Dannenberg, Andrew L.; Rodriguez, Daniel A.; Sandt, Laura S. (2021). Advancing Research in Transportation and Public Health: A Selection of Twenty Project Ideas from a US Research Roadmap. Journal Of Transport & Health, 21.
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Abstract
Background: Transportation policies and projects have multiple impacts on health. Research on these impacts can help promote positive and reduce adverse health consequences of decisions made by transportation agencies. Methods: In 2019 the U.S. National Cooperative Highway Research Program published a research roadmap for transportation and public health based on an extensive literature search and key informant interviews. The roadmap identified 44 research gaps and 122 research needs on a wide range of relevant topics. From this list, using pre-established criteria including specificity, equity, potential impact, and long-term usefulness, we selected 20 topics suitable for further research especially in academic settings. Results: We present the questions, context, and possible research approach for each of the 20 topics. These topics cover issues ranging from integrating equity into performance measures and developing forecasting models for active travel to incorporating health questions into routine household travel surveys and examining health impacts of autonomous vehicles. We added questions on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on transportation. Discussion: This list will be useful to faculty, researchers, and students as they consider topics for research in transportation and public health. Results of research on these topics could influence transportation decisions in policy making, planning and community participation, capital programming, project design, and implementation. Future leaders of transportation agencies, transportation providers, and advocacy organizations may be more likely to consider transportation policies that incorporate a health perspective if their training includes research findings that increase their awareness of the health impacts of these policies.
Keywords
Public Health; Equity; Research; Public Transit; Metrics; Transportation Planning
Acolin, Arthur. (2019). Housing Trajectories of Immigrants and Their Children in France: Between Integration and Stratification. Urban Studies (sage Publications, Ltd.), 56(10), 2021 – 2039.
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Abstract
Immigrants have been found to exhibit different housing tenure patterns from the rest of the population in a number of contexts. This article tests whether observed differences in tenure in France can be explained by differences in socio-demographic characteristics or whether unexplained differences might result from housing market mechanisms that affect immigrants differentially from the rest of the population, and extends this to the second generation. The article relies on data from TeO, a survey of 21,761 persons designed to oversample and identify immigrants and their children, providing information about the outcomes of children of immigrants that is otherwise lacking in French statistics. The results indicate that while immigrants are significantly less likely to be homeowners, even after controlling for compositional difference, the gap in homeownership between the second generation and the rest of the population is smaller and not statistically significant. This suggests a progressive integration in the housing market over time and over generations rather than overall stratified housing trajectories. Differences in terms of the share of social housing residents, the level of residential crowding, and housing and neighbourhood characteristics also decline across generations. However, children of immigrants from some non-European origins are experiencing higher levels of stratification than other groups, with continued significant differences in tenure.
Keywords
Immigrants; Housing; Home Ownership; Children Of Immigrants; Housing Market; Social Stratification; France; Homeownership; Housing Trajectories; Tenure; Segmented Assimilation; Location Choices; Wealth; 2nd-generation; Discrimination; Segregation; Inequality; Quality; Markets; Demographics; Homeowners; Neighborhoods; Crowding; Statistical Analysis; Residential Patterns; Children; Trajectories; Residents; Residential Areas; Integration; Statistics; European Cultural Groups; Sociodemographics; Stratification; Demographic Aspects; Second Generation; Property; Public Housing; Noncitizens
Firth, Caislin L.; Baquero, Barbara; Berney, Rachel; Hoerster, Katherine D.; Mooney, Stephen J.; Winters, Meghan. (2021). Not Quite a Block Party: Covid-19 Street Reallocation Programs in Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC. Ssm-population Health, 14.
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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed mobility inequities within cities. In response, cities are rapidly implementing street reallocation initiatives. These interventions provide space for walking and cycling, however, other mobility needs (e.g., essential workers, deliveries) may be impeded by these reallocation decisions. Informed by mobility justice frameworks, we examined socio-spatial differences in access to street reallocations in Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia. In both cities, more interventions occurred in areas where people of color, particularly Black and Indigenous people, lived. In Seattle, more interventions occurred in areas where people with disabilities, on food stamps, and children lived. In Vancouver, more interventions occurred in areas where recent immigrants lived, or where people used public transit or cycled to work. Street reallocations could be opportunities for cities to redress inequities in mobility and access to public spaces. Going forward, it is imperative to monitor how cities use data and welcome communities to redesign these temporary spaces to be corridors for their own mobility.
Keywords
Covid-19; Equity; Inequalities; Built Environment; Mobility; Cities; Mobility Justice
Acolin, Arthur; Goodman, Laurie; Wachter, Susan M. (2019). Accessing Homeownership with Credit Constraints. Housing Policy Debate, 29(1), 108 – 125.
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Abstract
The tightening of mortgage credit in the aftermath of the global financial crisis has been identified as a factor in the decline of homeownership in the United States to 50-year lows. In this article, we review findings about the role of borrowing constraints and tightened credit in lowering access to homeownership. We also discuss how institutional changes could hinder or support this access going forward.
