Urban Studies Commons^™

But Do Lower-Wage Jobs Follow? Comparing Wage-Based Outcomes Of Light Rail Transit To Control Corridors, Arthur C. Nelson, Matt Miller, Dejan Eskic, Joanna P. Ganning, Jenny H. Liu, Reid Ewing

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Literature suggests that rail transit improvements should be associated with more jobs and perhaps increasing share of jobs in a metropolitan area. Literature and some research also suggest that such improvements should increase the number of lower-wage jobs accessible to transit. In this paper, we assess both in the context of all 11 light rail transit systems built in metropolitan areas of fewer than eight million residents in the nation since 1981. Using census block-level job data over the period 2002 to 2011, we evaluate change in jobs and change in metropolitan area job share for all jobs, and lower- …

Workshop Synthesis: Sampling Issues, Data Quality & Data Protection, Jimmy Armoogum, Jennifer Dill

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This workshop discussed various aspect of the mathematical part of survey methodology, as well as archiving and confidentiality issues aimed at improving data quality and its use through time. Participants identified ways to correct or minimize bias by dealing with incomplete sampling frames, using weighing and imputing procedures. We discussed methods to archive and share GPS-based survey data to preserve anonymity. Finally, we debated research needs on these topics for the next following years.

Retail Rent With Respect To Distance From Light Rail Transit Stations In Dallas And Denver, Arthur C. Nelson, Dejan Eskic, Joanna P. Ganning, Shima Hamidi, Susan J. Petheram, Jenny H. Liu, Reid Ewing

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

A growing body of recent research is challenging the assumptions underlying the half-mile-circle in planning for development around transit stations. In this article we review this literature and extend it to include retail land uses. We estimate the rent premium conferred on retail properties in metropolitan Dallas and metropolitan Denver, both of which have extensive light rail transit systems. We find that consistent with half-mile-circle assumptions, retail rent premiums extend only to about 0.30 mile from transit stations with half the premium dissipating after a few hundred feet and three quarters within the first 0.10 mile. We offer implications for …

Overcoming Uncertainty And Barriers To Adoption Of Blue-Green Infrastructure For Urban Flood Risk Management, Colin R. Thorne, E. C. Lawson, Connie P. Ozawa, Samantha Hamlin, Leonard A. Smith

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) and Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) are increasingly recognised as vital components of urban flood risk management. However, uncertainty regarding their hydrologic performance and lack of confidence concerning their public acceptability create concerns and challenges that limit their widespread adoption. This paper investigates barriers to implementation of BGI in Portland, Oregon, using the Relevant Dominant Uncertainty (RDU) approach. Two types of RDU are identified: scientific RDUs related to physical processes that affect infrastructure performance and service provision, and socio-political RDUs that reflect a lack of confidence in socio-political structures and public preferences for BGI. We find that socio-political …

Comparing Two Common Approaches To Public Transit Service Equity Evaluation, Alex Karner, Aaron Golub

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Understanding the equity effects of transit service changes requires good information about the demographics of transit ridership. Both on-board survey data and census data can be used to estimate equity effects, though there is no clear reason these two sources will result in the same finding of impact. Guidance from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recommends using either of these data sources to estimate equity impacts. This article makes a direct comparison of the two methods for the public transit system in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area. The results indicate that, although both sources are acceptable for FTA compliance, the …

Uneven Development Of The Sustainable City: Shifting Capital In Portland, Oregon, Erin Goodling, Jamaal Green, Nathan Mcclintock

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Portland, Oregon is renowned as a paradigmatic "sustainable city". Yet, despite popular conceptions of the city as a progressive ecotopia and the accolades of planners seeking to emulate its innovations, Portland’s sustainability successes are inequitably distributed. Drawing on census data, popular media, newspaper archives, city planning documents, and secondary-source histories, we attempt to elucidate the structural origins of Portland’s "uneven development", exploring how and why the urban core of this paragon of sustainability has become more White and affluent while its outer eastside has become more diverse and poor. We explain how a "sustainability fix" – in this case, green …

The Slow Mo' Main Street Concept Plan, Brandi Campbell, Amanda Davidowitz, Neil Heller, Liz Kaster, Matt Lee, Kathy Wilson

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Mosier is a community located in the scenic Columbia River Gorge that is "small enough to make a difference." Mosier prides itself on its historic roots, progressive community, its role as a gateway to the agricultural valleys of Eastern Oregon. Unfortunately, Mosier's Main Street, Historic Highway 30, does not reflect the community's commitment to sustainability, economic development, and multimodal transportation. The Slow Mo' Main Street Concept Plan is a high-level guide for future transportation planning along highway 30 in downtown Mosier. The plan outlines conceptual design strategies and programmatic recommendations for Highway 30, to help ensure that Mosier's Main Street …

A Level-Of-Service Model For Protected Bike Lanes, Nick Foster, Christopher Monsere, Jennifer Dill, Kelly Clifton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Several methods exist for quantifying the quality of service provided by a roadway from a bicyclist’s perspective; however, many of these models do not consider physically protected bike lanes and, of those that do, none is based on empirical data from the US. This is problematic as engineers, planners, and elected officials are increasingly looking to objective performance measures to help guide transportation project design and funding prioritization decisions. This paper addresses this gap by presenting a cumulative logistic model to predict user comfort on protected bike lanes developed from data collected during in-person video surveys. The surveys were conducted …

