Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

The Incorporation Of Direct Democracy : Populism And Initiative Practices As Contested Terrain, Larry Galizio

Dissertations and Theses

What are the democratic implications of the increasing professionalization of direct democracy?

The dissertation takes a critical approach to the "initiative-industrial complex" and offers a counter-thesis to prevailing scholarly research on the substantial growth in the use of political consultants in initiative campaigns. The political economic analysis approaches direct legislation campaigns and elections as constituent parts of a system of legitimation for the existing set of social relations.

An historical analysis reveals that the contemporary era of initiative activity rivals that of its frequent use during the populist and progressive eras; and that in the early 21st century direct legislation …

South Burlington, Vt: Mixed-Use Comes To O’Dell Parkway, Ryan Neale, Brett Richardson, Richard Barringer

Planning

The proposed redevelopment of an underutilized property along major travel routes in South Burlington presents possibilities for infill development. The City of South Burlington, the developer, neighbors, and a variety of public and nonprofit financial partners work together to create a mixed-use residential/commercial development to meet a variety of housing and community needs. The case study describes the obstacles overcome to make redevelopment possible through zoning and regulatory changes, negotiation with local residents over traffic and other concerns, support from state and local housing advocates, and political leadership; as well as the development’s application of smart growth principles.

South Burlington Vt: New Urbanist South Village, Jack Kartez, Richard Barringer

Planning

The 220 acre master plan for South Village, the largest project in the City of South Burlington’s history, encompasses multiple housing types and innovative provisions for affordable housing. It integrates housing with open space and natural resource conservation, including a major Community Supported Agriculture project developed by a nonprofit partner, the Intervale Foundation. While not a mixed-use project (that is, commercial as well as residential development), South Village nonetheless represents a qualitative change in approach for South Burlington by incorporating large-scale open space preservation as part of development and multiple housing-types in one project. The case study recounts events leading …

Green Transportation Taxes And Fees: A Survey Of Californian, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Jennifer Dill, Hilary Nixon

Faculty Publications, Urban and Regional Planning

This report explores public opinion on a new and promising concept—green transportation taxes and fees. These are taxes and fees set at variable rates, with higher rates for more polluting vehicles and lower rates for those that pollute less. This approach to transportation taxes and fees adapts the traditional transportation finance system to achieve two critical public benefits at once: encouraging drivers to choose more environmentally-friendly transportation options and raising revenue for needed transportation programs. To test public support for green transportation taxes and fees, the authors conducted a random telephone survey of 1,500 Californians that asked respondents their views …

Ohio's Balanced Growth Program: A Case Study Of Collaboration For Planning And Policy Design, Wendy A. Kellogg

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This paper describes the collaborative planning process for a new landscape planning programme in Ohio that seeks to influence land urbanisation patterns through joint local land use decision making on a watershed basis. The programme was developed through a collaborative process by a state agency-appointed task force that included agency staff and a wide range of stakeholders. The paper describes the process in terms of the collaborative mechanisms, the participants, the programmatic outputs, and the social and organisational outcomes that set the foundation for enhanced watershed quality through better land use decision-making practices. Key collaborations formed during the process were …

Paving The Way: Recruiting Students Into The Transportation Professions, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Jennifer Dill

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The transportation industry faces a growing shortage of professional engineers and planners. One key strategy in solving this problem will be to encourage more civil engineering and urban planning students to specialize in transportation while completing their degrees, so that employers have a larger pool of likely recruits. However, very little is known about how these students choose a specialization. To help fill that gap, this report examines the factors that lead civil engineering undergraduates and urban planning masters students to specialize in transportation, as opposed to other sub-disciplines within the two fields. The primary data collection methods were web-based …

"Green" Transportation Taxes And Fees: A Survey Of Californians, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Jennifer Dill, Hilary Kathleen Nixon

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report explores public opinion on a new and promising concept―green transportation taxes and fees. These are taxes and fees set at variable rates, with higher rates for more polluting vehicles and lower rates for those that pollute less. This approach to transportation taxes and fees adapts the traditional transportation finance system to achieve two critical public benefits at once: encouraging drivers to choose more environmentally-friendly transportation options and raising revenue for needed transportation programs. To test public support for green transportation taxes and fees, the authors conducted a random telephone survey of 1,500 Californians that asked respondents their views …

