From Bomb Zone to Boom Town: Real Estate Trends and Community Based Practice in Vieques, Puerto Rico

The departure of the Navy in 2003, paired with extensive media coverage throughout the U.S., resulted in increased demand for real estate in Vieques. Most properties were bought by land speculators and baby-boomers from the U.S. The increase in demand caused prices to skyrocket, quadrupling prices in just four years. Activists, residents and government officials are now concerned that low-to-middle income Viequense families, who account for the majority of the population, are unable to afford property in their own community. The aim of this thesis is to document the real estate market trends in Vieques, demonstrate how rising prices and an influx of outsiders have impacted the local community and document local housing initiatives

Active Transportation and Perceptions of Safety: A Case Study of a Regional Trail and a Transit Corridor in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In this article, Garcia and Ara Khan discuss their study on the relationship between perceptions of safety from crime and active transportation with a regional bike and pedestrian trail system in Salt Lake City. Based on community surveys and focus group discussions, the study concludes on important suggestions on how to increase the perception of safety in low-income neighborhoods that go beyond streetscape improvements

Life-Space Mobility and Aging in Place

Research on older adults explores the notion of “aging in place”—providing older adults the opportunity to continue to occupy familiar surroundings, to live in their own homes and communities. But oftentimes one’s ability to stay or leave, particularly in old age, depends on the built environment. Mobility is the ability to meet the basic needs to access goods, activities, services, and social interactions as they relate to quality of life. Thus, mobility is essential to older adults due to their limited, or gradually reducing, physical and cognitive abilities. In transportation research, mobility is often regarded in terms of travel behavior and it is measured by the number of outside-home travel. However, in other fields, including public health, it refers to the relative ease and freedom of movement in all of its forms. This study intends to broaden the understanding of the environmental factors on older adults’ mobility in different life spaces, from one’s bedroom to sidewalk, from home to a final destination via walking, public transit and/or driving. We document and examine 1) the ways in which older adults talk about, understand, and make meaning of their experiences and conditions related to life-space mobility and, 2) how these frames of reference guide their ability to be able to age in place. To achieve these aims, we developed a life-space mobility assessment tool and conduct semi-structured interviews with 25 older adults who have participated in home accessibility modification programs in the U.S. Western region. Given that interviewees already have engaged in some level of self-determination to improve their lives at home, we are interested in their life-space mobility and which opportunities they might see to improve their auto sufficiency. Our work provides both a basis and springboard for studying further geographies and discussion about policy initiatives to effectively and equitably address growing mobility disparities

Active and Public Transportation Connectivity between North Temple TOD and Jordan Park River Trail

The project seeks to capitalize on existing community assets—several TOD stations and a regional bike and pedestrian trail system—by studying how these can be linked. The overarching goal of this project is to increase scholarship on networking safe routes that can encourage public and active transportation choices and thus, encourage a healthier lifestyle and advance sustainability. By expanding pedestrian, bicycle and transit connections to green space and offering the most potential for TOD, this proposal clearly demonstrates the greatest priorities of NITC. Moreover, nationwide, communities like Salt Lake’s West Side are in greater need of sustainable transportation choices that foster livability because a high proportion of low-income and minority populations tend to be transit users and/or utilize active transportation facilities. Historically, the West Side has been cut up and cut off from the rest of the city, first by several rail lines, later by two interstate freeways. The city’s new light rail line through the neighborhood begins to stitch the city back together; the Jordan River Parkway, a regional bike/walk path, bisects the rail line and runs through the heart of West Side neighborhoods. This project explored the relationship of these two assets, as well as their significance to local resident use and access using quantitative tools like surveys, GIS mapping and socioeconomic analysis. We also began to understand how to improve neighborhood connections from a resident perspective, using qualitative data, as well as access to the rest of the city and to other West Side amenities via transit and active transportation. When a neighborhood receives regional-scale amenities, like major transit linking downtown and the airport and a regional trail spanning an entire valley, it is important that resident voices are heard, that local leadership gains a voice and that regional amenities become true neighborhood assets. We explored and documented community-engaged ways of learning from the neighborhood in order to improve equity, identify transportation goals and spark local action

Active and Public Transportation Connectivity between North Temple TOD and Jordan Park River Trail

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Life-Space Mobility: How Transportation and Policy can Support Aging in Place for Older Adults

Research on older adults frequently explores the notion of aging in place —providing older adults the opportunity to continue to live in their own homes and communities. However one’s ability to stay or leave, particularly in old age, often depends on the built environment. An accessible neighborhood that prioritizes mobility affords the ability to meet basic needs like goods, services, and social activities. This life-space mobility is rarely applied in the field of urban planning and architecture. A NITC project led by Ivis Garcia Zambrana of the University of Utah and Alan DeLaTorre of Portland State University sought to operationalize this concept and draw policy implications for the architecture and urban planning fields

Webinar: Aging in Place: Improving Mobility for Older Adults

Aging in place can simply be defined as staying in your home as you age; aging in place concerns include mobility, social activities, safety, accessibility, and long term supports and services in one’s neighborhood and society. In order to facilitate aging in place, organizations in Salt Lake County, Utah and the City of Portland, Oregon, provided home modifications to income-qualified older adults that intended to enable aging in place. Such modifications alter individuals’ life-space mobility – a concept recently used by gerontologists and that we introduced to planners – from within one’s home to the broader community. A unique methodological approach taken by researchers merged several existing data collection instruments with additional interview questions of residents who recently received home modifications. The final report is available here: https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/29182https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/trec_webinar/1041/thumbnail.jp

Understanding the Impact of Decentralizing Homeless Services on Transportation and Mobility in Salt Lake County

In 2019, the delivery of homeless sheltering services in Salt Lake County transitioned from a centralized emergency shelter—The Road Home Salt Lake Community Shelter and Resource Center (TRHSLC)—operated by The Road Home to a decentralized, scattered site model with multiple “Homeless Resource Center” (HRC) locations operated by multiple service providers. To understand to what degree and to which “proximity” to public transportation and other needed services was achieved, this study examined: 1) how the decentralization of homeless services influenced transportation demand and mobility patterns for persons experiencing homelessness (PEH); and 2) how transportation and mobility changes affected access to services for PEH. Using a mixed methods research design, this interdisciplinary study conducted historical public document analysis, GIS spatial analyses, client (PEH) surveys, and interviews with clients (PEH) and professional service providers. Findings reveal that while the region’s homelessness services system changed, the transportation network went unchanged, challenging the use of transportation, PEH mobility, and access to services. Recommendations to mitigate transportation issues when homeless services are decentralized include significant consideration of how the transportation network system will evolve alongside the restructured service system. This could include development of no- or low-cost transportation on demand options, expanding bus routes, state-level funding for a shuttle system, and education to PEH on how to use public transit