sector beyond informal trade. This has considerable implications for ethnic relations in a region already threatened by rising Uyghur-Han …

Weaving Color Lines: Race, Ethnicity, And The Work Of Leadership In Social Change Organizations, Sonia Ospina, Celina Su

Publications and Research

For social change organizations working to address intractable social problems throughout the USA, tackling race may not only be unavoidable; it may represent a way to fully engage stakeholders in social change work. We argue that illuminating the relationship between race and leadership can advance our under- standing of how social change leadership happens in practice. We build upon scholarship that emphasizes the ways in which seemingly essentialist, intractable racial categories are actually mutable, and the simultaneous emergence of academic research calling attention to the constructed and collective dimensions of leadership. Using a constructionist lens to analyze narratives from 22 …

Introduction, Justin O'Connor, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The cultural and creative industries have become increasingly prominent in many policy agendas in recent years. Not only have governments identified the growing consumer potential for cultural/creative industry products in the home market, they have also seen the creative industry agenda as central to the growth of external markets. This agenda stresses creativity, innovation, small business growth, and access to global markets—all central to a wider agenda of moving from cheap manufacture towards high value-added products and services. The increasing importance of cultural and creative industries in national and city policy agendas is evident in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South …