Review Of From Arrival To Incorporation: Migrants To The U.S. In A Global Era, Edited By Elliott R. Barkan, Hasia Diner, And Alan M. Kraut; Letters Across Borders: The Epistolary Practices Of International Migrants, Edited By Bruce S. Elliott, David A. Gerber, And Suzanne M. Sinke, Gary W. Mcdonogh

Growth and Structure of Cities Faculty Research and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Widely Available 3-D Visualization Tools In Support Of Public Participation, Laxmi Ramasubramanian, Jennifer L. Weeks, Tim Case

Publications and Research

There is a persistent need for improved tools and techniques to facilitate public involvement in transportation decision making. Despite continuous improvements in increasing public involvement at all phases of transportation decision making, transportation agencies are still seeking more affordable, accessible, and effective means of communicating with a wide range of stakeholders. The report documents a survey of a wide variety of transportation agencies on their use of interactive 3-D visualization for public involvement using an electronic survey. Supplemental qualitative data was generated through telephone interviews with selected survey participants. It concludes with three case studies illustrating applications of interactive 3-D …

Oregon City School District Enrollment Forecast Update, 2009-10 To 2013-14, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Charles Rynerson, Vivian Siu

School District Enrollment Forecast Reports

This report presents the results of a demographic study conducted by the Portland State University Population Research Center (PRC). The study includes analysis of population, housing and enrollment trends affecting the District in recent years and forecasts of district-wide and individual school enrollments for the 2009-10 to 2013-14 school years. The Oregon City School District (OCSD) enrolled 7,635 students in Fall 2008, a decrease of 77 students (1.0 percent) from Fall 2007. This was the fourth consecutive year of declining K-12 enrollment, following seven years of enrollment gains. In spite of the overall loss, more students were enrolled in District’s …

Working For The "Working River": Willamette River Water Pollution, 1926 To 1962, James Vincent Hillegas

Dissertations and Theses

Efforts to abate Willamette River pollution between 1926 and 1962 centered on a struggle between abatement advocates and the two primary polluters in the watershed, the City of Portland and the pulp and paper industry. Throughout the twentieth century, the Willamette was by far the most heavily populated and industrialized watershed in Oregon. Like many other of the world's rivers, the Willamette was an integral part of municipal and industrial waste removal systems. As such, the main stem of the river carried the combined wastes from sewage outfalls serving hundreds of thousands of people and millions of gallons daily of …

The Impacts Of Gentrification On The African American Business Community Of Portland, Oregon, Alexandra Hosford

Anthós

I focus this inquiry on the impact that gentrification has had on black business and entrepreneurship in the Albina District of Portland, Oregon. The Albina district of provides a unique opportunity to measure the effects of gentrification on black business and business development because the area has historically been a residentially segregated black community and has seen dramatic changes due to gentrification in the past decade, including an influx of middle class, white residents. I conduct this examination by subdividing my inquiry into three main sections. First, I provide an outline of the background and evolution of the discourse around …

20 Minutes In West Portland Park: Opportunities For Access, Ali Demersseman, Dana Dickman, Nuin-Tara Key, Laura Spidell, Sara Wright

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Exploring the planning concept of the "20-minute neighborhood" and analyzing the feasibility of applying the concept to the West Portland Park neighborhood. We also seek to engage the community in a meaningful discussion about the future of West Portland Park in order to help the community begin to build the connections and tools necessary to play an active role in future planning efforts." This project was conducted under the supervision of Sy Adler and Ethan Seltzer.

