Preserving and Promoting Diverse Transit-Oriented Neighborhoods

This report, researched and written by staff at the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Reconnecting America, and Strategic Economics -- working together as the Center for Transit-Oriented Development -- makes a substantial new contribution to our knowledge base regarding mixed-income, mixed-race housing. We now know, via this report, that there are ample opportunities for the creation of mixed-income, mixed-race housing in transit zones. Demand for transit-oriented housing is projected to soar over the next twenty years.Locating mixed-income housing in these particular settings carries the remarkable advantage of permitting residents to stretch their budgets because transit use can lower transportation costs substantially

City Bound by Gerald E. Frug & David J. Barron

Most planning students are required to take courses on Land Use Law and Planning History, and many also take courses on Urban Development and Urban Theory. In their coursework, they learn about the legal basis for planning, the process of city decision-making, the controversies and history of urban revitalization strategies, and the theory and outcomes of urban politics and socioeconomic structure. Few planning courses combine these topics plus the legal basis for the existence of cities, within a pragmatic legal framework for understanding why cities pursue certain policies and not others. In their current book, City Bound: How States Stifle Urban Innovation, co-authors, Gerald E. Frug and David J. Baron make this link in an eye-opening and easy to understand analysis of state laws and city policies in major U.S. cities in seven different states; Boston, MA Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, Seattle, WA, Denver, CO, New York, NY, and San Francisco, CA

Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family·S(hool Partnerships by Anne T. Henderson, Karen L. Mapp, Vivian R. Johnson, and Don Davies

Over the past decade, we have witnessed a steadily growing interest in schools on the part of planners. In the 1930s, school districts were separated from City governments in order to shield public education from patronage hiring and the ups and downs of dty finances. While well­ intentioned, the separation has not been entirely benefidal for schools or cities. Recognizing the problems created through isolated decision making, schools and cities have started working together on some issues, namely transportation and fadlity locations. But coordinated work on other issues, such as community development, social service provision, and affordable family housing. is much less common. I had hoped this book might provide examples and recommendations for planners interested in partnering with schools on issues beyond transportation and land use

Examining the Influence of the Urban Environment on Parent's Time, Energy, and Resources for Engagement in their Children's Learning

