Nearby Neighborhoods Research Articles

Abstract P146: A Report On The Outcomes Of The Cleveland Clinic Community Care Health Challenges Project 2018 To 2019.

Healthy Community Initiatives is a means of directly impacting the health and well-being of the cities and communities served by the Cleveland Clinic. The Health Challenge is the signature program of the Cleveland Clinic Healthy Community Initiatives. It is a collaborative effort between Cleveland Clinic and community partners to engage individuals in the community to help manage chronic conditions and promote a healthier lifestyle. The population is the Cleveland Clinic Central region and other nearby neighborhoods impacting 59 zip codes. Each Health Challenge lasted 8 weeks. Neighborhood participants representing each area acquired points by attending health and wellness classes and events held at the Cleveland Clinic community center and partner locations. Individuals are awarded points for participation and improvement in biometric results and/or completion of a clinical appointment. Data was collected by summing up scores received from the different events in the health challenges as noted : Pre-Program Health Screening (1 point), Post-Program Health Screening (1 point), Decrease in BMI at End of Program (1 Point), Decrease in Blood Pressure at End of Program (1 point), Attend classes, programs, or exercise sessions at partner organizations (1 point), Attend classes, programs, or exercise sessions (2 points), mammography (5 points) and Women's Clinic Appointment (5 points) at the Cleveland Clinic Community Center. The winner of individual health challenge was determined by a point system based on participation and completion percentage. There were 17 eight week Health Challenges held in 2018 and 2019 in which a total of 1889 participants enrolled. Average age was 60 years. Average participant attended 9.4 classes/programs or exercise sessions during the 8 week program - total number attended by all the participants was 7,433. The completion percentage was 47.6%. From 2018 to 2019, enrollment increased by 24.9%, weight (by pounds) decreased by 27.7% (a net total of 2,133.7 pounds lost). However, completion rate decreased by 6.6%. Blood pressure abnormality (number of participants with stage 2 blood pressure abnormality decreased from 33% to 23% (national average 28.3%) ; initial lack of physical activity decreased from 51.2% to 32.2% (national average 25.4%) , initial lack of sleep decreased from 50.2% to 41% (national average 29.2%). The main objective of this report is to show how community health interventions such as these have positive impact on the health and well-being of both individuals and community at large. It is anticipated that dissemination of the positive outcomes of these community health interventions will encourage and consolidate healthy behaviors. It may also create incentives for both community and institutional investment and support in such beneficial health focused activities at the grassroots level.

Leaving room for the social in a neoliberal economic current: Three phases of urban planning for Roosevelt Island, NYC

This article challenges neoliberal urbanism discourse by asking: How can neoliberal urban redevelopment leave room for the social? It joins the research community that explores the tensions between neoliberal urbanism and socially-oriented development. To this end, it observes Roosevelt Island (RI) as an example of a neighborhood within the neoliberal urban core of NYC that continued to make room for social considerations for much longer than nearby neighborhoods. The research identifies three phases in the island's development: 1) Welfare Island, 2) community development, and 3) Entrepreneurial Island. Although these phases mirror global trends, the study reveals a delay between the spread of neoliberal urbanism to most US cities and its penetration to RI. The research explains this delay using the theoretical literature on islands to argue that RI's defined borders, local identity, transitionality, and clear sovereignty structure made room for the social. These features triggered and facilitated the two socially-oriented development phases, and changes in these features led to the gradual displacement of the social. Through a combination of historical research and ethnography, the study analyzes this process of change that facilitated the community's resiliency in the first two phases and proposes them as an interpretative framework for other locales.

Optimization of robustness based on reinforced nodes in a modular network

Many networks such as critical infrastructures exhibit a modular structure. One approach to increase the robustness of these systems is to reinforce a fraction of the nodes so that the reinforced nodes provide additional needed sources for themselves as well as for their nearby neighborhood. Since reinforcing a node can be expensive, the efficiency of the decentralization process by reinforced nodes is vital. Here we develop a model which combines both modularity and reinforced nodes and study the robustness of the system. Using tools from percolation theory, we derive an analytical solution for the robustness resulting from any partition of reinforced nodes; between nodes that have links that connect between modules and nodes which have links only within modules. We find that near the critical percolation threshold the robustness is greatly affected by the partition. In particular, we find a partition of reinforced nodes that yields optimal robustness and we show that the optimal partition remains constant for high average degrees.

