Immigration and low birthweight in the US: The role of time and timing

The literature exploring the health consequences of immigration is largely dominated by efforts to replicate, across outcomes and populations, and explain two widely observed findings: that foreign nativity is protective (yielding the “healthy migrant effect” or “immigrant paradox”) and that the health advantage of immigrants diminishes over time in the host country. In this study, we focus on the second of these patterns and provide evidence that a lifecourse perspective can help to explain the apparent deterioration in health by incorporating attention to immigrants’ timing of arrival. We examine the role of immigrants’ exposure to the US, in terms of both age at immigration and length of residence, in shaping birthweight, a well measured and consequential marker of health, and maternal smoking, an important risk factor for low birthweight.

Albina Zone

Story Summary:In near future Portland, the police have been abolished, but what else is needed for real liberation? A gifted young woman and her mother struggle to communicate across a rift of unspoken history. Foreword to Black Freedom Beyond Borders: Memories of Abolition Day There are times when our lived reality feels stranger than science fiction - a viral pandemic, an economic crisis, global conflicts on multiple frontlines, the rise of white supremacist racism, a wave of state violence against Black bodies, the fiery uprisings across the nation, and militarized guards deployed in response… It was the Red Summer of 1919. Barely past 100 years later, it is as if we are quarantined in a time loop. As Black organizers call to divest, defund and abolish the police state - they have recast their roles from movement builders into worldbuilders. At a time when we need a big vision to show what is abundantly possible for liberation - Black creatives, writers and culture creators pave the way, setting the course for the investments, policy and ultimately the more free and just world we want to live in. In the tradition of Black Freedom Beyond Borders,1 Wakanda Dream Lab and PolicyLink collaborated on the Speculative Writer’s Room for Abolitionist Futures inviting 10 Black writers to imagine a world 100 years liberated from mass incarceration and generate immersive abolitionist stories across time, place, and communities. These stories are compiled into this digital anthology, Black Freedom Beyond Borders: Memories of Abolition Day. The anthology sets a vision and a marker for PolicyLinksupported campaigns that are underway today to reimagine safety and restore resources to communities, including the People’s Coalition for Safety and Freedom—working to dismantle the harmful provisions of the 1994 Crime Bill— and Freedom Labs—supporting local organizers who are advocating to divest funding from the criminal-legal system and invest those resources directly in their communities. These surreal times call for visionary fiction. These stories not only explore Black Freedom beyond the borders of the prison, police and surveillance state - but also beyond the borders of time. We are being called to dream of liberated futures while also remembering, and repairing, our collective past. We are honoring the Fallen whose names we sing as hymns. We are dreaming the wildest dreams to gift our future beloveds. We are claiming the hard-won victories for new truths to emerge. We are celebrating Abolition Day! Because just like the protest chant echoing in our streets: “I. Believe. That. We Will. Win!” -- Calvin Williams | Impact Producer | Wakanda Dream La

… And I Feel Fine

I had a little bit of a meltdown at a coffee break during the recent meeting of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning – North America’s gathering of university planning faculty. It’s not typically a high-key emotional atmosphere, but I was truly thrown for a loop by a photo display of past meetings. There I was, among colleagues, as we hosted the 2016 meeting in Portland. In the picture, taken about two weeks before the U.S. election, we are all grinning widely. I had passed out lapel pins with Michelle Obama making a side-eye face to all the members of the Faculty Women’s Interest Group and the Planners of Color; we were holding joint workshops and enjoying the ever-increasing diversity of the Association. My fellow housing researchers had big plans to push forward the fair housing agenda, forty years overdue but finally resurrected; likewise environmental justice and taking climate change seriously were surely solidly prioritized

Growth Without Displacement: A Test for Equity Planning in Portland

Portland, Oregon, is considered a pioneer of regionalism, integrated land-use and transportation planning, and sustainability as a criterion for planning policy. After four decades of land-use planning, Portland has a national and international reputation for urban livability and climate change mitigation. While these successes are laudable, in the past decade Portland’s underrepresented and underserved communities have been raising a voice to demand that planners address issues of income and racial inequality. In response to and in collaboration with communities, over the past five years Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) has adopted an equity strategy with a racial justice focus. This chapter traces the evolution of Portland’s planning from the Portland Plan—the 2009 citywide strategic plan that first articulated the equity framework— to the ongoing comprehensive land-use plan that addresses equitable development without displacement. These planner-community venues are spaces of both conflict and collaboration. The city’s planners and advocates alike recognize the value of this relationship, although it is sometimes challenging. Communities are building their capacity to speak the technical language of planning to demand more from city policymakers and to advocate for equity planning at the planning commission and city council. Planners are gaining the language and analytic approach to develop equity policies. Through relationships with community advocates, planners are more assured of political support for their equity work. The path from setting an equity goal to developing a comprehensive land-use plan and to beginning to implement anti-displacement policies has not been a straight or quick one. However, the learning and reflection that has happened along the way suggests that while it may not have been an optimal path, it may have been a necessary one. The experience in Portland suggests roles and possibilities for city planners and community advocates seeking to move toward a more just city. Across the United States, cities are taking on the role of policy innovators, and increasingly, leaders recognize equity as one of the major challenges they must address. Many cities are declaring their intentions to address institutional racism and inequalities—from Seattle to Austin, Philadelphia, and Boston. This Portland case study provides lessons learned in the shift, from developing an understanding of the city government’s role in perpetuating and undoing inequity to incorporating equity into the everyday and technical decisions and policymaking of city plans

