Patricia Machemer

Comparing Rural and Urban Children's Perceptions of an Ideal Community

While there is research on childrens participation, what is needed are investigations on how children perceive community design and whether the geographic location in which the children live has an effect on their perceptions of an ideal community. The objectives of this study are to (1) identify childrens ideal community elements and (2) determine if there are any differences in rural and urban childrens perceptions. Models of an ideal community are created by ninety-three rural children and fifty urban children in a design charrette. Model content is analyzed using multivariate statistics to identify element and pattern preferences. Principal component analysis of the resultant thirty-eight models reveals that for the rural children, six components are considered significant dimensions and explain 67 percent of the variance, with the first component accounting for nearly 27 percent of the variance. For the urban children, four components are significant and explain 51 percent of the variance, with the first component accounting for nearly 15 percent of the variance. Spatial diagrams indicate that there is a difference between the rural and urban models. Furthermore, discriminant analysis reveals that there is a statistical difference between the content of the urban and rural models at a significance level of .007.

Refining landscape change models through outlier analysis in the Muskegon watershed of Michigan

Abstract Balancing natural resource protection and urban development is of concern to researchers, planners and citizens who are aware of the environmental, social and economic impacts of urban land use. Land-use change models can assist in finding this balance. An objective of this research was to build a better model of land-use change by integrating quantitative and qualitative techniques. A modelling approach is presented that combines statistical logistic regression with field-based outlier analysis. To this end, a collaborative effort between researchers, who are adept at building models, and local experts, who better understand the dynamics of landscape change in their communities, was undertaken. The findings indicate that this modelling approach is successful in improving overall model performance, as measured by pseudo r-squared value, and identifying additional drivers of land-use change, namely zoning, soil suitability and distance to highway interchange. Most importantly, this collaborative modelling process, involving researchers and local planners, has practical utility for land-use decision making.

Transferable development rights: A market-based land use control

1. The Intersection Of Law, Economics, and Environmental Policy M.D. Kaplowitz 2. Legal Economic Perspectives: Property rights and economics for helping address environmental problems A. Randall 3. Regulatory Takings and Land Use Conflicts D.W. Bromley 4. How Perspectives On Property Rights Have Changed In The United States Supreme Court D.L. Callies Common Property and Natural Resources 5. Property Rights, The Commons, and Natural Resource Management B.J. McCay 6. Common Property And Natural Resource Management: A Michigan Perspective M.A. Lawrence 7. Property Rights, Tenure Systems and Managing Natural Capital R.A. Devlin 8. Purchasing Development Rights To Protect Farmland, Forests, and Open Space T. Daniels 9. Transferable Development Rights: A market-based land use control P. Machemer and M.D. Kaplowitz 10. Tradable Permit Approaches To Pollution Control: Faustian bargain or paradise regained T. Tietenberg 11. Coase And Car Repair: Who should be responsible for emissions of vehicles in use? W. Harrington and V.D. McConnnell New Approaches 12. Ethics and Tradable Permits: Pollution trading and the global atmosphere M. Sagoff 13. Shared Governance, Collaboration, and Innovation L.L. Marsh 14. Interdisciplinary Paradigms For Environmental Policy: Interrelations among ecology, law, and economics N. Mercuro

A living wage standard: A case study of the US Virgin Islands

While a minimum wage standard refers to the lowest wage allowed by law, a living wage attempts to address issues of well-being and dignity. A minimum wage is not a living wage; a minimum wage may not allow low-wage workers a minimally secure way of life. For many communities, their minimum wage—even those set above the federal level—does not allow low-wage workers to meet their very basic living needs such as food, shelter, and basic medical care. If a community is successful in the passage of a living wage standard, the living wage becomes the legal minimum wage for the regulated businesses and institutions. Thus, living wage initiatives represent an approach to raising the minimum wage for the affected businesses regulated by the law. In 2008, the US Virgin Islands (USVI) Legislature decided to pass Act 7027 which required the USVI Bureau of Economic Research to develop an economic Self-Sufficiency Standard for the USVI. This current study, conducted by the authors, does not address arguments for a living wage based on morality; rather this study addresses the economic logic of a living wage by assessing the economic effects for the USVI.

Transformative temporary use

Communities employ land use planning as a way to standardize how a community looks and to ensure that land uses are distributed in an efficient and ethical manner. A temporary, seasonal, or interim use is in effect for a defined purpose and a set period of time, after which it expires. Finding productive, temporary uses for underutilized (e.g., park, sidewalk) or vacant land and buildings can reverse disinvestment, foster a sense of community, curb crime, save on maintenance costs, spur economic activity for surrounding businesses, create market demand, and raise property values. Temporary uses can be an effective community and economic development tools. This guide explores four increasingly popular temporary uses: events, urban agriculture, building reuse, and street vending.