Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

What Do People Experiencing Homelessness Need?, Marisa Zapata

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

This is an opinion piece about a survey in Portland that reveals profound racial disparities even in basic answers about where people sleep.

Lake Oswego School District Population And Enrollment Forecast 2021-22 To 2030-31, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Charles Rynerson, Mac Cunningham

School District Enrollment Forecast Reports

This report presents the results of a demographic study conducted by the Portland State University Population Research Center (PRC) for the Lake Oswego School District (LOSD). The study includes analyses of population, housing and enrollment, and forecasts of district‐wide school enrollments for the 2021‐22 to 2030‐31 school years. Due to the unusual circumstances of the COVID‐19 pandemic, the base, or “launch” year for the forecasts is 2019‐20, not 2020‐21.

A Methodological Framework To Evaluate Community Perceptions Of Economic And Safety Impacts Attributed To Highway Bypass And Widening Projects, Karla Diaz-Corro

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Transportation practitioners have proposed the construction of highway bypass and widening projects in rural communities to address traffic-related problems that include noise pollution and congestion, among others. In the past, the construction of bypass projects has led community residents to raise concerns about potential decreases in business activity for businesses located along the bypassed road. For transportation organizations, it is essential to understand the economic, social, and safety impacts of transportation projects in terms of public perceptions as public input is a required part of the project planning phase. Moreover, it is recommended that agencies perform retrospective analyses of project …

Procurement Strategies For Reducing Capital Costs Of Zero-Emission Buses, Alison Smyth, Justin Brightharp, Andrew R. Thomas, Mark Henning

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

One of the challenges to deployment and commercialization of zero-emission buses is the high capital cost of the vehicles relative to vehicles powered using conventional technologies. A strategy for reducing these costs is to increase sales volume, which has been successfully driven through funding opportunities like the Federal Transit Administration’s Low or No Emission Vehicle Program. Another strategy for increasing sales volume is to combine vehicle purchases from multiple transit agencies through a joint procurement. There have been extensive exercises in Europe to decrease the cost of fuel cell electric buses using a joint procurement strategy, with some level of …

Investing In Bicycle Infrastructure To Spur Statewide Economic Growth Through Bicycle Tourism, Pedro Aguero Arroyo, Daniel P. Piatkowski, F. Alsaleem

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Bicycle tourism is a growing industry that has been shown by prior studies to contribute significantly to the economy of numerous states. The economic benefits of recreational bicycling are not limited to the direct effects of the transactions of bicyclists in related industries, but also spillover effects such as the reduction of automobile activity and its associated costs to society, or the decrease of the costs of obesity and inactivity to the healthcare system. This study focuses on the former and provides a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the economic impacts derived from recreational bicycling expenditure, as well as an …

A Big Data Approach For Improving Nebraska Cycling Routes, Fadi Alsaleem, Ali Al-Ramini, Mohammad Ali Takallou, Daniel P. Piatkowski

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

More people are becoming interested in creating healthy lifestyle habits for themselves. It has been proved that cycling has several health benefits. Therefore, governments are planning towards more cycling-friendly infrastructures and environments. To understand the cycling activities in Nebraska, we analyze Strava data for the last three years, providing valuable insight into cycling activities for urban planning purposes.

We analyze commute and recreational cycling patterns varying between weekdays and weekends to identify peak hours. Moreover, we study the effect of weather on cycling activity patterns for the last three years. Also, we use the impact of the outside temperature as …

The Possibilities Are Limitless: A Case Study Of The Best Practices Of User Experience For Apple Inc., Chloe Richardson

Experience Industry Management

In recent years, society has followed the development of user experience practices in technology companies. User experiences contribute to emotional connections between the company and the consumer, memorable experiences associated with the brand, and the design of products. The purpose of this study was to examine the best practices of user experience for Apple Inc. The research for this study was conducted using a best practice case study guide developed by the researcher that examined the user experience Apple provides. The results of this study indicate there are numerous ways Apple creates user experiences. Apple was recognized as a leading …

Pandemic Related Housing Assistance, December 2020, Iryna V. Lendel, Molly Schnoke, Erica Henrichsen