Service-learning as strategy of aging and environment: developing generations of socially responsible interior designers

Interior designers are well suited as activists for change, undertaking the multitude of social issues plaguing our democratic society. On a daily basis designers are directly engaged with the world around them, inspiring dialogue in order to create the physical spaces and places where others live, work, and play. As our nation is facing obstacles and difficult issues pertaining to aging, the economy, and health care, designers can offer diversity and fulfill a multitude of responsibilities including as social scholars and educators. Inspiring and empowering the next generation of interior designers is a challenge educational institutions face. Therefore, the creation of responsible designers, who tackle difficult issues, will require educational institutions to actively participate in the social issues facing communities around the country, in particular the aging baby boomer. Academic service-learning is a teaching strategy in which students are engaged in authentic activities, where course curriculum is applied to address the needs of communities in order to enrich the educational experience and encourage lifelong civic engagement (Furco, 2001; Howard, 1998). Service-learning has often been accepted as a teaching tool among educational institutions yet widely criticized as a research methodology (Bailis, 2001; Furco, 2001). Research is an integral part of all service-learning projects, including aging in community, since the solutions discovered for community problems should be derived from research (Enos and Troppe, 1996). Therefore, service-learning and research should be aligned to increase faculty and student use of evidence-based design decisions. In 2006, Partners for Livable Communities found less than half, 46%, of American communities have begun planning to address the needs of the aging baby boomers. In response to this finding, this study will explore the implementation of a well defined service-learning philosophy to address the need for appropriate housing options within rural communities. This visual study will inspire leaders and members of the community into lasting partnerships with educational institutions, to address the evolving and challenging community social issues surrounding the aging baby boomer

Stability, Equity, and Dignity: Reporting and Reflecting on Oregon Tenant Experiences During the Covid-19 Pandemic

In mid-March, Oregon leaders ordered unprecedented ‘stay home’ measures to slow the spread of the pandemic Covid-19 virus. The economic impact was immediate, with entire sectors of business in ‘shut down’ mode and others limiting their activity. These emergency orders, necessary for public health, had a dual impact for workers: many were quickly laid off from temporarily closed businesses, while others deemed essential were at risk of viral transmission. Recognizing the potential that many tenants would not be able to pay their rent without work, governments at all levels moved quickly to enact temporary moratoriums on eviction and on foreclosure for those who could not pay rent and mortgages. While the statewide moratorium was extended until the end of September, 2020, Oregon tenants remain economically vulnerable. The National Equity Atlas estimates that 176,000 Oregon renter households are at risk of eviction at the expiration of the moratorium. The circumstances demand significant, large scale policy intervention to prevent a mass eviction and houselessness event. Under routine policy-making circumstances, we rely largely on data from the real estate and housing industry, with limited knowledge about those living in rental housing. Faced with entirely new circumstances, policymakers need information and analysis to fill those gaps, so that resource allocations and new policies can meet the needs of tenants, ensuring stability for renting households and their communities. This research, conducted in collaboration by Community Alliance of Tenants with Portland State University, provides data on tenants’ experiences and choices during the pandemic. The report includes data from 585 calls to CAT’s hotline, which receives calls for assistance from around the state; and a new survey conducted among tenants in July. The 460 survey responses show that tenants face growing housing insecurity as the economic crisis erodes their ability to pay the rent and meet other needs

Making the Invisible Challenges and Opportunities Visible

The 41 fellows in the 2015 Emerging Leaders Program worked with community partners to generate the theme, “Making the Invisible Challenges and Opportunities Visible: Collaborative leadership for economic and social well-being. The projects provide fellows an opportunity to practice elements of collaborative leadership in peer-led teams working with multiple stakeholders. The projects focus on civic engagement, building a leadership base for Greater Boston that is ready to tackle the big challenges that ensure the broader economic and social well-being of the region. The project sponsor with whom each team works is a nonprofit or governmental organization with big goals. Each team begins the process by refining the scope of work, so they can best leverage their skills for the organization’s strategic needs