Selima Sultana

Why do so few minority people visit national parks? Visitation and the accessibility of "America's Best Idea".

It has been said that national parks are “Americas Best Idea,” they are among the most famous and instantly recognizable places in the country, and they attract visitors from all over the world. Yet visitors to these sites are overwhelmingly white. A number of theoretical perspectives have been proposed for the absence of minority visitors, including socioeconomic marginality, differing cultural norms, and the lingering legacy of discrimination, but geography is not one of the usual explanations. Given the strong associations between particular regions of the country and the locations of parks, as well as the uneven spatial distribution of population, the absence of geography as an explanation is striking. We examine this issue with the expectation that geography is an important part of the explanation for low minority visitation rates. Put simply, do potential minority visitors live anywhere near national park units? Are they more likely to visit the ones to which they live nearest? This study uses the geographic concept of accessibility to examine the spatial relationships between national parks and potential minority visitors. Accessibility was measured using driving times between each of 285 parks and county populations, with the results compared to a visitation database compiled for fifty-one park units. There is clearly a relationship between park visitation and the location of minority populations, in the sense that racial or ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented at closer and smaller national parks.

Racial Variations in Males' Commuting Times in Atlanta: What Does the Evidence Suggest?*

Abstract Using a sample from the comparatively most privileged group of black males, those married and living with a working spouse, this article investigates how race-based residential locations and the spatial structure of labor markets affect commuting experiences. This research uses the most sophisticated commuting data available at the time the research was conducted, the 1990 5 percent Public-Use Microdata Samples for the Atlanta Metropolitan Area, and again confirms severe spatial mismatch problems for central-city blacks, regardless of socioeconomic status, household formation, and access to automobiles. However, the situation with black males living in suburban areas differs significantly as those in the southern (predominantly black) suburbs show considerable evidence of spatial mismatch, whereas the northern (predominantly white) suburbs show no such evidence. *I am grateful to Luke Marzen, Joe Weber, and five anonymous reviewers for their valuable feedback that has substantially improved this paper.

Effects of Married-Couple Dual-Earner Households on Metropolitan Commuting: Evidence from the Atlanta Metropolitan Area

The idea of creating a balance between jobs and housing within different commuter catchment areas of a metropolis has been a prominent approach for reducing traffic congestion, air pollution, and journey-to-work times. Married-couple, dual-earner households, in which both spouses are employed, have been identified as an obstacle to the job-housing balance concept because of their constrained ability to choose a residential location near both workplaces. However, this has not yet been conclusively tested. Drawing on the 2000 5% PUMS dataset for metropolitan Atlanta, this article examines the commuting behavior of such households relative to single-earner households. The results challenge the dominant assumption that the average commutes of married-couple, dual-earner households are necessarily longer than those of single-earner households. In fact, after controlling for all forms of socioeconomic factors in the analysis, this study shows there are either no significant differences, or if there are, the average commutes of single-earner households are longer. It is a lack of affordable housing near job locations, or vice versa, and not the presence of dual-earner households, that should be blamed for lengthening commuting time and difficulties in implementing job-housing balances.

The Nature of Urban Growth and the Commuting Transition: Endless Sprawl or a Growth Wave?

The concept of an urban growth wave expanding outwards is used to examine the commuting characteristics of residents of recently developed housing areas within the 50 largest US metropolitan areas at multiple points of time between 1980 and 2000. The results show that not only do areas of recent housing booms have longer commuting times and differing socioeconomic characteristics than older parts of the cities, but this commuting time will subside as these areas age (although average commuting times may rise for the entire metropolitan area). Like a growth wave, a commuting transition move outwards and therefore newer growth areas (or sprawl) should be considered as a temporary stage in the ongoing process of urban growth. Focusing on building cycles avoids the pejorative sprawl label and reconceptualises this sort of low density, auto-dependent urban form as a normal part of the urban growth process.