Decades of research have shown that parents play a critical role in their children's education and learning, particularly if they engage with their children's education at home, get involved in their children's schools, and involve their children in community-based activities and programs that provide additional types of learning and socialization. However, research has also identified that barriers in the urban environment often prevent parents from being more fully engaged, including barriers related to transportation, housing, and neighborhood safety. These urban environmental barriers are rarely mentioned in the current school reform debates, nor are there detailed analyses of how actual environmental issues present barriers to parents. This dissertation fills this gap by examining how the urban environment affects parents' time, energy, and resources for engagement in their children's learning. Parent engagement is influenced by the parent's personal characteristics, beliefs, and capabilities, which provide the motivation and skills for engagement. Given the decision to engage, time and resource constraints imposed by family demands, employment, or the external environment affect whether the parent can pursue opportunities for engagement. The school environment, culture, or programs for parents may determine whether a parent feels comfortable getting involved and has information on how to be involved. Community and social supports may also encourage engagement by helping parents to meet their basic needs, thereby increasing time and resources for engagement, or by providing education and training, or emotional and social ties that affect their motivation to be engaged.In order to account for each of the various influences on parent engagement, a mixed-methods case study approach was used to assess environmental contexts as well as personal influences. Parents in 70 families residing in low- and mixed-income neighborhoods of Oakland, CA completed a take-home survey and a two-day time use diary, and were interviewed in person. The data collected covered personal background, education, household expenditures, housing history and residential location choices, current and past employment, daily activities and transportation patterns, engagement activities with their children, satisfaction with the school, and future plans for themselves and their children. The semi-structured interviews allowed for in-depth explanations about how engagement fit with the rest of their responsibilities and what types of supports allowed them to engage, or prevented them from engaging more. The study approach brought together research on parent engagement with research on activity spaces, accessibility, and time budgets, and added detailed neighborhood conditions data and travel data on trips, distances, and modes. Statistical analyses of the data were complemented with in-depth qualitative information from the parent interviews. From the statistical time-use analysis, the study confirmed that parent engagement is influenced by a mix of personal, external and school factors. At the personal level, there were significant and positive associations with at-home learning and at-school involvement by income, and at-home learning by employment. Parents with longer work hours reduced their time on sleep, personal care, and leisure to allow for parental engagement. Car ownership was negatively associated with time spent on care and organizing for children, but there was no association with at-home learning or school involvement. Parents whose children attended a neighborhood school spent more time on care and organizing for their children, and if the school was less than 1.3 miles from home, they spent more time on school involvement and care and organizing. The age of children also mattered, as expected, with parents of younger children spending more time on engagement activities at home, such as reading with their children. In contrast to other studies, there was no association by education level or race and ethnicity in terms of time spent on parent engagement, although there were differences by other daily time uses, mostly related to fewer work hours. The qualitative analysis helped to define the mechanisms behind these associations. In particular, low household incomes led to high housing mobility, and the associated time and costs cut into parents' time for engagement, job searches, and personal development. School choice was also a major factor that interacted with income. Low income parents who chose schools distant from home to improve their children's academic opportunities had trouble affording the time, costs, and logistics of traveling to school and other destinations, due to slow and unreliable transit and the high costs of gasoline. Traveling after dark was also a barrier for families who lived in high crime areas. In contrast, neighborhood community development and involvement in community organizations or with social service providers provided positive supports for parents of all income levels. Active participation in a community organization that provided a variety of training programs for low-income mothers helped to explain why parents with less than a high school education were actively engaged with their children's learning. Improving student outcomes in the U.S. requires not only providing excellent in-school resources, but also removing the barriers and providing the additional supports that parents need to manage their multiple roles including their important role as educators of their children. Using a lens of parent engagement together with one of urban planning and policy has been shown to provide new insights into the roles planners can play in helping to improve education. If parents' daily needs for travel, housing and social supports are not met, they cannot meet their children's educational needs. Planners who design and seek to improve transit service, increase the supply of affordable housing in safe and accessible neighborhoods, and provide for community development thus can help improve parental involvement

Examining the Influence of the Urban Environment on Parent's Time, Energy, and Resources for Engagement in their Children's Learning

