Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

The Role Of Bus Stop Features In Facilitating Accessibility, Keith Bartholomew, Ja Young Kim, Divya Chandrasekhar, Reid Ewing, Arlie Adkins, Samuel Jensen

TREC Final Reports

Although transit decision-makers and riders generally favor improving bus stops by adding shelters, benches, and similar features, it is unclear the impact such features have on transit demand and there has been little research that measures these impacts. This study examines the link between stop improvements and changes in stop-level boardings on scheduled-service buses and in ADA paratransit demand in the Salt Lake City, UT, metropolitan area between 2014 and 2017. The study also investigates current bus stop improvement practices of leading transit agencies nationwide. The study uses a number of quantitative and qualitative techniques, including propensity score matching, propensity …

David Douglas School District Enrollment Forecasts 2021-22 To 2040-41, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Charles Rynerson, Mac Cunningham

School District Enrollment Forecast Reports

This report presents a range of three scenarios of district‐wide enrollment forecasts by grade level for the David Douglas School District (DDSD) for the 21 year period between 2019‐20 and 2040‐41. Each enrollment forecast scenario is related to population forecasts that incorporate different assumptions about growth within the District, with the primary differences being the contribution of net migration to the District’s population and age distribution. Individual school forecasts consistent with the middle series are also presented for the 21 year period.

Canopy Cover, Impermeability, And Green Space In Pennsylvania Redlined Neighborhoods, Alyssa A. Cassini

Student Publications

Previous studies have explored the relationship between redlining and canopy cover by using percent canopy cover. This data type can miss low-density trees that are common in urban areas, differences between parks and street trees, and differences in the size of the green space. With a distinction between parks and street trees, we are able to determine what types of green space redlined communities have access to, since different types of green space have different kinds of impacts on the community. This study aims to analyze the relationship between previously redlined Pennsylvania neighborhoods and their current canopy impermeability, using high …

Shale Investment Dashboard In Ohio Q3 And Q4 2019, Andrew R. Thomas, Mark Henning, Oluwatosin Oladipo, Samuel Owusu-Agyemang

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This report presents findings from an investigation into shale-related investment in Ohio. The investment estimates are cumulative from July through December of 2019. Prior investments have been included in previous reports that are available from Cleveland State University.. Subsequent reports will estimate additional investment since the date of this report

China’S Belt And Road Initiative: Views From The Ground, Gustavo De L.T. Oliveira, Galen Murton, Alessandro Rippa, Tyler Harlan, Yang Yang

Urban and Environmental Studies Faculty Works

The Chinese government promotes the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a global strategy for regional integration and infrastructure investment. With a projected US$1 trillion commitment from Chinese financial institutions, and at least 138 countries participating, the BRI is attracting intense debate. Yet most analysis to date focuses on broad drivers, risks, and opportunities, largely considered to be emanating from a coherent policy imposed by Beijing. In this special issue, we instead examine the BRI as a relational, contested process - a bundle of intertwined discourses, policies, and projects that sometimes align but are sometimes contradictory. We move beyond policy-level, …

Covid-19 Pandemic And Nepal: Issues And Perspectives, Basu Sharma, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

Asta-Ja USA and Asta-Ja RDC published the book “Issues and Perspective on the Covid-19 and Nepal” in December 2020. Edited by Basu Sharma and Ambika P. Adhikari, the book contains 12 papers by 17 authors. The 173-page book is a part of Asta-Ja’s Occasional Paper Series and addresses some of the key impacts of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in Nepal, and proposes some policy recommendations to mitigate those impacts. The book covers the areas of how agriculture, food production, employment, urban planning, economy, public health and research activities are impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors review the pandemic’s impact …

From Third World To First World: Law And Policy In Singapore’S Urban Transformation And Integration, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The physical transformation of a colonial backwater city, Singapore, in one generation has been described as a feat of urban planning, renewal, and development. Less studied is the political will of the government to create a thriving city fit for purpose. Even less studied is the role of law that provides the powerful levers for the rapid and deep-seated changes to the urban landscape in Singapore. In this regard, the mindset shift that accompanied the massive urban transformation has facilitated a national psyche that embraces the material dimension of progress, for which urban renewal is not just a mere indicator …

Responding To Extremes: Managing Urban Water Scarcity In The Late Nineteenth-Century Straits Settlements, Fiona Williamson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In 1877, the major towns of the Straits Settlements - Singapore, George Town, Penang Island and Malacca - suffered a drought of exceptional magnitude. The drought’s natural instigator was the El Niño phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a climatic phenomenon then not understood by contemporary observers. The 1877 event has been explored in some depth for countries including India, China and Australia. Its impact on Southeast Asia however is less well-known and the story of how the event unfolded in Singapore and Malaysia has not been told. This paper explores how the contemporary British government responded to …