Employment Sprawl, Race and the Journey to Work in Birmingham, Alabama

Studies of residential sprawl have shown that longer commutes are typical for residents of these areas, but the effect of sprawling workplace locations on journey to work patterns has not yet been closely examined. This paper uses commuting data from the 1990 and 2000 Census Transportation Planning Package to examine the impact of employment sprawl on commuting, and its differing impacts on black and white workers within Birmingham, Alabama. This analysis finds that workers who commute to sprawling areas travel shorter distances, often spend less time commuting, are less likely to drive alone, and are more likely to bike and walk, though they do not earn as much as workers in urban areas. This suggests the possibility that workers may be able to reduce their commutes as more jobs relocate to sprawling areas. However, increased sprawl may result in increased commutes for black workers if they are not able to adjust their residential location, as shown by their longer commutes to jobs in sprawl locations.

The Civil Rights Movement and the Future of the National Park System in a Racially Diverse America

Abstract The U.S. National Park System contains places of world-renowned beauty and tremendous historical significance that represent some of the central values and experiences in American culture, democracy, and freedom for everyone, for all time. However, the vast majority of visitors to these parks are white, which has increasingly been seen as a problem as it suggests a lack of full participation by all members of society. While there are several perspectives on low minority visitation, it is possible that park policies or interpretation may not appeal to, or may unintentionally exclude minority visitors. This study examines how efforts to expand the inclusiveness and representativeness of the park system may affect its geography. Recent National Park Service plans to commemorate the Civil Rights movement are examined with the goal of understanding how the geography and purpose of the park system may be changed over time. The expansion of the park system into cultural themes will likely necessitate a continual expansion of the number and kinds of park units.

Transportation sustainability in the urban context: a comprehensive review

ABSTRACT Although the term “sustainability” did not gain traction until the 1980s, concerns about the consequences of transportation technology started long before. This paper reviews the literature on urban transportation sustainability using three frameworks. First, urban transportation can be unsustainable environmentally, economically, and socially (the three pillars of sustainability). Second, sustainable strategies tend to fall into two paradigms. Sustainable Transport Technology improves current patterns of modes and trips by consuming less resources and generating less waste. Sustainable Travel Behavior and Built Environment takes a more holistic approach that targets more sustainable travel choices, recognizing that changes in the built environment that currently constrains those choices are also essential. Third, the Planner’s Triangle helps explain commonly encountered situations where inherent tradeoffs can impede win-win-win strategies across environmental, economic, and social domains. The paper concludes with future research directions and concluding thoughts about urban transportation and sustainability.

Land Suitability Evaluation for Organic Agriculture of Wheat Using GIS and Multicriteria Analysis

ABSTRACT Despite the growing interest in organic farming, its practice remains limited because of its lower productivity relative to conventional farming. Land suitability evaluation for organic crops can potentially improve productivity, and thus the economic viability of organic farming. The best analytical procedures for such evaluations have not yet been fully explored. This article addresses the evaluation of land suitability of present agricultural lands for organic agriculture of rain-fed winter wheat using Duplin County, North Carolina, a location economically dependent on agriculture, as a case study. A novel land suitability evaluation procedure is developed combined with seventeen suitability criteria from five principal categories including climatic parameters, soil characteristics and qualities, soil chemistry, soil organic matter and fertility, and flood and erosion hazards by using geographic information systems (GIS), multicriteria analysis, and the square root method. Our analysis demonstrates that although 18.6 percent of agricultural lands in Duplin County are highly suitable for organic winter wheat production, a large proportion (76.8 percent) of agricultural lands are also moderately suitable. The method of suitability analysis used in this research, which allows specific consideration of soil organic matter and fertility as particularly critical factors for organic farming, can be easily exported to other locations, for similar applications.

Transforming Race and Class in Suburbia: Decline in Metropolitan Baltimore, by Thomas J. Vicino

A review of the book “Transforming Race and Class in Suburbia: Decline in Metropolitan Baltimore” by Thomas J. Vicino.

A Review of “Motoring: The Highway Experience in America”

A review of the book “Motoring: The Highway Experience in America” by John A. Jakle and Keith A. Sculle.