Decades of research have shown that parents play a critical role in their children's education and learning, particularly if they engage with their children's education at home, get involved in their children's schools, and involve their children in community-based activities and programs that provide additional types of learning and socialization. However, research has also identified that barriers in the urban environment often prevent parents from being more fully engaged, including barriers related to transportation, housing, and neighborhood safety. These urban environmental barriers are rarely mentioned in the current school reform debates, nor are there detailed analyses of how actual environmental issues present barriers to parents. This dissertation fills this gap by examining how the urban environment affects parents' time, energy, and resources for engagement in their children's learning. Parent engagement is influenced by the parent's personal characteristics, beliefs, and capabilities, which provide the motivation and skills for engagement. Given the decision to engage, time and resource constraints imposed by family demands, employment, or the external environment affect whether the parent can pursue opportunities for engagement. The school environment, culture, or programs for parents may determine whether a parent feels comfortable getting involved and has information on how to be involved. Community and social supports may also encourage engagement by helping parents to meet their basic needs, thereby increasing time and resources for engagement, or by providing education and training, or emotional and social ties that affect their motivation to be engaged.In order to account for each of the various influences on parent engagement, a mixed-methods case study approach was used to assess environmental contexts as well as personal influences. Parents in 70 families residing in low- and mixed-income neighborhoods of Oakland, CA completed a take-home survey and a two-day time use diary, and were interviewed in person. The data collected covered personal background, education, household expenditures, housing history and residential location choices, current and past employment, daily activities and transportation patterns, engagement activities with their children, satisfaction with the school, and future plans for themselves and their children. The semi-structured interviews allowed for in-depth explanations about how engagement fit with the rest of their responsibilities and what types of supports allowed them to engage, or prevented them from engaging more. The study approach brought together research on parent engagement with research on activity spaces, accessibility, and time budgets, and added detailed neighborhood conditions data and travel data on trips, distances, and modes. Statistical analyses of the data were complemented with in-depth qualitative information from the parent interviews. From the statistical time-use analysis, the study confirmed that parent engagement is influenced by a mix of personal, external and school factors. At the personal level, there were significant and positive associations with at-home learning and at-school involvement by income, and at-home learning by employment. Parents with longer work hours reduced their time on sleep, personal care, and leisure to allow for parental engagement. Car ownership was negatively associated with time spent on care and organizing for children, but there was no association with at-home learning or school involvement. Parents whose children attended a neighborhood school spent more time on care and organizing for their children, and if the school was less than 1.3 miles from home, they spent more time on school involvement and care and organizing. The age of children also mattered, as expected, with parents of younger children spending more time on engagement activities at home, such as reading with their children. In contrast to other studies, there was no association by education level or race and ethnicity in terms of time spent on parent engagement, although there were differences by other daily time uses, mostly related to fewer work hours. The qualitative analysis helped to define the mechanisms behind these associations. In particular, low household incomes led to high housing mobility, and the associated time and costs cut into parents' time for engagement, job searches, and personal development. School choice was also a major factor that interacted with income. Low income parents who chose schools distant from home to improve their children's academic opportunities had trouble affording the time, costs, and logistics of traveling to school and other destinations, due to slow and unreliable transit and the high costs of gasoline. Traveling after dark was also a barrier for families who lived in high crime areas. In contrast, neighborhood community development and involvement in community organizations or with social service providers provided positive supports for parents of all income levels. Active participation in a community organization that provided a variety of training programs for low-income mothers helped to explain why parents with less than a high school education were actively engaged with their children's learning. Improving student outcomes in the U.S. requires not only providing excellent in-school resources, but also removing the barriers and providing the additional supports that parents need to manage their multiple roles including their important role as educators of their children. Using a lens of parent engagement together with one of urban planning and policy has been shown to provide new insights into the roles planners can play in helping to improve education. If parents' daily needs for travel, housing and social supports are not met, they cannot meet their children's educational needs. Planners who design and seek to improve transit service, increase the supply of affordable housing in safe and accessible neighborhoods, and provide for community development thus can help improve parental involvement

Estimating Transportation Costs by Characteristics of Neighborhood and Household

Since information on U.S. household expenditures was first collected, transport expenditures have risen from the sixth-highest share of household budgets, less than 2%, in 1917 to the second-highest share since the 1970s. This rise is linked to increased automobile purchase and automobile use and a relative decline in other costs, particularly food. Studies have also linked variations in the built environment to transport expenditures, but this influence cannot be tested by the federal Consumer Expenditure Survey since it is reported at the metropolitan level. Regional travel demand models recognize the dual influence of land use and household characteristics but do not include sufficient detail on the built environment of neighborhoods. Additionally, these models report travel time, distance, and frequency but not out-of-pocket household transportation expenditures. A study was launched to create a statistical model to predict household total annual transportation expenditures for each neighborhood in the largest metropolitan regions in the United States, controlling for the built environment and household size and income. The model specifies five independent variables—density, jobs access, neighborhood services, walkability, and transit connectivity. Model parameters were calibrated to measured vehicle ownership and transit use in the pilot region, Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota, and to vehicle miles traveled by households at the block group level in the National Household Travel Survey. Statistically significant results confirm the influence of the built environment and regional accessibility on transport expenditures. Intended users are households, policy makers, and planners making location, design, and investment decisions