Keywords
Borrowing Constraints; Home Ownership; Mortgage; Model; Race; Homeownership; Credit Access; International Finance; Economic Crisis; Property; Aftermath; Access; Credit; Access To Credit; Economic Models; United States--us
Hess, Chris; Acolin, Arthur; Walter, Rebecca; Kennedy, Ian; Chasins, Sarah; Crowder, Kyle. (2021). Searching for Housing in the Digital Age: Neighborhood Representation on Internet Rental Housing Platforms across Space, Platform, and Metropolitan Segregation. Environment And Planning A-economy And Space, 53(8), 2012 – 2032.
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Abstract
Understanding residential mobility, housing affordability, and the geography of neighborhood advantage and disadvantage relies on robust information about housing search processes and housing markets. Existing data about housing markets, especially rental markets, suffer from accuracy issues and a lack of temporal and geographic flexibility. Data collected from online rental platforms that are commonly used can help address these issues and hold considerable promise for better understanding the full distribution of available rental homes. However, realizing this promise requires a careful assessment of potential sources of bias as online rental listing platforms may perpetuate inequalities similar to those found in physical spaces. This paper approaches the production of rental advertisements as a social process driven by both contextual and property level factors. We compare data from two online platforms for the 100 most populated metropolitan areas in the United States to explore inequality in digital rental listing spaces and understand what characteristics are associated with over and underrepresentation of advertisements in certain areas. We find similar associations for socioeconomic measures between platforms and across urban and suburban parts of these metropolitan areas. In contrast, the importance of racial and ethnic composition, as well as broader patterns of segregation, for online representation differs substantially across space and platform. This analysis informs our understanding of how online platforms affect housing search dynamics through their biases and segmentation, and highlights the potential and limits in using the data available on these platforms to produce small area rental estimates.
Keywords
Fair Market Rents; Cities; Opportunity; Residential Mobility; Online Rental Listings; Rental Housing Markets; Housing Search; Inequality
Acolin, Arthur; Lin, Desen; Wachter, Susan M. (2019). Endowments and Minority Homeownership. Cityscape, 21(1), 5 – 62.
Abstract
Fifty years after the adoption of the 1968 Fair Housing Act that prohibits discrimination in the housing market, homeownership rates have not increased for Black or Hispanic households. The current homeownership rate for Black households is 42 percent, identical to the 1970 census reported level, and 48 percent for Hispanic households, lower than that in 1970. Using data from the 1989, 2005, and 2013 American Housing Surveys, we identify the extent to which group differences in household endowments account for persistently low minority homeownership levels.
Keywords
Borrowing Constraints; Household Formation; Race; Wealth; Trends; Rates
Robinson, Jamaica R. M.; Phipps, Amanda, I; Barrington, Wendy E.; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Sheppard, Lianne; Malen, Rachel C.; Newcomb, Polly A. (2021). Associations of Household Income with Health-Related Quality of Life Following a Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis Varies with Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, 30(7), 1366 – 1374.
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Abstract
Background: Existing evidence indicates household income as a predictor of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) following a colorectal cancer diagnosis. This association likely varies with neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES), but evidence is limited. Methods: We included data from 1,355 colorectal cancer survivors participating in the population-based Puget Sound Colorectal Cancer Cohort (PSCCC). Survivors reported current annual household income; we measured HRQoL via the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Colorectal (FACT-C) tool. Using neighborhood data summarized within a 1-km radial buffer of Census block group centroids, we constructed a multidimensional nSES index measure. We employed survivors' geocoded residential addresses to append nSES score for Census block group of residence. With linear generalized estimating equations clustered on survivor location, we evaluated associations of household income with differences in FACT-C mean score, overall and stratified by nSES. We used separate models to explore relationships for wellbeing subscales. Results: We found lower household income to be associated with clinically meaningful differences in overall FACT-C scores [<$30K: -13.6; 95% confidence interval (CI): -16.8 to -10.4] and subscale wellbeing after a recent colorectal cancer diagnosis. Relationships were slightly greater in magnitude for survivors living in lower SES neighborhoods. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that recently diagnosed lower income colorectal cancer survivors are likely to report lower HRQoL, and modestly more so in lower SES neighborhoods. Impact: The findings from this work will aid future investigators' ability to further consider the contexts in which the income of survivors can be leveraged as a means of improving HRQoL
Keywords
Built Environment Factors; Functional Assessment; Fact-c; Population-density; Physical-activity; Survivors; Care; Disparities; Impact; Mortality
Reina, Vincent; Acolin, Arthur; Bostic, Raphael W. (2019). Section 8 Vouchers and Rent Limits: Do Small Area Fair Market Rent Limits Increase Access to Opportunity Neighborhoods? An Early Evaluation. Housing Policy Debate, 29(1), 44 – 61.
