Rapid growth and congestion within the City of Austin amplify the need to plan for and incorporate multi-modal infrastructure, facilities and policies. According to the 2005 US Census sample, the City of Austin falls short of many other bicycle-friendly cities in the number of commuters riding bicycles to work. Experiencing the achievements towards a more diverse modal share in other cities prompted the author to evaluate programmatic bicycle planning and fixed variables (geographic, demographic, and climatic conditions) in a descriptive multiple-case study. Data was collected from the City of Austin and the City of Tucson; both with significant university populations, and descriptive comparisons were made between the two cities. Findings show that the City of Tucson met most of the predicted values of ideal demographic, climatic, and programmatic variables. In addition, the City of Tucson has a well-staffed bicycle and nationally recognized regional bicycle program. Recommendations for the City of Austin include improving upon all programmatic variables (education, engineering, evaluation, enforcement and encouragement) through a new local and regional bicycle plan, and a legally mandated focus on supportive bicycle legislation, policies and enforcement. / text

This paper seeks to determine how the elements of true Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) can successfully be implemented in a suburban setting. The author establishes firm criteria for creating successful TOD. These criteria are then used to evaluate both TOD and neighborhood plans for case study sites in the Austin, TX metropolitan area. The paper completes this evaluation by pointing out synergies, discrepancies and offering recommendations for improvement, based on the case studies. / text

This paper discusses residential water demand in Central Texas, specifically the Cities of Austin and Sunset Valley. Predicting and managing residential water demand is a much researched topic that has gained importance as water has been recognized as a finite resource whose conservation and efficient use becomes more important as population grows and development patterns sprawl. Using monthly water use data from both cities, a statistical analysis was conducted of usage numbers and patterns. Several variables were considered in the modeling process including: monthly precipitation and average temperature, house size (sq. ft.), lot size (sq. ft.), appraised value of homestead, type of landscaping and presence of pool. For the City of Austin, aggregate monthly water distributed to single family residences and climate data that corresponded to each month were used in a linear regression for the fiscal years 2003-07. The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between water use among single family residential Austin Water Utility customers and precipitation and temperature (R² = .456). A more thorough examination of water use in Sunset Valley revealed a somewhat inconclusive relationship between residential water use and the aforementioned independent variables. Both a "fixed effects" panel data model and a simple linear regression model reported extremely low R² results (both .097). Several reasons are proposed in an attempt to explain the results, which differ from previous studies but no clear reason is identifiable. / text

Many people have realized that urban design is one of the most important features to determine the real estate price. However, there are rare studies to explain the effect of urban design on the real estate price due to its intangible characteristic. This study is intended to demonstrate the relationship between land prices in the commercial area and urban design quality and physical features of lands using the hedonic price model. First, physical features that affected the real estate price are analyzed through literature reviews. Next, by literature reviews, the study to measure urban design quality quantitatively is also introduced. Then, urban design quality of 14 subject streets in Austin, Texas is evaluated using the measurement instrument after selecting 14 subject streets among all of Austin streets. Finally, the explanation model to demonstrate the relationship between the land price, and urban design quality and physical features is built by the hedonic price model. The model displays that urban design quality has a great influence on the land price in commercial areas in Austin, Texas. In addition, the influence of urban design quality is revealed largely in comparison to other physical features. The significance of this study is to analyze and demonstrate what we intuitively believe by statistical and quantitative methods. / text

This report explores the effects of rapid growth in Austin, Texas, with an emphasis on local government budgets, service delivery, and citizen satisfaction. The relationship between urban growth and public finances has been studied extensively, but a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between growth and public finances, service delivery performance, and citizen satisfaction over time is lacking. A multi-decade analysis reveals a steady increase in the cost of local government services and levels of taxation, with corresponding high performance and citizen satisfaction over time. In light of these findings, recommendations to improve cost-effectiveness, service delivery, and citizen satisfaction include: regular audits of the City’s performance measurement system to ensure the metrics tracked remain relevant to the challenges; better coordination of taxes and expenditures among local government entities to minimize the tax impact on residents; greater consideration of less costly alternative municipal service delivery systems; and concerted efforts to engage residents in the budget and service delivery decisions. / text

Typical of many American downtowns, Austin, Texas, has experienced renewed interest in redevelopment over the past two decades. Following City policies, this redevelopment has tended to be mixed-use in nature and has included elements of placemaking and walkability. A glaring exception to recent trends is the Capitol Complex, an area north of the State Capitol building that is home to various state government office buildings. The Capitol Complex displaced a more traditional mixed-use neighborhood in the 1950s and has been plagued by disjointed planning activities ever since. Recent budgetary challenges and a shortage of office space have prompted the state government to reexamine the Capitol Complex as a target for redevelopment. This professional report scrutinizes the Capitol Complex as a “non-place” that is challenged by walkability issues in an effort to make recommendations to ensure successful redevelopment that is more consistent with that found in the rest of downtown Austin. First, the literature on placemaking and walkability demonstrate what the Capitol Complex lacks. A case study provides a good comparison to see what policies have helped to improve districts near state office buildings. Second, the history of the Capitol Complex provides context for how the area became what it is today. Third, a land use and walkability analysis utilizing GIS along two corridors in the Complex and a pedestrian count show that the area is unfriendly to pedestrians and lacks activity on nights and weekends. Finally, the report offers both policy and urban design recommendations to help ensure that redevelopment activities contribute to make the Capitol Complex a walkable “place.” / text