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The COVID-19 disease has resulted in a worldwide pandemic. Over 85 million worldwide confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in a single year (2020) with more than 1.8 million of those cases resulting in death. The United States reported over 20 million confirmed cases in 2020 with over 300,000 deaths. This is a public health crisis that has resulted in widespread government response including event cancellations/prohibitions, stay-at-homes orders, the closure of nonessential businesses, and more. Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio declared a state of emergency on 3/9/2020 immediately following the first case reported in the state. On 3/13/2020, President …

Economic Vitality Index: Mapping Ohio's 88 Counties, Matthew Ellerbrock, Courtney Whitman, Iryna V. Lendel, Merissa Piazza

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

Along with the unimaginable death of hundreds of thousands, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused economic hardship for many more millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands of businesses, large and small. After experiencing the longest economic expansion in U.S. history, we are now faced with an unprecedented contraction in modern times as workers see their hours reduced – or jobs eliminated – and businesses scale down operations or close their doors altogether. As part of its effort to aid in responding to Ohio’s economic downturn resulting from the pandemic, the Center for Economic Development (Center) is tracking the overall economic …

Profile Of San Francisco Domestic Workers, Isaac Jabola-Carolus

Publications and Research

Domestic workers are integral to the social and economic fabric of San Francisco. This report, based on an ongoing study, outlines the demographic composition and employment conditions of this workforce. The analysis draws upon U.S. Census Bureau data, Bureau of Labor Statistics data, and an original survey of over 200 domestic workers employed in San Francisco.

Perceptions Of The Built Environment Among Older Adults Who Live In Age-Restricted Communities Compared To Those Who Do Not In Southern Nevada, Sandra Annan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As Americans are living longer, there has been exponential growth in the number of older adults. Growth in the aging population has created unique challenges. As seniors age, they face many changes in their health, financial stability, and lifestyle, making it challenging to remain independent. The inability to remain independent can be a stressful and depressing experience for older adults. Studies show that most seniors prefer to stay in their current living environment as they age, or age in place, rather than move into senior housing or other available housing options designed for aging. This study investigates how perceptions about …

Urbanization Policy And Economic Development: A Quantitative Analysis Of China's Differential Hukou Reforms, Wen-Tai Hsu, Lin Ma

Research Collection School Of Economics

The household registration system (hukou system) in China has hampered rural-urban migration by posing large migration friction. The system has been gradually relaxed in the past few decades, but the reforms have been differential in city size and by the coastal-inland divide. We find a striking contrast in the migration patterns between years 2005 and 2015; rural people tended to move more to the coastal urban region in 2005, but more to the inland urban region in 2015. We calibrate a spatial quantitative model to the world economy in both years with China being divided into the rural, coastal urban, …

Gentrification And Income Segregation In Fayetteville, Arkansas, Willie Benson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gentrification and income segregation are both poorly understood phenomena in terms of their causes and effects as is the relationship between the two topics. Even less is known in the context of small cities and over the time period spanning the last few decades. In this study public data from the U.S. Census, the American Community Survey and the Washington County Assessor's office has been used to measure economic gentrification in Fayetteville, Arkansas using an index based on property values and median rent prices and how much they have changed between 2000 and 2015. Then, using U.S. Census and American …

Air Pollution And Outdoor Recreation On Urban Trails: A Case Study Of The Elizabeth River Trail, Norfolk, Va, James E. Mccann

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Poor air quality represents a significant health risk, especially when recreating outdoors in urban parks and trails. It is important for managers of urban parks and trail to understand how potential visitors’ perceptions of air quality and health risks and benefits may affect visitation. The goal of this study was to investigate temporal variance in air quality along the Elizabeth River Trail, an urban trail located in Norfolk, Virginia, as well as trail users’ perceptions of air quality and of health benefits in relation to trail use. The researcher rode a bicycle with a Dylos DC1700-PM mobile air quality monitor …

Designing Next-Generation Transportation Systems With Emerging Vehicle Technologies, Zhiwei Chen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent advances in computing and artificial intelligence have enabled the development of various emerging vehicle technologies, e.g., autonomous vehicles (AV) and modular autonomous vehicles (MAV). These technologies bring new scientific and engineering problems challenging transportation researchers and practitioners. This dissertation aims to develop a suite of scalable computational and analytical tools for designing and analyzing next-generation transportation systems with the MAV technologies. Also, we intend to empirically study the system impacts in terms of the quality of service, energy implications, and inequality impacts.