Central Inspection Teams And The Enforcement Of Environmental Regulations In China, C. Xiang, Terry Van Gevelt

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Despite the existence of a comprehensive set of environmental regulations, China’s environmental issues continue largely unabated and are increasingly leading to discontent among its citizens. Mirroring recent governance trends in China, the central government has increasingly taken a more hands-on-role to ensure the enforcement of environmental regulations by local government officials. One manifestation of this effort to re-centralize environmental institutions has been the establishment and deployment of Central Environmental Inspection Teams (CEITs). CEITs report directly to the central government and are dispatched to carry out crackdowns where the central government has reason to believe that environmental regulations are not being …

Can The Eitc And Unemployment Insurance Replace Lost Wages?, Megan Hatch, Chloe G. White

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on all aspects of social, economic, and political life worldwide. In the United States, millions of people have tested positive for COVID-19, and over 200,000 people have died from the virus. While Ohio’s governor and director of public health have been credited for their quick decision-making in response to the pandemic, Ohio’s communities still suffered, with well over 100,000 cases and thousands of COVID-19-related deaths statewide.

Policymakers aiming to reduce the spread of COVID-19 were forced to make difficult tradeoffs between public health and the economy. On March 23, 2020, Governor Mike …

Jobless Pandemic: Geography Of Layoffs And Opportunity Zones, Georgina Figueroa, Matthew Ellerbrock, Iryna V. Lendel

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act is a law designed to protect workers against employment losses. Employers are required to provide employees with a 60-day notice in the event of plant closings and mass layoffs. Under normal conditions, WARNs are required in the event of a) Plants closing or stopping operation either permanently or temporarily affecting 50 or more workers; b) Layoffs of 500 or more employees during a 30-day-period or when these layoffs constitute at least a third of the company’s workforce; and c) Temporary layoffs expected to exceed six months, in this case, when a temporary …

Are There Opportunities In Opportunity Zones?, Tatyana Guzman, Rachel Lefebre

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

Opportunity Zones (OZ) are an economic development tool designed to spur investment in impoverished areas (census tracts). OZs were created by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. They allow investors to defer (and, if investments are held for a long time, to partially exclude) capital gains received from qualified investments made in Opportunity Zones from federal tax. In this research we speculate on the potential effect of the Opportunity Zones program in the greater Cleveland area. 8,764 census tracts in the United States received Opportunity Zone designation. 320 of them were selected in Ohio. Of those, 317 are low-income …

Youngstown Economy: Recession And Path To Recovery, Iryna Demko, Iryna V. Lendel, Merissa Piazza, Georgina Figueroa, Matthew Ellerbrock

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This brief seeks to identify opportunities for the Youngstown economy to recover from the COVID-induced economic recession.

Negative Consequences Of Innovation-Igniting Urban Developments: Empirical Evidence From Three Us Cities, Ahoura Zandiatashbar, Carla Maria Kayanan

Faculty Publications, Urban and Regional Planning

Emergent economic development policies reflect the challenges urban growth coalitions face in attracting the footloose tech-entrepreneurs of the global economy. This convergence between the focus on place and the harnessing of global capital has led to the proliferation of innovation-igniting urban developments (IIUD)—place-based economic development strategies to boost the local knowledge economy. Economic developers are using IIUD strategies to convert areas of the city into entrepreneurial “launch pads” for innovation. However, because these developments remain young, considerations to implement IIUDs lack an evidence-base to show the potential for negative consequences on the communities where they are embedded. This research addresses …

Techs And The Cities: A New Economic Development Paradigm?, Gary Sands, Pierre Filion, Laura A. Reese

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

Large technology firms pose new challenges for local economic development in the 21st century. They are attractive targets for local economic developers because they have the potential of providing permanent, well-paying jobs. This article examines two mega-economic development deals. Amazon’s proposed second headquarters in Queens and Sidewalk Labs’ Quayside proposal for the Toronto waterfront pit large and prosperous Big Tech firms against local governments with healthy economies. Amazon abandoned the New York City site it had chosen, rather than open new negotiations with local officials and citizens. Sidewalk Labs withdrew from the Quayside proposal after two and a half years …

Moving Cleveland Above The Trend: Benchmarking Regional Performance (Presentation), Iryna V. Lendel

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

About the Study

Model for understanding and predicting economic growth in U.S. mid-sized regional economies similar to Cleveland and NEO

Analyzed structural and policy-based factors and looked for outperformers - what can Cleveland learn about their public policies and programs?