Northeast Ohio Economic Brief, John F. Brennan

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Does A Mayor Make A Difference In A City’S Economic Performance? The Case Of Akron, Ohio, Edward W. Hill

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

Can a mayor make a difference in a city’s long-term economic performance? Mayors have been observed making a difference in case studies and in press accounts but it is nearly impossible to link the economic performance of a particular city to the actions of a specific mayor. Terms are frequently too short and cause and effect cannot be disentangled. The term of Akron’s Mayor Donald Plusquellic offers an opportunity to make the connection. The mayor’s length of service is long, data are available, and comparable cities and metropolitan areas exist to act as informal controls for other structural explanations for …

Population Forecast For Lane County, Its Cities And Unincorporated Area 2008-2035, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Risa S. Proehl, George C. Hough Jr., Danan Ru, Kenneth Radin, Mark Gilbert

Oregon Population Estimates and Reports

This report presents the results of a study conducted by the Population Research Center (PRC) to address the long-range planning needs of Lane County and produce population forecasts at the county and sub-county level. This report considers recent and historical demographic changes experienced within the County and provides forecasts from 2008 to 2035 in 5-year intervals. Expected future populations that result from the most-likely demographic trends throughout Lane County are presented in this report.

Organization By Form: Applying Systems Theory To Urbanization, Michael Patrick Howe

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

I have come to believe that the core of our declining physical, mental and community health dwells in the current practice of land use based development. Although today's land use codes began as a legitimate response to protect people's health and welfare it has since devolved into an unsustainable process. The failure of land-use zoning is rooted in an informational disconnect created by the segregation of land into distinct uses while offering generic design standards. Whereas the current mode of land use-based zoning results in an unpredictable physical form, Form-Based Codes foster a connection between the individual to the available …

Gentilly Retail Study: 2009, Department Of Planning And Urban Studies, University Of New Orleans

Planning and Urban Studies Reports and Presentations

The following report is an analysis of retail in Gentilly in the Spring 2009 term with some updates throughout the semester (site inventory was taken in the last two weeks of January and first week of February). The report reflects data gathered by a graduate student planning team from the University of New Orleans Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Professors Renia Ehrenfeucht and Marla Nelson directed thirteen graduate students in producing this report The team’s objective was to produce a reliable source of current information for community decision‐makers and stakeholders to use in the recovery of retail services and …

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Spring 2009, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge.

The senior design competition helps to focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects …

Business Growth In The Portland Metro Region, Sheila A. Martin, Emily Picha

Institute of Metropolitan Studies Publications

Like other articles on the Metropolitan Knowledge Network, we examine our region’s prosperity in comparison to other regions comparable to the Portland MSA and present the data in order of their 2008 population estimates.

Exploring Our Region’S Prosperity, Sheila A. Martin, Emily Picha

Institute of Metropolitan Studies Publications

Prosperity refers to the economic success of the regional economy and can be measured using income data. In order to assess regional prosperity in the Portland Metropolitan region, we will consider two measures of income: aggregate regional income (Metropolitan GDP) and income for individuals and households. In addition, we will discuss poverty levels in the Portland Metropolitan region according to the federal poverty standard. To ascertain the significant income variations both within the region and between comparable regions, this paper will compare counties within the Portland Metropolitan region and discuss how Portland measures up to ten "comparator regions" in the …

Molalla River School District: Population And Enrollment Forecasts, 2009-10 To 2020-21, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Charles Rynerson, Vivian Siu

School District Enrollment Forecast Reports

This report presents the results of a demographic study for the Molalla River School District (MRSD) conducted by the Portland State University Population Research Center (PRC). The study includes analysis of population, housing and enrollment trends affecting the District in recent years and forecasts of district-wide grade level enrollments for the 2009-10 to 2020-21 school years. Three possible scenarios for MRSD enrollment correspond to three different population forecasts, which depend on unique assumptions about net migration. Other factors including fertility rates, shares of District residents enrolled in public schools, and enrollment impacts of charter schools do not vary between scenarios; …

It's All Happening At The Zoo: Children's Environmental Learning After School, Jason A. Douglas, Cindi Katz

Publications and Research

Pairing dynamic out-of-school-time (OST) programs with zoos can encourage young people's relationships with and sense of responsibility for animals and the environment. The project presented in this article, Animal Rescuers, gave the authors the opportunity to examine how such a pairing can work. OST programs enable learning in settings that are generally unavailable during school time (Honig & McDonald, 2005). They provide space for collaboration among students, teachers, and others such as program visitors or outside educators. Taking advantage of the flexibility, location, and educational playfulness of an OST setting, the authors worked intensively with a small number of 10-12-year-old …

Giving Parks Back To People: Increasing The Bikeability And Walkability Of New Orleans City Park, Department Of Planning And Urban Studies, University Of New Orleans

Planning and Urban Studies Reports and Presentations

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of current transportation patterns of City Park users; to identify lessons learned from other large urban parks; to determine how to increase the walkability and bikeability of New Orleans City Park; and to examine the feasibility of temporary or permanent street closures.

