Reconstruction after natural disasters can represent large peaks in a community’s greenhouse gas emission inventory. Components of the built environment destroyed by natural hazards have their useful life shortened, requiring replacement before functionally necessary. Though the hazard itself does not release greenhouse gasses, the demolition and rebuilding process does, and these are the emissions we can quantify to better understand the climate impacts of disasters. The proposed methodology draws data from existing emission and hazard resource literature and combines the information in a community scale life cycle assessment. Case studies of past disasters are used to refine the methodology and quantify the emissions of single events. The methodology is then annualized projecting the emissions of future hazards. The annualization of greenhouse gasses caused by hazard events provides a baseline from which reduction strategies can be measured against. Hazard mitigation strategies can then be quantified as greenhouse gas reduction strategies for use in Climate Action Plans. The methodology combines the fields of climate action, hazard mitigation, and climate adaptation. Each field attempts to create sustainable and resilient communities, but most plans silo each discipline, missing opportunities that are mutually beneficial. Quantifying the greenhouse gasses associated with recovery following a disaster blends these fields to allow development of comprehensive resilience and sustainability strategies that lower greenhouse gases and decrease risk from existing or projected hazards. An online supplement to this thesis is available online at disasterghg.wordpress.com

Redevelopment of brownfield sites has become increasingly popular since the inception of voluntary cleanup programs in the early to mid 1990’s. Local governments have begun to offer incentives to private developers or land owners to offset costs associated with contamination and encourage the redevelopment of properties that are typically underutilized. Incentives may take several forms including, but not limited to, fast-tracked project approval, risk based cleanup standards, liability relief, tax breaks, and direct funding assistance. This study investigates how incentives that are offered by local governments to private developers or land owners influence the rate of redevelopment in their sphere of influence. A survey was administered to local governments throughout the State of California to determine how incentives are used for the redevelopment of brownfields. Results from this study show a preference by participating local governments to offer direct funding assistance, which may be directly linked to a relative level of inexperience.

The premise of this study is that an understanding of catalysts and impacts of social and economic change in the Los Angeles Metro Green Line study corridor and an analysis of current planning policies can help identify how future planning policies may generate more ideal and positive outcomes for the study corridor. This study evaluated the conditions within the transit corridor with four selected station areas defined by a one-mile radius from each station. The stations that make up the transit corridor are along the Los Angeles Metro Green Line that runs east west between Redondo Beach and Norwalk. A mile radius buffer was chosen to fully capture the spacing between the stations linearly and use that to define the corridor’s primary area of influence. This study evaluated the changes in demographic composition, housing affordability, transportation affordability and job accessibility within the Metro Green Line corridor between the year 2000 and 2010. Trends in the corridor revealed that over a ten-year span, the corridor saw shifts in demographic composition, growth in job and housing densities and increases in the cost of housing. Over the ten years, the corridor has not yet developed to the standards of a location efficient environment. This study recommends that protection of vulnerable populations such as the high proportion of renter-occupied housing units is important because they are more likely to make up core transit riders that need public transportation. Preserving and building affordable housing near transit would enable households to save money on both transportation and housing expenditures and can work towards making the corridor more affordable. By understanding the three main variables in the context of social equity, a decision-maker can avoid the potential of negative gentrification, displacement, and promote economic viability in the corridor.

This professional project provides a much needed draft update to the existing Area Plan for North Ventura Avenue (last amended in 1990), an unincorporated area of the County that falls under the City of Ventura’s sphere of influence. New goals, policies and programs have been provided to supplement the goals, policies and programs of the current countywide General Plan for Ventura County (adopted in 2005). The supplemental goals, policies and programs proposed in this draft update apply specifically to North Ventura Avenue, and account for a pending annexation of the area by the City of Ventura. The overall aim of this project was to provide the Ventura County Planning Division with a draft update to the existing North Ventura Avenue Area Plan that reflects modern planning practice and theory. Sustainable growth and development for the area are the underlying goals of this proposed draft update. Reducing auto-dependency through the proposed adoption of a ‘mixed-use specific plan’ land use category represents the most pertinent recommendation of this draft update in aiming to achieve sustainable growth and development of the area in the future.

This project takes a look at the impacts of our built environment on obesity in children living in racial and ethnic communities in relation to city planning. The results of this project results in a comprehensive report to provide an in-depth look into understanding the important relationships between children’s health and the built environment and understanding the best practices and recommendations for improving health in Guadalupe. Located in the Santa Barbara County, the City of Guadalupe is mainly an agricultural town with over 85 percent of its residents who are of Hispanic Origin. With almost half of its Latino population under 17 years of age, Guadalupe is an ideal location to examine the number of complex social, economic, and environmental matters that can contribute to higher overweight and obesity rates among Latino children. The food environments and physical environments were examined using Community Assessments and outreach efforts with school children and the residents of Guadalupe. Current professional and academic literature on childhood obesity, the built environments, food environments, and schools were reviewed for this project. Responses from a multitude of methods were analyzed and compared to create a list of recommendations for improving children’s health in Guadalupe. These methods included Community of Excellence (CX3) field surveys, walkability surveys, and a Photovoice project with school children.