Used a multi-stage process collecting 43 variables associated with regional growth, including educational attainment, business composition, regional assets, and quality of life

The mid-sized regional economies analyzed encompass 135 metro areas, and includes populations spanning from 352,823 to 3.9 million

Used factor analysis as a data-reduction technique to identify factors influencing growth in mid-sized regional economies:

*Innovation and Talent
*Entrepreneurship …

Moving Cleveland Above The Trend: Benchmarking Regional Performance (Report), Iryna V. Lendel, Merissa Piazza, Molly Schnoke, Jinhee Yun, Nora Walsh

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

When analyzing economic development, we must consider both the factors that can be changed through policy and those that cannot. This report includes our model for understanding and predicting economic growth in U.S. mid-sized regional economies to analyze structural and policy-based factors among similar regional economies. Our research used a multi-stage process that involved collecting 43 variables on a variety of topics that are associated with regional growth, such as educational attainment, business composition, regional assets, and quality of life. In total, our mid-sized regional economies encompass 135 metro areas, and includes populations spanning from 352,823 to 3.9 million. We …

From Gentrification To Regeneration: A Grounded Theory Study Of Community Leadership In Southwest Atlanta, Carol Isaac, Arla Bernstein, Linda Behar-Horenstein

The Qualitative Report

Urban neighborhoods have undergone property disinvestment, a decreasing population, and a general economic decline. Atlanta, the fourth-fastest gentrifying city in the United States exemplifies this trend. The purpose of this grounded theory study is to understand how discourse about gentrification helps a community address its goal of regeneration. We used Habermas’ critical hermeneutic lens to investigate the perceptions of 20 resident leaders and stakeholders in a community that was undergoing the process of gentrification. Our findings illustrate that this community is fraught with systematically distorted communication that used communicative action for emancipation. The four theoretical codes: gentrification (a collision between …

City Of East Cleveland Visioning Project, Roland Anglin, Gregory L. Brown, Kirby Date, Elaine Sutton, Dwain Johnson, Elizabeth Nardi, Erin Vokes

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The city of East Cleveland, a first-ring suburb on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio, has an estimated population of 17,000. The city was once a thriving bedroom community of 40,000 with a strong manufacturing job base that, in turn, supported a vibrant civic, social, and cultural life for many years.

East Cleveland has seen steady decline over the last thirty years, the result of regional economic changes and demographic shifts. As Cleveland and the surrounding region revitalizes, East Cleveland boasts significant assets that put it in the path of opportunity and development. An excellent location, close to transportation and …

Citizens Of Heaven Political Participation Of Undocumented Americans, Emily J. Erickson

eJournal of Public Affairs

Everyday life for undocumented Americans often entails coping with the fear, stress, and anxiety of potential deportation (Valenzuela & Erickson 2015; Fussell 2011). Yet despite this troubling emotional state, undocumented Americans are increasingly taking to the streets, social media, and the halls of government demanding their rights be upheld. This paper contributes to understandings of how the political participation of Undocumented Americans occurs in spite of the barriers this group faces. Through a comparative analysis of Catholic Parishes in Los Angeles and Albuquerque, I find that a sense of belonging and expanded opportunities to participate in political and civic activities …

Webinar: A National Scan Of Bike Share Equity Programs: Best Practices And Lessons Learned, Nathan Mcneil, John Macarthur, Adriel Thornton

TREC Webinar Series

Connecting with cities and bike share operators from across the United States, Portland State University conducted a nationwide scan on what programs and initiatives were running to address equity in bike share. The report “National Scan of Bike Share Equity Programs” documents responses from over 70 bike share systems. This resource will help cities and operators navigate the range of actions that have been implemented to make bike share systems more equitable, examine successful strategies employed across the U.S., and understand how those successes (and challenges) are being measured and articulated. In doing so, we hope the report helps bike …

A Global Welcome: Metro Chicago's Approach To Immigrant Inclusion, Paul Mcdaniel, Rob Paral

Faculty Articles

Global cities significantly shape our world by driving solutions across a range of challenges, including migration. A new Chicago Council report, A Global Welcome: Metro Chicago’s Approach to Immigrant Inclusion, provides an overview of greater Chicago’s immigrant community and highlights unique approaches taken to create a more inclusive city, while also emphasizing ways for Chicago and other cities to improve. The report is authored by Paul N. McDaniel, Associate Professor of Geography at Kennesaw State University, and Rob Paral, Nonresident Fellow at the Chicago Council.

