Suzanne Leland

THE EFFECTS OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT AND OPENING OF LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT STATIONS ON NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME

ABSTRACT: The debate over crime and rail transit focuses on whether such investments “breed” criminal activities with new targets of opportunity or transport crime from the inner city to the suburbs. Yet, little empirical evidence exists on whether new rail transit actually does lead to increased crime rates around stations. In order to study this question, we test the relationship between crime and rail transit with the 2007 opening of the Charlotte light rail line. We use Geographical Information Systems software and micro-level data on reported crimes to generate measures of criminal activity in and around light rail transit (LRT) stations. We then implement a quasi-experimental before-and-after methodology using two alternate transit corridors to control for differences between neighborhoods that contain LRT stations and other neighborhoods. We find light rail does not actually increase crime around stations. Instead, we see a decrease in property crimes once the station locations are announced, which remains relatively stable after the light rail begins operating.

Does Sector Matter? An Analysis of Planners’ Attitudes Regarding Politics and Competing Interests in the Planning Process

Both communicative planning theory and competing values models of public administration suggest attitudinal differences should exist between planners employed by private firms and those employed by government entities to the extent the perceptions of the former group are influenced by market forces to a greater degree than the latter. To test this, nine ordinal regression models were estimated using data collected from a national survey of 1,299 American Planning Association (APA) members. Planners employed in the public sector were found to be consistently more optimistic than private sector planners about government’s ability to manage political pressures and competing interests in the planning process. The results not only underscore the importance of existing planning and public administration theory but also offer a starting point to consider how sectoral differences in planners’ attitudes may influence outsourcing arrangements, public–private partnerships and other forms of cross-sector collaboration.

Does government structure matter? A comparative analysis of urban bus transit efficiency

As public transit becomes more and more important to our economy, it is imperative that we understand which governing system achieves optimal efficiency. Following up on the work of Perry and Babitsky (1986), the authors quantitatively test whether certain forms of public governance are more efficient administrators of bus service. The authors utilize 2004 data from the National Transit Association database and control for federal funding, whether services are contracted out, region, population density, whether the system has a fixed guideway, the presence of local dedicated funding, and the ratio of local to federal funding. The authors find that special-purpose governments are more likely than general-purpose governments (cities and counties) to operate more efficiently. The authors also discovered that governments that contract out for some or all of their bus services are also more likely to be efficient than those public agencies that directly operate all of their services.

The Role of Power and Competition in Contracting Out An Analysis of Public Transportation Markets

Market forces provide a foundation for the expectations of efficiency in contracting out. However, often the lack of competition in particular industries creates powerful companies that are able to negotiate contracts in their favor, reducing improved performance for government agencies. To study how market power influences performance in service delivery in the transit industry, we examine individual contracts as our unit of analysis. We hypothesize that a vendor’s market power directly influences an individual contract’s operational efficiency. We find that the lack of competition in the execution of contracts is an important determinant of agency performance.

Analyzing the Perceived Benefits of LEED-Certified and Energy Star–Certified Buildings in the Realm of Local Economic Development:

Data collected from a national survey of economic development professionals are used in this study to examine the perceived role of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design–certified and Energy Star–certified buildings in the business recruitment process. A series of ordinal logistic regression models are estimated to examine economic developers’ attitudes toward these buildings after controlling for their personal characteristics and the characteristics of the communities where they work. The results suggest less favorable perceptions about this form of sustainable real estate development in smaller communities and those with weaker economic fundamentals. Furthermore, women employed in economic development are found to have more favorable attitudes toward these buildings than their male counterparts. Increasing support for sustainable real estate development among economic developers working in local government may therefore require a combination of thoughtful policy making, executive education, and greater gender diversity in the profession.

Political and Functional Local Government Consolidation The Challenges for Core Public Administration Values and Regional Reform

This analysis explores the options for a theoretical model to guide regional collaboration by local governments that is both politically feasible and consistent with core public administration values. The analysis first examines the research on the adoption, implementation and performance of political consolidation. We then examine the theory and research that underlie functional consolidation and assess both types in lieu of the values of public administration. We find that local government managers and elected officials need a theoretical model for regional collaboration that addresses a key obstacle to service consolidation among local governments: the perceived loss of political power and control associated with consolidation efforts. We suggest multilevel governance theory and the concept of shared sovereignty offer an approach to regional problems with an eye to the political as well as administrative issues, and with instruments that promote core public administration values. The concept of shared sovereignty that underpins the regional collaboration of the countries in Europe has both descriptive and predictive theoretical potential as a multilevel governance theory. The EU functions from a web of interlaced, interdependent agreements to share sovereignty in ways that manage political issues, economic factors, and administrative values, and in a fashion aligned with core PA values in the US.

Cutback Management during the Great Recession The Case of Transit Agencies and Contracting Out

The following study looks at both qualitative and quantitative data collected from surveys of transit agency managers during and after the Great Recession to see if managers report changes in service provision arrangements in response to fiscal pressure. We investigate whether contracting out services is used as a method of cutback management. We find that the majority of agencies are unable to respond to current economic situation by changing service arrangements because of various and sometimes costly constraints such as state law, the level of competition in the bidding process, and length of contracts.

Public Transportation and Contracting Out

Contracting is often discussed as a cutback mechanism for public managers. The empirical evidence indicates that there are little savings in contracting out due to transaction costs. Public transit agencies exhibit path-dependent behavior; there are tangible conversion costs that may preclude changing the provision of services. As such, public managers should consider the provision of services very carefully as it may set an agency on a long-term trajectory that will be difficult to change due to both conversion and transaction costs.

Cohousing For Whom? Survey Evidence to Support the Diffusion of Socially and Spatially Integrated Housing in the United States

Abstract Cohousing is a resident-led neighborhood development model that clusters private dwelling units around collectively owned and managed spaces, with potential to address long-term social and environmental challenges in American metropolitan regions. To date, however, the cohousing model has been slow to diffuse beyond a demographically narrow following. This limited following may signal to policymakers that cohousing is an unappealing housing model, and therefore an impractical policy objective. Drawing from a survey of 1,000 American residents, the results of a multivariate regression model suggest that (a) many of the characteristics of the current resident population of cohousing in the United States have no statistical association with the individuals who indicate interest in cohousing nationwide; (b) other characteristics serve as better predictors of interest in cohousing; and therefore (c) the slow diffusion of cohousing is likely the consequence of inaccessibility rather than low appeal. Overcoming these challenges demands shifts in policy.

Mayors, Accomplishments, and Advancement

This article examines the effects of accomplishments on the career paths of big-city mayors. Using data from 104 cities with populations over 160,000 from 1992 to 2012, this study examines the extent to which performance in economics, crime, and recruiting mega-events affects mayors’ decisions to seek reelection or other offices, or retire. Results indicate those mayors of cities with population growth, a decrease in the crime rate, and that host certain mega-events (presidential nominating conventions) are more likely to seek another office than other mayors. A decrease in the crime rate seems to help mayors win reelection while none of the other accomplishments appear to improve their chances of winning campaigns for other offices.