Abstract The Historical Influence of Railroads on Urban Development and Future Economic Potential in San Luis Obispo Adrianna L. Jordan Today the sound of a train passing through San Luis Obispo may be intermittent and faint, but persistent nonetheless, a reminder that the railroad (displaced eventually by the automobile and accompanying expansion of highways and road systems, and later by air connectivity) was a significant force in the development of the City of San Luis Obispo. The sound of railroads evokes a sentimental reminder of the past, but the railroad’s continued presence in the city, cutting through its urban fabric, raises intriguing questions as to what constructive role it can play in the evolving city economy. Can the railroad make a contribution to the new economy of the 21st Century? And if so, how? These questions are worth considering beyond nostalgia for a railroad-dominated past as we become more concerned, nationally and especially so in the State of California, about living sustainably. The aspiration to create communities that reduce dependence and expenditure on the automobile and the petroleum based economy that it represents has surfaced as an important goal, one that might enable us to live within our resource base. In this emerging context of heightened concern about integrating sustainability into current development, what role will, and might, the railroad play in shaping future developments and influencing land use? This work explores these questions by tracing the intertwined histories of transportation and land use in the City of San Luis Obispo from the 18th century Spanish mission era to the 19th century railroad era to the present-day automobile and air travel era. Although the heyday of rail as an economic driver in the city has come and gone, San Luis Obispo’s Railroad District, with the award-winning Railroad District Plan for its place-making guide, is poised for continued revitalization. Public and commercial entities such as the Amtrak Station, the Railroad Museum, the Park Hotel building and its restaurants, and the Railroad Square Channel Commercial Building anchor the district and serve as pulse points of activity for locals and tourists alike. In addition, the Railroad District’s excellent pedestrian and bicycle connectivity helps to link it with the rest of the city and channels people to it. Given the present concern over greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from motor vehicles, rising fuel costs, shortages of oil, and the centralized land-use patterns popular in New Urbanism and required by SB 375, it is possible that the railroad, or some other form of fixed rail public transportation might once again become a preferred mode of long-distance transport to the major metropolitan areas south and north of the city and beyond.

The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has developed a rating system that examines the sustainability of neighborhoods. They have specifically stated that that LEED-ND certified neighborhoods will protect and enhance residents’ overall health, the natural environment, and quality of life. This study uses relevant quality of life indicators that are commonly identified by social scientists as accurate interpreters of the various quality of life domains to determine if there is, in fact, a relationship between LEED-ND and quality of life. Four of the ten domains examined were found to be related to LEED-ND certified/certifiable neighborhoods, thus, to a certain extent, LEED-ND certification does increase quality of life as compared to traditional suburban neighborhoods.

This master’s thesis identifies the potential impacts of planning policies and key stakeholder groups on Red Hook, Brooklyn given current development trends and the neighborhood changes such as gentrification. The premise of this thesis is that through understanding the catalysts and impacts of social and economic change in similar neighborhoods, together with the analysis of current zoning, planning policies, and neighborhood culture and demographics in Red Hook, it is possible to identify how future changes may generate positive outcomes for the neighborhood. A review of planning literature provides a perspective on the disinvestment to reinvestment process seen in many New York City neighborhoods during the second half of the 20th century. The case study research method relying primarily on qualitative data is applied to gain a contextual analysis of the complex urban planning issues in Red Hook. A study of the planning and development impacts on three waterfront neighborhoods in New York City – Battery Park City, the Lower East Side, and Williamsburg – reveals the catalysts of neighborhood change in those neighborhoods and suggests the potential socio-economic impacts of future redevelopment in Red Hook.

The site of today’s Civic Center in Downtown Los Angeles evolved gradually over the course of over 150 years before being dramatically transformed in the early to mid 20th century. Understanding how this area evolved and was redeveloped can help guide efforts to restore physical and historical continuity throughout the area. Specifically, this historical understanding can assist in identifying key opportunity sites within the area, such as Civic Center South, and in setting urban design goals for new development. Research for this thesis included an analysis of the area’s historic development and a review of its current conditions. The historical analysis examined how the study area initially developed and how it was subsequently transformed through redevelopment. The review of current conditions examined recent and proposed development in and around the Civic Center South site and recent policies and regulations that are guiding new development within Downtown Los Angeles. This study ultimately provides an overview of the historic development context of the north end of Downtown Los Angeles as well as a review of the developments and regulations influencing development within that area today.

As advances in web and mobile technologies have rapidly changed the world of businesses, they have also begun to fundamentally change the way local governments understand and interact with their communities. In an effort to evaluate the use of online and mobile technology for government work, this thesis examines the use of mobile technology as a vehicle for local government practice, specifically looking at the field of urban planning. These opportunities have been broadened with the introduction of Internet-enabled mobile devices, as location-based information is used to increase awareness of user activity, movements and behaviors in real-time conditions and specific contexts (Kwak et al., 2010). This paper (1) explores how mobile technology is currently influencing planning practices, (2) defines a taxonomy for current mobile applications, and (3) hypothesizes how these technologies will influence the future of the planning profession. Findings from a survey of local planning agencies about their interactions with web and mobile technologies demonstrate that although many planners own a smartphone or tablet and are aware of existing mobile potential, they are not entirely dependent on those devices for work purposes. Currently, many planners take advantage of basic productivity software (email, word processing, search engines, online forms, etc.), but do not utilize planning specific mobile applications to support their work. Despite pressure from citizens, elected officials, and younger staff members to integrate more interactive technologies in planning work, there are often numerous barriers to implementing mobile technologies, especially for agencies in smaller jurisdictions.