Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2023, Spatially Integrated Social Science

The increase in rate of international migration to the United States since the late 1960s, coupled with a generally high rate among minority populations, altered the racial and ethnic composition of America's urban neighborhoods. The changing demography and increase in shares of minority subpopulations underscore the salience of conducting multigroup studies of residential and socioeconomic segregation beyond the traditional white versus black dichotomy. Segregation based on subgroup characteristics (de facto or de jure) is problematic, particularly for racial minorities and low-income residents who are limited in moving to areas they can afford. These minority neighborhoods are associated with physical and socioeconomic disadvantage due to public and private de-investment. The undercurrents of segregation were explored in the racial tipping point and white flight literature where non-Hispanic white majority residents exit old inner and central city neighborhoods when the share of minority populations increase beyond a critical threshold. Due to strong correlations between race and income, white flight also tends to concentrate poverty in the abandoned neighborhoods. Beyond this relationship between personal choice and segregation however, local and federal public policies have also been historically linked with segregating urban America. Federal highway programs, mortgage loan underwriting processes, suburban housing developments, and restrictive local zoning laws have created race and income-based segregated spaces. Also, reinvestment programs aimed revitalizing physical and socially distressed neighborhoods tend to yield minimal outcomes. This is often due to either limited funding compared to the magnitude of the problem or lack of sustained political commitment, overemphasis on market-based ideas which alienate minorities and low-income residents, and emphasis on new urbanism housing designs associated net losses in the public housing stock. In this dissertatio (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Daniel Hammel (Committee Chair); Sujata Shetty (Committee Member); Isabelle Nilsson (Committee Member); Neil Reid (Committee Member); Jami Taylor (Committee Member) Subjects: Geographic Information Science; Geography; Public Policy; Urban Planning

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, City and Regional Planning

This dissertation identifies factors that influence the subjective perceptions of relocatees after relocation, provides an understanding of the complex ways in which the relocation experience affects relocatees' lives, and fills gaps in the literature about residential satisfaction, neighborhood context, and the effects of residential mobility on low-income households. Existing literature on the subjective perceptions of relocatees is fragmentary, and causality is unclear. Therefore, the objective of this study is to bring all existing concepts together into one comprehensive model and analyze the direct and indirect effects of individual- and household-level characteristics and perceptions of neighborhood context, neighborhood social ties, and place attachment on residential satisfaction. A better understanding of the complex ways in which the relocation experience and process affect relocatees' lives will be valuable in designing or modifying housing policy. To fill in knowledge gaps about residential satisfaction, perceptions of neighborhood context, and the effects of residential mobility on low-income households displaced by public housing redevelopment, the following research question is poseds: 1) How do their subjective perceptions of the original site affect those of the new residential environment after relocation?, 2) How does attachment to public housing mediate the impact of perceived neighborhood attributes on residential satisfaction after relocation to a new place?, 3) How does involuntary relocation affect relocatees' neighborhood social ties, place attachment, and residential satisfaction after relocation to a new place? Using two waves of survey (post-move and two years later) with three time points (retrospective pre-, post-move, and two years later) of the Bremerton Washington's Westpark project, this study investigates: 1) what predicts residential satisfaction over time through a cross-lagged effect modeling, and 2) the causal relations (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Rachel Kleit (Advisor); Natasha Bowen (Committee Member); Jason Reece (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, City and Regional Planning

This dissertation is composed of three essays written with the aim of understanding the relationship between HOPE VI (Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere) and gentrification. In the first essay, I develop a standardized method, Spatial Gentrification Index (SGI), to measure the degree of gentrification across the 250 top-populated Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) for the periods of 1990-2000 and 2000-2010. In order to improve measurement, I use the factor analysis to address the intercorrelations among the key possible determinants of gentrification. The results show that racial turnover is an aspect of the gentrification process, and affluent groups—particularly the White population—receive the most benefits from gentrification. Also, gentrifiers are characterized by white members of a young professional who has different attitudes and behaviors from ordinary middle-class residents. In particular, “gentrifiers,” who are pioneers in revitalizing abandoned neighborhoods, appear to lead gentrification from 1990-2000. During 2000-2010, the ability of original residents and in-movers to afford housing costs in neighborhoods becomes significant, and more redevelopment of existing, blighted neighborhoods occurs with the influx of private or public capital. In the second essay, I examine the relationship between HOPE VI and gentrification among 97 MSAs. Using multiple regression, this study investigates how the implementation of HOPE VI influences on the degree of gentrification in terms of change in SGI. The results indicate that HOPE VI itself generally has the impact of reducing gentrification, although the impact of previous gentrification is larger than in places without HOPE VI. The implementation of HOPE VI facilitates more poor and minority households to live in neighborhoods than areas with no experience with HOPE VI. These findings suggest that future redevelopment programs should build sustainable communities for all income le (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Rachel Kleit (Advisor); Bernadette Hanlon (Committee Member); Kareem Usher (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

MSARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2014, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

Architecture has a tangled and tumultuous history with public housing in the United States, to the extent that architecture has been cited as a contributing factor to the program's failure. Despite the strong criticism toward public housing architecture, little research on the subject currently exists. As the nature of public housing continues to shift from high-rise concentrations of very low-income families toward a low-rise mixed-income model, the role of architecture within the discipline needs to be reexamined. By reviewing planning policy, analyzing theoretical and empirical research in housing and architectural fields, and completing interviews with planners, government officials, and architects, this thesis seeks to draw out relationships and influences that affect the design outcomes of HOPE VI facilities. The research is analyzed through a case study methodology of two HOPE VI developments, Park DuValle in Louisville, Kentucky and City West in Cincinnati, Ohio. The case studies flush out the limitations and constraints faced by the architect, the relationships that evolved throughout the design process, and the role of power within the redevelopment process.