For MAV system design, we develop a methodological framework centering at theoretical properties of the optimal system …

The Value Of Urban Flood Modeling, Bernice Rosenzweig, Pablo Herreros Cantis, Yeowon Kim, Alan Cohn, Kimberly Grove, J. Brock, J. Yesuf, Prakash Mistry, Claire Welty, Timon Mcphearson, Jason Sauer, Heejun Chang

Advanced Science Research Center

Floods are important disturbances to urban socio-eco-technical systems and their meteorological drivers are projected to increase through the century due to global climate change. Urban flood models are numerical models that have the capability of representing the features of urban ecosystems and the mechanisms of flooding that impact them. They have the potential to play a critical role in flood risk assessment, operational response, and resilience planning, but existing models remain limited in their capability to represent integrated flooding processes in urban areas and provide the credible quantitative information needed to support risk assessment and resilience practice. Research to advance …

Racial Disparities In Traffic Enforcement, Mike Dolan Fliss

PSU Transportation Seminars

Law enforcement traffic stops are one of the most common entryways to the US justice system, with significant downstream impacts for both individuals and communities. Group-specific rates are typically based on jurisdiction resident populations; these rates, like many justice-system indicators, demonstrate race-ethnicity disparities. Residential-based rates implicitly assume race-ethnicity groups have equal vehicle access, equal driving volume, and that all driving occurs in resident’s jurisdictions. In contrast, surveys suggest Black non-Hispanic and Hispanic households have less access and drive less than white non-Hispanic households. Models incorporating US Census data and race-ethnicity driving factors from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey showed …

Curating Equitable Transportation, Nikotris Perkins

PSU Transportation Seminars

Getting people and goods from here to there is central to the ways we live, work, and play in the United States. The transportation networks we create as planners, engineers, geologists, contractors, consultants, advocates, and citizens involve a multitude of decisions. These decisions have great impact on who can get where, when and how; often connected to our structures of social power. This seminar connects those dots, questions our ability to make change, and calls participants to be actively involved in a transportation system that is curated for those it targets: everyone.

Chester Township Community Questionnaire Summary Report, Kirby Date, Molly Schnoke, Rachel Lefebre

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The Center for Community Planning and Development at CSU’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs was engaged by Chester Township to assist with conducting a Community Questionnaire. CSU’s role was to work with the Township in developing the questionnaire; and then receiving and analyzing the responses. The questionnaire was mailed to all resident addresses in the Township in May of 2020; responses were received and analyzed during June, July and August. To keep the cost low, the questionnaire was not designed to be a statistically calibrated survey, but rather a questionnaire which would enable the community to get a …

Webinar: Bus Stops: Access And Equity, Keith Bartholomew

TREC Webinar Series

Improving bus stops by providing shelters, seating, signage, and sidewalks is relatively inexpensive and popular among riders and local officials. Making such improvements, however, is not often a priority for U.S. transit providers because of competing demands for capital funds and a perception that amenities are not tied to measurable increases in system effectiveness or efficiency. This webinar focuses on the role that bus stops play as the point of first contact between transit agencies and their potential riders, and how the quality of that contact can influence both ridership and accessibility for riders with mobility-related disabilities. The webinar will …

Scholars And Sense

DePaul Magazine

Four DePaul alumni who were the recipients of McNair scholarships have gone on to careers of servies. Pedro Serrano is a public health researcher who most recently has been working on how COVID-19 is affecting people's emotional, physical and mental health. Pascale Ife Williams, a human ecologist, engages is culture and arts initiatives that lift up communities oppressed by institutional inequity. Peter Dziedzic explores interfaith dialogue and religious pluralism as a PhD candidate at Harvard University. Robert Vargas, a tenured sociology professor at the University of Chicago, is using geographic information system mapping software to help governments anticipate and reduce …