Effective academic advising may be perceived or experienced differently depending on a person’s involvement (student, advisor, or administrator). In addition, a person’s understanding and description of effective advising depends on how it is identified (process, outcome, or approach) or the context in which it is encountered. Results from multiple studies of the relevant literature have demonstrated how the quality of advising influences students in regard to retention, academic and social integration, decision-making processes in selecting academic programs and careers, overall student satisfaction, and success (Banta et al., 2002; Cuseo, 2004, Hunter & White, 2004). However, research on effective advising and the assessment of advising has received very little attention in the literature. Although awareness of the importance of institutional assessment has increased, assessment of academic advising today is – if conducted at all – is piecemeal and consists of simple student satisfaction surveys that may be neither adequate of useful. Even when assessment measures are conducted, advising units are often inept at utilizing the results to create positive change within their programs. Understanding effective advising requires a closer look at the participants, the advising programs, and the assessment practices of programs along with exploring student learning outcomes. The overarching area of inquiry in the research study is: What is effective advising (how is it manifested and in what ways is it measured at the University)? Within this context, the goals for this study were to uncover the following: how academic advising is administered and supported across a specific institution; how perceptions about advising differ among system participants; what valued characteristics are found among effective advisors and advising programs; what assessment of academic advising looks like at the institution; what advisors and advising programs do to contribute to quality and improvement. To achieve these objectives, the study utilized a multi-faceted case study of undergraduate academic advising and the participants within a large public research institution which contained several academic advising centers. Understanding effective advising and the advising system required a comprehensive and multi-dimensional approach that involved the collection and analysis of many different forms of data from a variety of sources and over an extended period of time. A mixed methods, action-research design utilized the collection and review of numerous assessment and advising documents, descriptive and quantitative SPSS analysis of several longitudinal data sets yielded from electronic survey systems of seven colleges, numerous original interviews and focus groups with students, staff, and administrators, and a year’s worth of detailed field observations (journals and critical reflection) of the advising process and the advising system. / text

This study examines the language choices of Tamil immigrants, part of a South Asian diasporic community, in Austin, Texas. The researcher posits reasons why Tamil language maintenance/shift occurs for this Tamil community in the United States English-dominant macrosociety. The study also examines the domains in which Tamil and English are used and the various sociolinguistic factors which influence the language maintenance/shift of Tamil. Tamil immigrant participants were selected by snowballing, a non-probability purposive sampling technique. This multi-modal study used both quantitative (a questionnaire) and qualitative data (participant interviews and participant observations). One hundred and nineteen questionnaires were collected of which 90 were used for this study. In addition, twelve first or second generation Tamil individuals were interviewed. Background for the study included reasons for emigration from the home country, Tamil diglossia, diaspora issues, identity issues, and language as a site of struggle. The theoretical framework included language as power, language as investment, and linguistic imperialism. Examining the language of instruction, participants interestingly evidenced a kline in English use from 67.1% in elementary grades, to 84.8% in the middle and high/secondary school, to 95.3% at the university level. Also, comparing language use as a child versus language use as an adult, there was a kline (continuum) moving from 'always using Tamil' in all domains as a child to 'equally in Tamil and English' in all domains as an adult. Participants were split as to why they used Tamil with some using it for privacy/secrecy and some using it for pride. A much smaller percent used Tamil for intimacy. Finally, with regard to language proficiency, participants evinced a declining kline from understanding, speaking, and reading, writing colloquial Tamil. The participants' proficiency in literary Tamil was also a declining kline with only 16.7% understanding, 17.8% reading, and even less speaking (8.9%) or writing (7.8%) literary Tamil. The results of this research study and an analysis of Moag’s 31 factors for maintenance/loss of Tamil, showed that the prospects for the continued maintenance of Tamil in Austin were limited. Finally, this study provided valuable sociolinguistic insight into this little-studied South Asian diasporic community in Austin, Texas. / text

Previous research has examined the influence of social support and family support on Latino college adjustment; however, few studies have examined the role of peer support on Latino college adjustment, and even fewer studies have focused exclusively on Mexican-origin students. The purpose of this study was to explore the importance of perceived peer support to Mexican-origin college students adjusting to a predominantly White university, with special attention given to the role of perceived peer support in the context of minority status stress and traditional college stress. Specifically, this study aimed to find whether perceived peer support contributed to Mexican-origin students' college adjustment. Given that many minority students attending a predominantly White university experience minority status stress and traditional college stress, this study also assessed the extent to which perceived peer support buffered Mexican-origin students from these stressors. A second goal of this study was to examine the heterogeneity of the Mexican-origin college student population to determine whether acculturation status influenced the relation between perceived peer support and several variables including minority status stress, traditional college stress, and college adjustment. Mexican-origin (N = 136 ) students were recruited from the Center of Mexican American Studies, the Latino Leadership Council, and the Educational Psychology subject pool at The University of Texas at Austin. Participants completed an online survey that included a demographic form and five questionnaires that assessed traditional college stress, minority status stress, acculturation, perceived peer support, and college adjustment. Several important findings were identified. Perceived peer support was associated with increased levels of traditional college stress, social adjustment, and attachment to the university. Traditional college stress, specifically the academic stress and social stress subscales, negatively predicted overall college adjustment. Of the five minority status stress subscales, achievement stress and interracial stress negatively predicted college adjustment while social climate stress positively predicted college adjustment. Finally, acculturation status negatively predicted all five types of minority status stress. Contrary to what was predicted, none of the interaction terms were significant, indicating that neither perceived peer support nor acculturation status moderated the effects of stress on adjustment. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed. / text

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