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.

Form-based codes are evaluated with criteria often requiring additional clarification. To better identify form-based code evaluation criteria, this thesis identifies the major intentions of form-based codes from the literature and focuses on the first intention, quality of life. The form-based code literature relates quality of life to three principles with underlying parameters: neighborhood with a center and edge, proximity to daily needs, and walkability. Neighborhood refers to the identification of walkable districts of about .25 mile radius with a clear center and edge. Proximity to daily needs requires diversity of uses in proximity to residential uses so that residents travel short distances to address daily needs. Walkability is a more complex principle with numerous impacting parameters effective only when working in tandem with each other. A selection of six case studies from award-wining form-based codes test the presence of the three quality of life principles in form-based code practice and the findings are discussed. All six case studies incorporated the three quality of life principles with some differences in all form-based planning process phases. Neighborhood is used as equivalent to a .25 mile pedestrian shed. The value of the concept of neighborhood edge in from-based codes remains unclear, however, since few case studies included it and needs to be explored further. Neighborhood with a center and edge therefore can be rephrased to a .25 mile pedestrian shed with a center. The .25 mile pedestrian shed alone is a fundamental parameter in all 3 quality of life principles and all case studies incorporated this parameter. Proximity to daily needs parameters as identified are also incorporated in all case studies. Walkability parameters that require building adaptations to walkable environments were present in all case studies. Walkability parameters, however, addressing standards for sidewalks and streets, were uncommon in some studies and, as a result, application of walkability parameters varied across case studies. Therefore, satisfying the quality of life form-based code intention, the 3 principles of pedestrian shed with a center, proximity to daily needs, and walkability can be used as part of the set of criteria to assess form-based codes. All 3 principles point to the direction of sustainability in an effort to create cities that are efficient to manage and highly appropriate for daily human function.

The City of San Luis Obispo faces an ongoing housing production shortage and housing affordability crisis that has been afflicting jurisdictions across State of California for a prolonged period of time. The City faces many of the same housing availability and affordability challenges as the rest of the State, but also has distinct characteristics that necessitate unique policies and strategies, such as the concurrent presence of both a large student and young professional population as well as a wealthy retirement community, which drastically drives up housing prices and demand. The Flexible Density Program is proposed by the City of San Luis Obispo as a potential strategy to facilitate growth of the City’s overall housing stock, incentivize development of smaller and potentially more affordable residential units, and provide a viable housing option for young professionals seeking to live in the City’s downtown. The City’s envisioned program approach allows flexibility in residential density limits to certain mixed-use residential projects in order to stimulate production of more, smaller, residential units in the Downtown and Upper Monterey areas of the City. This report describes the initial development of the proposed Flexible Density Program as follows. First, the report reviews the ongoing housing shortage and its impact on the City and the local demographic and housing context to identify community housing needs. Next, the report refers to relevant literature and research on small residential units as a housing typology, provides examples of inventive city development programs and mixed-use residential projects featuring small units. Research findings are used to develop the structure of the Flexible Density Program in alignment with the identified community housing needs. This culminating draft ordinance specifies the parameters of the program and imbeds the program in the City’s Zoning Regulations. Current conditions of the Downtown and Upper Monterey areas of the City are then analyzed to identify potential development constraints and evaluate the potential residential capacity of these areas to accommodate small residential units. The results of the residential capacity analysis indicate that the Downtown and Upper Monterey areas have a significant capacity to accommodate additional smaller residential units in addition to those that are able to be developed under standard maximum residential density limits. These results validate that the Flexible Density Program has the potential to help grow the City’s housing stock as well as to provide a unique housing typology option to community residents in these areas.

The Piedras Blancas Motel is a 1950’s era roadside motel comprised of 11 lodging units, plus a cafe, laundry room, manager’s apartment, and adjacent storage area. It is located seven miles north of San Simeon and nine miles south of the San Luis Obispo/Monterey County line. In 2005, the property was purchased using State, Federal, and private funds, and then transferred to the California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks). Although it has been closed to the public since 2005, the Site offers day-use parking and convenient beach access. This professional project, under contract with the California Coastal Conservancy, provides information necessary for the future redevelopment of the Piedras Blancas Motel. It demonstrates the feasibility of a preferred development alternative through several analyses including: a structural analysis of the existing building(s), a constraints analysis, an evaluation of regulatory requirements, and an assessment of redevelopment options based on preliminary market research and financial analysis. The primary objective of the Coastal Conservancy and State Parks is to provide low-cost overnight lodging and visitor services along the Big Sur Coast. The Motel would serve as an alternative to existing expensive lodges or resorts as well as existing tent or RV camping that may not serve as an option for some visitors.

