Housing and Mobility Toolkit for San Mateo County

Since the end of the Great Recession, San Mateo County has attracted new workers at a record rate without building anywhere near enough housing. This jobs-housing imbalance drives the cost of housing up and forces many moderate and lower-income employees and their families out of the County. A lack of access to quality affordable housing in the County and the entire Bay Area along with limited transportation options means that an increased number of employees drive in and out of the County every workday. The resultant congestion, gridlock, and long commutes along with other negative environmental, social, and economic impacts create a major concern for communities in the County and beyond. Clearly, this problem has two distinct but interrelated dimensions: housing development and transportation planning. A select group of Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) Research Associates worked closely with representatives from the San Mateo County Home for All initiative to help address this challenge by developing a toolkit of successful case studies with a holistic approach to housing development and transportation planning

Planning and Policymaking for Transit-Oriented Development, Transit, and Active Transport in California Cities

This report provides research findings from the first year of a two-year research project on patterns of local policymaking in California to support transit-oriented development (TOD), transit, and active transport. The project aims to assess motivations, perceived obstacles, and priorities for development near transit, in relation to patterns of local policy adoption, from the perspective of city planners in the state’s four largest regions: the San Francisco Bay, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento metropolitan areas. This first-stage report discusses research and policy context that informed the methodology, findings from the analysis of results from an online survey of city planning directors administered in the spring of 2019, and findings from two case studies of TOD policymaking in urban central cities, namely Los Angeles and Sacramento. A sampling methodology for conducting further case studies of TOD policymaking during the upcoming second phase of the project is also described, based on findings from the first year of the research.View the NCST Project Webpag

Anchoring Equitable Development: Anchor Institute-Led Models of Housing and Community Development to Strengthen Institutions and Communities

In April 2014, a convening of national housing equity experts was hosted in Jacksonville, Florida by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund. The convening's purpose was to gain insight from national stakeholders on affordable housing and equitable development challenges and opportunities in Jacksonville. From this two-day engagement, a number of major challenges and opportunities facing Jacksonville's housing development were clearly identified. Two of these findings directly inform this research effort.First, to meet the needs of Jacksonville's marginalized communities, an intentional focus on equity must stay at the forefront of community housing and development strategies. Second, if equity-focused development efforts are better aligned with health and/or educational stakeholders, affordable housing and equitable development could blossom in Jacksonville.Stable and affordable housing is essential to educational success and positive health outcomes for families and for communities. While the linkage between housing and educational and health outcomes is clear, educational and health stakeholders have not traditionally been deeply engaged in meeting housing need. Emerging initiatives across the country are countering this disengagement, demonstrating the important role that anchor institutions can play in supporting local housing needs. Community anchor institutions, such as educational entities (particularly higher education) and health care organizations can be powerful institutional resources to support equitable housing and community development. Throughout the nation, successful anchor institute-led housing interventions have been transformational in addressing community housing needs and community revitalization. These efforts have been most effective when equity goals are integrated into the design and implementation of anchor institute-led housing efforts.The following report provides select case studies with a strong social equity focus and comparability to Jacksonville. We identify lessons learned and summarize models which can be equally transformative in Jacksonville from these case studies. We also draw upon recent research and scholarship, and our own interviews with experts and practitioners. The goal of providing these lessons learned and model practices is to help inform, and potentially engage, various anchor institutes in Jacksonville -- organizations with resources that could help meet community housing needs and support equitable community development. This could help strengthen social, educational, economic and health outcomes for all of Jacksonville, including its most vulnerable residents

Performance Evaluation of State Subsidized Housing Scheme:a Case Study of Ogun State Housing Projects

The problems of housing in Nigeria are enormous and complex, exhibiting apparent and marked regional differences. In most urban centres, the problem is not only restricted to quantity but also to the quality of available housing units and the environment. This study therefore evaluated the building performance of State Subsidized Housing Schemes in Ogun State and ascertained whether or not the public housing estates fulfil the initial design/goal of government and the needs of the users with regard to the occupants` satisfaction. The objectives of the study were to examine housing delivery process, evaluate the physical characteristics and conditions of the housing units, examine the socio-economic characteristics of the residents, ascertain factors which influence levels of residents’ expectations and satisfaction with the housing estates and compare the occupants` expectations of the housing units, with their housing experience in the estates. The study obtained both primary and secondary data. Qualitative data was obtained from key management staff of (OPIC) by means of in-depth interview. Quantitative data was obtained through administration of questionnaires on 716 housing units based on purposeful sampling of ten existing low-income housing estates spread across the State. Descriptive and inferential techniques were used for the analysis.The result of study showed a positive and significant correlation between age range (r=0.397), marital status (r=0.297), and household size (r=0.189), however, Socio economic status (r=-0.275), educational attainment (r=-0.213) and ownership status (r= -0.285) had negative, but significant correlations at 0.05 level of significance. The study concluded that most residents found their housing units satisfactory but at different levels of satisfaction based on the age, length of residency, marital status and educational level. It is thus recommended that public agencies for low-income housing should pay proper attention to the management of support and public facilities to enhance residential satisfaction of the inhabitants and also adopt a policy to build different sizes of units to cater for the needs of the residents with large families in order to enhance quality of life of the low-income urban community in the country

A Comparative Analysis of High-Speed Rail Station Development into Destination and Multi-Use Facilities: The Case of San Jose Diridon