Feeding The Poor: The Interactions Of Not For-Profit Organizations And The Decision Making Process Of Food Pantry Leaders, Russell Madajewski

Master's Theses

Organizational theorist have studied institutions on a macro level in order understand how these structures operate at a social level, accounting for the nature of the written rules and regulations where the involved individuals act both in the internal and external settings. Recently, scholars have focused on the micro level of interactions of individuals within organizations in which they attempt to identify themselves in their given prescript roles. Attempting to understand the interactions of actors within an organization and studying the formation of relationships between organizations, my investigation will also discuss the nature of food distribution in poor communities. Because …

Crowdsourcing Bicycle Volumes: Exploring The Role Of Volunteered Geographic Information And Established Monitoring Methods, Greg P. Griffin, Junfeng Jiao

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

The recent interest in performance measures and new bicycle infrastructure development has triggered rapid advancements in monitoring methods for active transportation, but comprehensive monitoring programs for the bicycle mode are far from ubiquitous. This study evaluates the use of GPS survey data and a new crowdsourced volume dataset that may offer promise to extend the reach of limited counting programs. The authors integrated count data from 5 separate trail locations in Austin, Texas, with a previous survey using the CycleTracks smartphone app, and a new data product derived from a larger-scale use of the Strava fitness app. New crowdsourced methods …

The Other O: Comparing Las Vegas To A Successful Mid-Sized, Midwestern Metropolitan Area, Robert E. Lang

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

No abstract provided.

Is Las Vegas The Next Silicon Valley? A First Look At Brookings Top 100 Metro Data On Advanced Industries, Robert E. Lang

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

No abstract provided.

The Advanced Industry Economy In The Mountain West: Finding The Next Silicon Valley, Robert E. Lang

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

No abstract provided.

Consumer Satisfaction With Aging & Disability Resource Connection Of Oregon: Round 4, Diana White, Sheryl Dejoy Elliott

Institute on Aging Publications

The report describes the fourth round of consumer satisfaction surveys that were conducted with people who had been in contact with the Information & Referral/Assistance (I&R/A) Call Center or received Options Counseling (OC) services of Aging and Disabilities Resource Connection (ADRC) of Oregon. Data for this survey were collected in November 2014. This Executive Report summarizes and presents data on overall satisfaction, conclusions, and recommendations for the ADRC program.

Agglomerama, Lee Anne Fennell

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Conference Report 1. Water Forum For Business And Urban Leaders: Discussing The Water Futures In El Paso Del Norte Region, William Hargrove, Josiah Heyman, Ana Rodriguez Camargo, Patrick Schaefer

Conference Reports

No abstract provided.

The Objective Vs. The Perceived Environment: What Matters For Active Travel, Liang Ma

Dissertations and Theses

This study aims to explore the relationship between the objective (actual) environment and people's perceptions of the environment, and their relative effects on active travel behavior, particularly bicycling behavior. This is an important research gap in the current literature linking the built environment and active travel. Better understanding this relationship will help to explore the mechanism underlying the built environment- behavior relationship and identify potential interventions to promote active travel.

Relying on the data from Portland, OR, this study investigated the following four research questions: (1) How does the objectively measured environment correspond to the perceived environment? And what factors …

Changing The Face Of The Earth: The Morrison-­Knudsen Corporation As Partner To The U.S. Federal Government, Christopher S. Blanchard

Dissertations and Theses

Beginning with reclamation projects in the western U.S., the heavy construction industry helped the federal government grow in size and sophistication in the twentieth century. The Morrison-­Knudsen Corporation throughout the twentieth century represented one of the federal government's favored contractors. Following western reclamation projects, the U.S. federal government then used contractors to help move the U.S. economy out of the Depression, prepare for World War II, wage the Cold War at home and abroad, and win the space race. Thus, at key stages in United States history we observe the necessity of the U.S. federal government partnering with the heavy …

Informing The Plan - Incorporating Stakeholder Hopes, Dreams, And Concerns: An Assessment Of The Creekside District Master Plan, Meg Merrick

Institute of Metropolitan Studies Publications

In April 2011, the City of Beaverton adopted its Civic Plan Central City Strategy (“the Civic Plan”). The Civic Plan provided a new understanding of the Central City. One of the Civic Plan’s most important strategic goals was the transformation of the Creekside District (an underutilized 50-acre site situated at the heart of the Central City) into a vibrant, sustainable, mixed-use community. The Creekside District master planning effort (that was supported by a HUD Community Challenge Grant) has built on the Civic Plan, Beaverton’s Community Vision (2010), the Beaverton Urban Renewal Plan (2011), and Metro’s 2040 Growth Concept.

The Creekside …

Spatial Thinking In Planning Practice: An Introduction To Gis, Yiping Fang, Vivek Shandas, Eugenio Arriaga Cordero

PDXOpen: Open Educational Resources

The goals of this textbook are to help students acquire the technical skills of using software and managing a database, and develop research skills of collecting data, analyzing information and presenting results. We emphasize that the need to investigate the potential and practicality of GIS technologies in a typical planning setting and evaluate its possible applications. GIS may not be necessary (or useful) for every planning application, and we anticipate these readings to provide the necessary foundation for discerning its appropriate use. Therefore, this textbook attempts to facilitate spatial thinking focusing more on open-ended planning questions, which require judgment and …