Commercial corridors in neighborhoods experiencing change have been relegated to a footnote in research on residential phenomena. It is taken for granted that the process of change experience by businesses within these neighborhoods mirrors that of the residential change. This assumption is often predicated on the underlying model of invasion succession, suggesting that inmovers displace native populations, whether they are residents or businesses. Analyzing time series data on neighborhood commercial corridor change, research attempted to first test data against the invasion succession model to see if it is an effective framework for analysis. Second, through comparison of case study areas and data along the aggregated corridor, insights are advanced to spur development of a valid model for examining neighborhood commercial corridor change as a unique process with regular spatio-temporal patterns. This framework, it is suggested, is the first step towards understanding the impact of external forces, including social actors, on the neighborhood commercial landscape.

Anthropogenic impact on the environment, mainly resource depletion and pollution, is limiting the potential for future generations to have the same resources that previous generations have enjoyed. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges of our time will be curtailing our own personal impacts on the environment. To do this, we must adopt more sustainable lifestyles at home. This research sought to understand how neighborhood identity affects sustainability at the household level. In the summer of 2012, residents of two neighborhoods in Portland, Oregon completed 314 self-report, web-based surveys. The neighborhoods selected for this research were demographically similar, but one projected a sustainable neighborhood identity and the other did not. Survey questions were designed to determine respondents: level of engagement in their neighborhood, attitudes towards the environment, and adherence to sustainable behaviors. Findings suggest that neighborhood engagement can influence household sustainability levels in Portland. This research also suggests that the city or region may have more effect on perceived household sustainability than the neighborhood does.