Jumpstart Inc.: Economic Impact On And Contribution To Northeast Ohio, 2008, Ziona Austrian, Afia Yamoah

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This report was prepared for JumpStart, Inc. by the Center for Economic Development at Cleveland State University. The report summarizes the economic impact in 2008 resulting from JumpStart investment in start-up companies in Northeast Ohio and its services to assist other entrepreneurs through JumpStart Ventures, JumpStart TechLift Advisors, JumpStart Inclusion Advisors, and IdeaCrossing.

2008 Oregon Population Report, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Risa Proehl, George C. Hough Jr., Kathryn Mcgovern

Oregon Population Estimates and Reports

This report contains the annual population estimates for Oregon, and its counties, incorporated cities, and unincorporated areas for July 1, 2008. Included are estimates that are summarized by unincorporated and incorporated areas at the State level, as well as metropolitan areas and non-metropolitan areas.

Estacada School District: Enrollment Forecast 2009-10 To 2013-14, Portland State University. Population Research Center, Charles Rynerson, Vivian Siu

School District Enrollment Forecast Reports

This report presents the results of a demographic study for the Estacada School District (ESD) conducted by the Portland State University Population Research Center (PRC). The study includes analysis of population, housing and enrollment trends affecting the District in recent years and forecasts of district-wide and individual school enrollments for the 2009-10 to 2013-14 school years. The current forecasts included in this study indicate that the District will continue to lose enrollment over the next five years, but at a slower rate than in the past. Total K-12 enrollment is forecast to decline next year by 24 students (1.1 percent). …

Financial Intermediaries For Community And Economic Development In Ohio: Market Assessment, Ziona Austrian, Brian A. Mikelbank, Afia Yamoah, Charles Post, Candice Clouse, David O. Kasdan

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This report describes the results of an in-depth market assessment study conducted for the Finance Fund by the Center for Economic Development and the Center for Housing Research and Policy at Cleveland State University’s Levin College of Urban Affairs. The Finance Fund, located in Columbus, Ohio, is a statewide nonprofit financial intermediary. It finds funding and provides resources to support organizations that assist low- and moderate-income families and communities.1 The Finance Fund works primarily within low-income rural and urban communities throughout the state of Ohio by connecting local community development organizations and small businesses with needed funding in the form …

National Study On Carless And Special Needs Evacuation Planning: Case Studies, John L. Renne, Thomas W. Sanchez, Robet C. Peterson

Planning and Urban Studies Reports and Presentations

The National Study of Carless and Special Needs Evacuation Planning has constructed an essential outline for carless and special needs evacuation planning. This outline is built from planning efforts in each of the five case study cities. Each city had its strengths and weaknesses. In this study, we have combined the strengths from every city involved to build the criteria used to evaluate their planning efforts. In this sense, we have based our evaluations upon real planning efforts that can and are being done around the United States.

Improving Travel Information Products Via Robust Estimation Techniques, David Maier, Kristin A. Tufte, Rafael J. Fernández Moctezuma

TREC Final Reports

Traffic-monitoring systems, such as those using loop detectors, are prone to coverage gaps, arising from sensor noise, processing errors and transmission problems. Such gaps adversely affect the accuracy of Advanced Traveler Information Systems. This project will explore models based on historical data that can provide estimates to fill such gaps. We build on an initial study by Mr. Rafael J. Fernandez-Moctezuma, using both a linear model and an artificial neural network (ANN) trained on historical data to estimate values for reporting gaps. These initial models were 80% and 89% accurate, respectively, in estimating the correct speed range, and misclassifications were …