At The Intersection Of Safety + Race + Transportation, Charlene Mcgee

PSU Transportation Seminars

Transportation policies at the local, regional, state and national levels have a direct impact on urban land use and development patterns. Transportation intersects with multiple areas including public health, education, climate change, physical activity, health outcomes, build environment, violence, safety, social cohesion and the wellness of communities. For the health outcomes influenced by transportation, disparities exist by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status in Multnomah County. Disproportionate exposure to injury, air pollution, and noise contributes to inequitable burdens of injuries and chronic disease among race and ethnic groups. This is exacerbated by lack of access to safe places for active transportation …

Tourism As Industry And Field Of Study: Using Research And Education To Address Overtourism, Kathleen M. Adams, Peter Sanchez

Anthropology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Purpose: The purpose of this article is (1) to highlight the dual, Janis-faced, nature of the study of tourism as an industry and as a field of study; (2) to discuss how education is used to promote sustainable tourism and prevent overtourism, both in the academic arena as well as where tourism occurs; and (3) to offer suggestions concerning the value of education as an avenue for harmonizing the Janus-faced character of tourism, in order to foster a tourism industry that can better achieve global sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach: This paper combines literature review with assessment. The authors use existing literature on …

Are We Planning For Equity? Equity Goals And Recommendations In Local Comprehensive Plans, Carolyn G. Loh, Rose Kim

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

Problem, Research Strategy, and Findings:

Social equity goals are supposed to be prioritized in planning along with economic and environmental goals, yet in practice they are often de-emphasized. We develop a publicly available plan equity evaluation tool to investigate to what extent and in what ways local governments include goals and recommendations that would advance equitable outcomes in their comprehensive plans. Using plan content analysis, we find that most plans do not talk about equity, nor do they include many goals and recommendations that would advance equity. More recent plans, plans in communities with more planning capacity, plans in …

Bus Stops Improvements Along Utah Corridor Increase Ridership And Ada Accessibility, Keith Bartholomew

TREC Project Briefs

A bus stop can be anything from a simple signpost stuck in the grass, to a comfortable shelter with seating and paved access to the sidewalk. For many U.S. transit agencies across the country, improving facilities at bus stops is a priority. But how much do these improvements actually affect ridership? A lot, it turns out. A new NITC study, co-funded by the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) and led by Keith Bartholomew of the University of Utah, found a 5.9% increase in boardings after improvements were made to a series of bus stops in Salt Lake City - compared to …

Health Have, Health Have Nots In A Time Of Covid-19, Sandro Galea

Center for Policy Research

In this brief, my goal is to talk about something which has animated a lot of my thinking and writing in the past decade. It is how our health is fundamentally socially patterned and reflects the world around us. This has been true for decades in this country, and one could also argue, globally, however this brief will focus on this topic at the national level. As you will see, I will talk mostly of health haves and health have nots in general, but as we progress, show how COVID-19 has made this evermore apparent.

Table Of Contents, Mssj Staff

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

100 Years After Suffrage: Just How Far Have Women Come?, Laura Merrifield Wilson

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Women earned the right to vote 100 years ago with the ratification of the 19th Amendment, effectively ending the suffrage movement that had transpired over generations. Their hard-won victory doubled the American electorate and provided women with an essential right of citizenship of which they had long been deprived. Not all women were welcomed at the polling place, though, and the exclusion of women of color, particularly in the Jim Crow South, revealed yet another barrier to eventually be struck down. In the 100 years since women earned their right to vote, they have begun “outvoting” their male counterparts and …

Elfrieda Lang: The Difficult Career Path Of A German American Female Indiana Historian, Bruce Bigelow

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Despite not going to high school, a German American woman became a major published history scholar, an assistant editor of the state history journal, and curator of special collections at a prestigious library in an era of patriarchy in the American history profession.

A Comparison Of Self-Control Measures And Drug And Alcohol Use Among College Students, Brooke E. Mathna, Jennifer J. Roberts, Marthinus C. Koen

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Research has shown a link between drug and alcohol behaviors and self-control; however, much of the research focuses on only the general theory of crime (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990), without regard to Hirschi’s (2004) self-control theory. The purpose of the current study is to examine three measures of Hirschi’s self-control theory and to understand the link between Hirschi’s self-control theory and drug and alcohol behaviors. This study draws from a sample of undergraduate college students (N = 640) to examine the role of Hirschi’s self-control in the explanation of drug and alcohol behaviors. The current study uses a previous measure …