Committee: Edson Cabalfin Ph.D. (Committee Chair); David Varady Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2010, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Community Planning

There are various evaluation methods that recognize the importance of working with stakeholders. Under the premise that stakeholders will improve the quality of the evaluation results, there is a growing trend towards participatory evaluation approaches. While contested by some, many in the evaluation community accept the idea of stakeholder participation (Cousins 1998; Whitmore 1998). “The evaluation coordinator collaborates with program stakeholders to define the evaluation objectives; to develop the evaluation methodology; to collect and interpret information; and to develop conclusions and recommendations (Aubel 1995).” Involving various stakeholders, participatory evaluation (PE) is a learning process that can be used for capacity building, empowerment, conflict negotiation, collaboration, accountability and governance (Estrella et al. 2000). Continuously developing as a methodology in the United States, participatory evaluation is a vital part of any participatory development process. As the most ambitious housing policy to date (Popkin 2002, 2004b; Buron 2002), HOPE VI is a HUD federal funding program for transforming distressed public housing communities into vibrant mixed-income communities where people can live, shop, work, and play. Although residents and community members are required to participate during the planning phase, there is no implicit requirement for the evaluation phase. It's critical that housing programs involve citizens more closely throughout the development process in project planning, decision-making, implementation, and evaluation. In view of the growing importance that's attributed to participation, the purpose of this thesis is to present participatory evaluation as a viable option to evaluate HOPE VI sites. An effort is made to explore the benefits and major challenges of PE and identify guiding principles and key decisions to recommend an evaluation framework.

Committee: Francis Russell MArch, BA (Committee Chair); Rainer vom Hofe PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2009, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Community Planning

HOPE VI developments are supposed to replace distressed public housing developments with attractive mixed-income developments. A vital factor to the success of any HOPE VI development is its attractiveness to middle-income households. The literature suggests that this group will avoid living in high crime areas, in which HOPE VI developments are typically located. Therefore, to make HOPE VI sites attractive to the middle-income households, HOPE VI developers need to coordinate their efforts with local law enforcement to change the perception of that the site is located in a high crime area. This case study on Cincinnati's HOPE VI project, City West, investigates how a public housing authority and its HOPE VI developer coordinated their efforts to achieve community safety.

Committee: Dr. David P. Varady PhD (Committee Chair); Dr. Xinhao Wang PhD (Committee Member); Ms. Stephanie Sweeney MCP (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology; Sociology; Urban Planning

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2003, Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning : Community Planning

A growing body of literature has emerged in recent years examining the feasibility and desirability of economic mixing on a residential basis (Brophy and Smith 1997, Rosenbaum et al. 1998) but little attention has been to the feasibility of this mixing when it involves middle-class families with children. This paper examines school-housing linkages as part of HOPE VI public housing revitalization at City West (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Park DuValle (Louisville, Kentucky). Overall, the study highlights the difficulty of achieving mixing of children from lower- and middle-income homes in schools serving public housing revitalization sites. HOPE VI planners in both cities placed little or no emphasis on attracting of middle-income families with children. Instead, officials emphasized income mixing and improved homeownership opportunities for low and moderate income families. Overall there has been closer housing-schooling cooperation in Louisville than in Cincinnati. Jefferson County Public Schools was highly involved from the start of the HOPE VI application process because the school system had been involved in an earlier Empowerment Zone application. While Cincinnati Public Schools was not involved at all in the early plans for City West, it became involved during the implementation phase because CPS was conducting its own facilities master planning process. While Park DuValle has attracted many middle-income families with children, all of the middle-income families moving into City West have been childless. Park DuValle's success is largely due to the fact that Louisville's schools are part of a county-wide school system based on busing. Unlike other cities, families considering moving to Park DuValle are not influenced by perceptions of neighborhood school quality; they know that their children will be bused to a school outside the neighborhood. Because Louisville's countywide school system is so unique among American cities, it may be difficult to replicate Louisvill (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: David Edelman (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2011, Urban Studies

This case study deals with the economic status of Public Housing (PHA) and Tax Credit residents living in a HOPE VI revitalized community in Akron Ohio. The research measures residents' self-reliance, using the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Summit County Ohio (Pearce 2008). Self-sufficiency is a term identified as a goal in several entitlement programs to include the Housing of Urban Development, HOPE VI Program. This descriptive/exploratory case study examined residents' earnings, family composition, education, the number and types of public supports they receive, and family history, to identify the appropriate data and research methodology to use to determine, residents' gains towards self-reliance. This study examined one primary question; are the residents living in Edgewood Village making gains towards self-sufficiency? In addition, this research asked the following sub-questions: a) Are residents living in the new development showing increased levels of education? b) Are family sizes stable for these residents? c) Have residents increased their income? d) What are impediments to achieving self-sufficiency?

Committee: Dr. Raymond Cox III (Advisor); Dr. Jennifer Alexander (Committee Member); Dr. Michael Nelson (Committee Member); Dr. Ramona Ortega-Liston (Committee Member); Dr. Margaret Tonkin-Stephens (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Economics; Families and Family Life; Individual and Family Studies; Psychology; Social Work; Sociology; Sustainability; Urban Planning