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Abstract
One critique of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s Housing Choice Voucher program is that its maximum rent limit is set at the metropolitan level, making more expensive neighborhoods effectively off limits to households who receive rental assistance. As a result, the design of the program limits a voucher household's access to opportunity neighborhood. In response, HUD created the Small Area Fair Market Rent (SAFMR) demonstration program, which calculates the maximum voucher rent at the zip code level so that HUD's rent limits more closely align with local neighborhood rents. In theory, this program should improve a voucher household's choice set and location outcomes. Looking at changes in the location of beneficiaries in the six sites that participated in the SAFMR demonstration program, we find a significant amount of regional variation in the results. Specifically, introduction of the SAFMR rent calculations results in voucher households living in higher opportunity neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas, in lower opportunity neighborhoods in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and mixed effects in other areas. These mixed results highlight some of the potential incremental benefits of the program and reinforce the importance of viewing this policy over a longer period of time, and in the context of other constraints voucher households face in accessing neighborhood opportunity.
Keywords
Choice; Mobility; Families; Live; Section 8; Low-income Housing; Subsidized Housing; Vouchers; Neighborhood; Access; Markets; Mathematical Analysis; Federal Agencies; Urban Development; Housing; Households; Neighborhoods; Rents; Limitations; Beneficiaries; Housing Subsidies; United States--us; Dallas Texas; Chattanooga Tennessee
Tillyer, Marie Skubak; Wilcox, Pamela; Walter, Rebecca J. (2021). Crime Generators In Context: Examining ‘place In Neighborhood’ Propositions. Journal Of Quantitative Criminology, 37(2), 517 – 546.
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Abstract
Objectives The present study tests hypotheses regarding the moderating influence of neighborhood-level criminal opportunity on the relationship between crime generators and block-level crime. Methods We first estimated multilevel negative binomial regression models for violent, property, and drug crimes to identify crime-type specific crime generators on each block. We then estimated a series of crime-type specific models to examine whether the effects of violent, property, and drug crime generators are moderated by three census block group-level indicators of neighborhood criminal opportunity-concentrated disadvantage, vehicular traffic activity, and civic engagement. Results The positive relationship between crime generators and crime on blocks was exacerbated in census block groups with high levels of concentrated disadvantage and high levels of traffic activity for all three crime types. The effects of crime generators on block-level crime were significantly tempered in census block groups with high levels of civic engagement. Conclusions Particular place types do not generate crime similarly across varying neighborhood contexts. Rather, the criminogenic effects of micro-places appear to be exacerbated in neighborhoods with extensive criminal opportunity and tempered in neighborhoods with less criminal opportunity.
Keywords
Neighborhoods; Crime; Regression Analysis; Census; Crime And Place; Crime Generators; Multilevel Opportunity; Place In Neighborhood; Alcohol Outlet Density; Block-level Analysis; Social-disorganization; Routine Activities; Longitudinal Analysis; Street Robbery; Land-use; Multilevel; Victimization; Community; Citizen Participation; Traffic; Property Offences; Drugs; Effects; Property
Manzo, Lynne C. (2014). On Uncertain Ground: Being at Home in the Context of Public Housing Redevelopment. International Journal Of Housing Policy, 14(4), 389 – 410.
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Abstract
The recent global financial crisis increased the volatility of housing markets and furthered the ongoing disinvestment in public sector housing. This disinvestment has been manifest in urban restructuring programmes involving both the privatisation and the wholesale demolition of public/social housing. For example, programmes like HOPE VI in the USA have radically altered the landscape of public housing through the demolition of tens of thousands of housing units nationwide. However, what of the people who occupied this housing, and what of the lives they had built there? In such a context, deliberating on the notion of being at home becomes a pressing task, necessitating serious consideration of the lived experience of place and place attachments among those who have been displaced by such programmes. While research has studied outcomes such as the quality of the new neighbourhood and household economic stability, it does not adequately address the lived experience of place and the disruptions that forced relocation can cause. This paper brings the literature on place attachment into the discussion of urban restructuring programmes and discusses the findings of several empirical studies on place attachment to provide a more complete picture of the impacts of such programmes on poor people. It demonstrates how place attachments in the context of public housing are complicated by poverty, power dynamics, ambivalence, and stigma, underscoring how attachments are formed through the interplay of policy and programme rhetoric, and the active processes of meaning making among residents. Policy implications of considering place attachments in public housing redevelopment efforts are also addressed.
Keywords
Public Housing; Housing Development; Housing Market; Housing Assistance Agencies; Urbanization; Global Financial Crisis, 2008-2009; Being At Home; Hope Vi; Place Attachment; Urban Restructuring Programmes; Relocation; Residents; Stability; Landscape; Neighborhoods; Stigma; Poverty; Radicalism; Ambivalence; Public Policy; Social Programs; Public Finance; Public Sector; Economic Stabilization; Housing Authorities; International Finance; Economic Crisis; Privatization; Demolition; Volatility; Redevelopment; Low Income Groups; Rhetoric