Confused Spaces has come to the conclusion that theatricality can be a device for defining different types of public space. This book aims to define theatricality in architectural terms by taking principles from the disciplines of theater and urban design. It limits the scope of the definition to a specific set of elements of theatricality that include spectacle, transition, flexibility, and compactability. After attempting to define why these elements of theatricality are valid architectural concepts, the text then pushes to understand the experience that these elements can create. Through the use of historical and contemporary references, an argument for theatricality can already be found to exist but simply has not been clearly defined. The best methods of studying the design concepts are initially discussed. It is believed that in addition to a thorough case study of an existing structure which practices theatricality, the best way to explain the concepts of the idea as well as analyze them would be through several design attempts. Architectural competitions become the venue for experimentation. Three competition entries are submitted that attempt to implement theatricality. One more competition is created and results in an exhibition of the entries as well as an installation which can be studied and analyzed in a physical space. By using principles distilled from all the preceding research and design analysis, a theoretical large-scale design is explored. The design combines significant site data with all the design principles defended in the text up to this point. The design becomes the most complete visual representation of the core concept for theatricality. In conclusion, it is determined that the principles of theatricality clearly have a significant impact on the public and the pedestrian experience. It is encouraged for the concept to be used as a design device for creating pedestrian-friendly spaces in the future.

This study investigates the effect of rainfall on transit performance measures at the route level in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. Transit agencies are required to report certain performance metrics to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), but performance measures can also be used to evaluate service and provide customers with information regarding the transit system. Using a three-year sample of archived automatic vehicle location (AVL) and hydrologic data the relationships between ridership, travel time, delay, and rainfall were investigated. The analysis of daily ridership and rainfall resulted in no statistically significant results, however, the results are supported by the existing research in this field. There was a generally negative trend in ridership with respect to rainfall. The analysis of travel time and rainfall did not result in the expected outcome. It was hypothesized that travel time would vary with rainfall, but that was not always the case. During many rainfall events the travel time remained average. The analysis of delay and rainfall shows that the impact of rainfall on delay is more complex than assumed. The delay during dry trips was different than the delay during light and moderate rain, but during heavy rain the statistical different disappeared. These results, implications for transit operators, and future research opportunities are discussed.

The City of Santa Maria, located between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara in California, is experiencing rapid population growth, cultural transformation, and growth in household size. The growth rate of the city has been a consistent 20% for the past 20 years. Culturally, more than 70% of the almost 100,000 city residents predominantly identified as Hispanic or Latino in the 2010 census. The household size has consistently increased for the past 20 years; currently it is 3.52 people per household. An issue which is becoming a growing problem for the city is the prevalence of illegal housing in the form of garage conversions. Motivations for illegally converting are primarily centered on actual economic gain for the homeowner and affordable rent for the participant. Few cities allow for the construction of additional residential units on parcels which are zoned for single family, the majority prohibit additional units. The most prominent of these cities which allow for second units is Santa Cruz. The second unit program in the City of Santa Cruz allows for garage conversions and detached second units but on-site parking must be provided for the additional unit. Santa Cruz argues the second unit program provides affordable housing, prevents sprawl, and is a form of in-fill development. The Santa Cruz second unit program is utilized as the framework for developing a second unit program for the City of Santa Maria which allows for garage conversions to occur. City records from 2000-2010 indicate that more than 1% of the total housing units were found to have an illegal garage conversion. The actual rate of active garage conversion is likely to be higher, more than likely in the neighborhood of 3% to 5%.The proposed ordinance is influenced at the Federal and State level by respective decisions by the Supreme Court and California Court on definition of what constitutes a family. California‘s Second Unit Law and legislative amendments establishing ministerial approval for affordable housing provides for legal options to increase the present housing supply.

In preparation for a Climate Action Plan, this policy and practice audit provides an overview of current city policies and practices with the potential to impact greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals. The audit builds upon information previously collected in a GHG emissions inventory report to identify policies that are consistent or inconsistent with emissions reductions goals. Preliminary GHG emissions reductions recommendations address policy gaps and opportunity areas in suggesting strategies to achieve GHG emissions reductions.