Economics Of Carbon Capture And Storage For Small Scale Hydrogen Generation For Transit Refueling Stations, Peter Psarras, Mark Henning, Andrew R. Thomas

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

Refueling infrastructure for early adopters of hydrogen vehicles finally appears to be imminent. There is a consensus among long haul trucking and transit agencies that hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles are likely to be the most cost-effective strategy for transitioning to low or zero emission fuels, especially in cold weather climates. Hydrogen refueling stations will require careful planning to ensure costs are low and that carbon dioxide emissions are minimized. Until such time that refueling stations are commonplace, the most likely scenario for mitigating both costs and carbon intensity will be local, on site hydrogen generation at the refueling stations. …

Doctoral Education And The Academic Job Market In Planning: 2019-2020, Joanna Ganning

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This report presents the results from the final year of a three-year study on doctoral education and the academic job market in Planning. The project set out to describe the academic job market in Planning and its trends, including both the availability of jobs and the rate at which new PhDs are granted. At the project’s end, the data show stability in several aspects of the academic job market in Planning, including the numbers of both graduates and jobs, timing of the job market, features of graduate training, and to a limited extent, the popularity of specializations.

Creating A Learning Community For Community Engagement For Detroit Practitioners, Virginia Stanard, Aaron Goodman, Madhavi Reddy

Community Development Practice

Through the support of the Community Development Society (CDS) Innovation in Community Engagement Fellowship, the Detroit cohort of fellows convened with the goal of building individual and community capacity through a yearlong, hands-on educational initiative that addressed innovative engagement within a community context. Connected by the Master of Community Development program at the University of Detroit Mercy as faculty, students, alumni, or community partners, the fellows embarked on a project entitled “Creating a Learning Community for Community Engagement for Detroit Practitioners.” The objective of the project was to explore the intersection between community engagement, democratic decision-making, and community development in …

Community Development, Quality Of Life, And Community Well-Being: Three Fields Ripe With Opportunities For Future Research And Practice, Craig A. Talmage

Community Development Practice

This perspective piece aims to spur conversations between quality of life, community well-being, and community development scholars and practitioners. The article showcases overlaps in concepts found across journals devoted to those three fields of inquiry. The major themes from those overlaps are discussed, so future directions for interdisciplinary research can be identified. The article finishes with specific attention to exploring how collaborations between the fields of quality of life (QoL), community well-being (CWB), and community development (CD) can better inform community development practice, so that community well-being and quality life can be positively shifted through evidence-based practice.

Comparing The Promise And Reality Of E-Scooters: A Critical Assessment Of Equity Improvements And Mode-Shift, Michael Glenn Mcqueen

Dissertations and Theses

In just three years, e-scooters have substantially disrupted and altered the urban mobility landscape. Throughout this period, they have been commonly touted as part of a larger micromobility solution that promises to erase equity barriers and solve the first-mile/last-mile problem. However, few studies in the nascent e-scooter literature have considered these claims. In this study, we surveyed students at Portland State University (n = 1,968) about the role that e-scooters, among other modes, played in meeting their general and university-related travel needs. We then estimated models that incorporated demographics, travel behavior, and latent attitudes distilled using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). …

A Return To State-Led Integrated Regional Planning? Emerging Approaches From Three U.S. States, Timothy Green, Donovan Finn

School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

After decades of neglect, several U.S. states have increased support for regional development planning, creating new programs, organizations, and funding streams to support it. Analysis of programs in three states (New York, Michigan, and Indiana) shows similarities among them as well as contrasts with prior episodes of state-led regional planning. The new programs deliberately sidestep older regional planning organizations like COGs and RPCs in favor of new organizations with larger roles for the private sector and greater access to public funds. The resulting plans focus on individual projects within a pro-development agenda, but still have potential to coordinate action at …

The Potential Of Green Infrastructure In Mitigating Flood Impacts On The Mobility Of Low Income And Minority Neighborhoods, Courtney Crosson, Yinan Zhang, Daoqin Tong

TREC Project Briefs

Short-term flooding from extreme storm events poses a serious transportation challenge in U.S. cities. This problem—which is anticipated to grow over the next century with our global climate crisis—is often hardest on vulnerable populations, including low-income and minority neighborhoods. This project advances national research methods for assessing flood vulnerability and prioritizing transportation improvement investments to ensure that no community is left stranded when the next flood occurs.

Housing And Food Insecurity At Portland State University, Greg Townley, Katricia Stewart, Jacen Greene, Marta Pettini

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

This report presents findings from Portland State University’s first housing and food insecurity survey of students and employees. It was conducted by The Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative (HRAC), a center formed to help address homelessness and its negative impact on individuals, families, and communities, with an emphasis on communities of color. Reducing homelessness in the PSU community was one of the foundational goals of the center, and this survey is an important step in that work.

This report examines the rates of housing insecurity, homelessness, and food insecurity among students and employees disaggregated by race and additional factors to …