As a burgeoning literature on high-speed rail development indicates, good station-area planning is a very important prerequisite for the eventual successful operation of a high-speed rail station; it can also trigger opportunities for economic development in the station area and the station-city. At the same time, “on the ground” experiences from international examples of high-speed rail stations can provide valuable lessons for the California high-speed rail system in general, and the San Jose Diridon station in particular. This study identifies and draws lessons from European HSR stations that share similarities across several criteria with the San Jose area context. From an initial consideration of twenty European HSR stations, the researchers chose five stations for in depth case studies: Euralille and Lyon Part Dieu in France, Rotterdam Centraal and Utrecht Centraal in the Netherlands, and Torino Porta Susa in Italy. Additionally, the study drew information from relevant local actors and stakeholders to better tailor recommendations to the particular California context.Through the undertaking of different research tasks–literature review, case studies of European railway stations, survey of existing station plans and other planning documents for the Diridon station, station area analysis, and interviews with station area planners and designers–the study compiles timely recommendations for the successful planning of the Diridon station and other stations along the California high-speed rail corridor

Regional integrated infrastructure scoping study

The purpose of the study is to consider how the Region should take infrastructure forward in an integrated way at a strategic level and to help scope further work to inform the RSS 2009 Update. It is envisaged that this scoping study is the first part of a major work stream for the Assembly to enable infrastructure to influence future locational decisions and develop a better understanding of the impact of higher levels of growth on the Region’s infrastructure

Infrastructural Urbanism: Hybridizing Our Networks

“The story of people can be told through our infrastructure. In the rise and fall of cities throughout history, the places best positioned for a thriving future have always been those that offer systems to create the lives that we want. And we can see that as the innovations of canals, aqueducts, railroads, and highways did in their time, the kind of infrastructure that we build today matters to our success. If we do it right, it will forever transform our way of life.”– Ryan Gravel1 Urban edges are created through interstices, spaces intervening between one thing and another, and are the resultant discontinuities in the urban fabric2. Hybridization of single-use infrastructures can bring systematic resiliency to networks over time. This thesis critiques single-use transportation infrastructures, such as roads, interstates, light and heavy rail, and their relationship to the pedestrian right-of-way. The complexities affecting the infrastructures’ future adaptations to contemporary society require an investigation in architectural response and strategies for reuse and multi-use. Cities evolve with and within their infrastructural frameworks, and when we seek hybridization of our single-use infrastructures, there is the potential to bring systematic resiliency to networks over time. At the demand of time and technology, the evolution of networks greatly impacts the life and form of a city. “Very broadly, twentieth century infrastructural projects around the world were largely single-minded initiatives with specialized agendas9.” It is the twenty-first century now, and this needs to change; multi-use sought within infrastructural development can accommodate changes in transportation technology, unused infrastructure in urban settings, and establish a relationship with the built environment to provide connectivity at the pedestrian level in locations that currently cater only to automobiles. These problems are very familiar to us here in Atlanta, where, programmatically, the automobile dominates the rights-of-way, from our interstates to our surface streets. This problem affects us every day; the persistence of infrastructure that prioritizes the automobile limits our ability to efficiently and safely navigate our dense urban environments by foot, bicycle, or even, ironically, by automobile

Social And Environmental Sustainability In Waterfront Redevelopment: A Case Study Of Inspiration Lakeview

This paper is a case study of the Inspiration Lakeview Master Plan in Port Credit, Mississauga. This paper speaks to the history of urban waterfronts and examines the evolution of urban waterfront (re)development in urban port cities from previously industrial eras to now modern-day planning. This paper is divided into sections focusing on social and environmental sustainability measures that are identified in the Master Plan. Social sustainability is analyzed in terms of housing and built form, employment, the notion of complete communities and public health, as well as transit. Environmental sustainability indicators focus on greenspace, stormwater management and waste management. This paper analyzes how social and environmental sustainability is accounted for and critiques the measures identified in the Master Plan to evaluate if what is being presented is adequate or if more robust measures should be implemented

Driving to Opportunity: Understanding the Links among Transportation Access, Residential Outcomes, and Economic Opportunity for Housing Voucher Recipients

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Department of Housing and Urban Development sponsored two major experiments to test whether housing choice vouchers propelled low-income households into greater economic security, the Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing program (MTO) and the Welfare to Work Voucher program (WTW). Using data from these programs, this study examines differences in residential location and employment outcomes between voucher recipients with access to automobiles and those without. Overall, the findings underscore the positive role of automobiles in outcomes for housing voucher participants

Exploring the efficacy of innovative urban public transport infrastructural systems on economic transformation: case of Gautrain and are Yeng in the City of Tshwane

Abstract: There is generally interconnectedness among the complex urban challenges that are being experienced in most developing countries. Of particular note are the spatial fragmentation and inefficient and ineffective transport systems that characterize South African cities. In response, innovative urban public transport systems that seek to improve mobility and encourage mixed land use development have emerged. The innovations also seek to resolve the three apartheid vices that are unemployment, poverty and inequality thus enhancing economic growth and development within South African cities. This paper therefore examined the role of innovations in urban public transport systems to the creation and improvement of business operations and employment opportunities within the City of Tshwane. Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were adopted and applied to gather from key informants and users of the transport services using interviews and questionnaires. Study findings revealed that the innovations have resulted in some commendable developments within the city of Tshwane however, the poor and previously disadvantaged citizens are yet to benefit meaningfully. The economic transformation agenda still needs to deliberately facilitate the inclusion of the poor in line with the massive transport infrastructure investments that have been made. Accordingly, the study recommends an integrated approach to economic transformation and innovative urban transport system. Human capacity development anchored through investment in education, skills development and human rehabilitation for self-help projects and Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME’s) is highly recommended. Major investment opportunities should prioritize the urban poor instead of mainly improving the lives of that are already part of the formal economy. As a result, the study concludes by developing a model on Integrated Approach to innovative urban transport planning and economic transformation