Mechanical noise control case studies

A few case studies of mechanical system noise are presented. These address before/after background sound levels associated with room and/or mechanical system modifications, comparison of predicted mechanical system noise to measured values, our approach to noise control recommendations, and lessons learned. Interesting cases include a college theater renovation, office noise control involving implementation of a fan array and a VFD, and a challenging hunt for the source of an exterior pharmaceutical campus noise source generating complaints in a nearby neighborhood.

The Sleep Quality of Roman and Non-Roman older People: A Comparative Study

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate and compare sleep quality of Roman and non-Roman older people living in nearby neighborhoods. Methods: This research was a comparative descriptive study. The study was completed with 206 older people of which103 were Roman and 103 of non-Roman. Data were collected with Personal Information Form and Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Ethical permission was obtained to perform this study. Results: The mean age of Roman older people was 68.50±3.88, in non-Roman, it was 71.78±6.82. PSQI total score was9.47±5.50 and 7.27±3.68 in Roman and non-Roman older people, respectively. Conclusion: It was determined that Roman older people have poorer sleep quality than non-Roman. These results can be used by primary health care staff to provide appropriate health care for older people.

The subnational crowding out effect of mining windfalls on local tax effort: Does the level of local provision of public goods matter?

Although the resource curse offers evidence for the national crowding out generated by resource windfalls from mining, subnational crowding is not fully understood. This knowledge gap is problematic because these windfalls should cover the negative externalities that exist in host zones. Additionally, these communities have different fiscal responsibilities due to the mining industry's environmental, economic, and social costs. This article estimates the subnational crowd out of mining windfalls on local tax collection by considering different levels of fiscal responsibility. We employ panel data for 322 Chilean municipalities between 2008 and 2019 using an exogenous rule for assigning mining windfalls in order to attribute causality. Our results confirm the crowding out hypothesis. First, a US$1.0 increase in mining windfalls results in a US$0.2 decrease in the property tax collected. Second, subnational crowding out is twice as high in municipalities with a high level of fiscal responsibility; a US$1.0 increase in windfalls crowds out US$0.4 in non-resource revenue. Third, considering the influence of nearby neighborhoods and the spatial interdependence, crowding out is four times higher than non-spatial estimations. These results call for local policies that consider the fiscal capacity of a municipality in order to disincentivize undesirable behavior from extra resource revenues.

A trade-off method through connectivity analysis applied for sustainable design and planning of large urban parks

ABSTRACT Unlike urban planning processes have actively used empirical approaches, the urban park design and planning still uses the conceptual research approach; therefore, discrepancies often arise between the designer’s intention and real phenomena. In this work, we examine and propose a trade-off method for sustainable urban park design and planning that integrates conceptual and connectivity analyses, specifically for the Yongsan Park master plan. Yongsan Park is a mega-scale urban park project with a unique history as being a military post-industrial site for a long time. To re-link the isolated park site to current urban context, the park connectivity requires careful consideration both conceptually and empirically during the design and planning process. We used the spatial network analysis and statistical methods to investigate the potential visitation proposed by the park master plan and to understand the correlations with built environment factors. The results indicate that an iterative process is needed between conceptual design ideas and empirical connectivity analyses to properly reflect the designers’ intent and improve the long-term outcomes of large urban park design and planning. The trade-off method also provides insights of the urban planning strategies for nearby neighborhoods to enhance park connectivity and potentially contribute to the park management phase.

Predicting the elderly's quality of life based on dynamic neighborhood environment under diverse scenarios: An integrated approach of ANN, scenario analysis and Monte Carlo method

There is an increasing global population of older adults in recent years, and the trend will be more acute in the following decades. Owing to low mobility and physical impairment, the elderly are sensitive to their nearby neighborhood environment. However, it is challenging to accurately judge changes of the elderly’ quality of life (QoL) before conducting improvement strategies of neighborhood environment due to complicated environmental impacts. This study proposes a QoL prediction approach by integrating artificial neural network (ANN) model, scenario analysis and Monte Carlo experiment. The QoL of the elderly is measured from four domains, and the neighborhood environment is measured by 16 key indicators. Based on the measurement data collected from Nanjing, the ANN model is trained to fit the influence relationship between neighborhood environment and the elderly's QoL. Scenario analysis sets up potential scenarios for neighborhood environment under natural progressions and human interventions. Finally, Monte Carlo experiment is conducted to predict the probability distribution of the elderly's QoL values under potential scenarios by using the trained ANN model as functions. The predictive QoL values of the elderly show the change pattern of the elderly's QoL with dynamic neighborhood environment, reveal the independent and compound effects of natural progressions and human interventions, and confirm the mutual promotions between human interventions. Furthermore, the integrated prediction approach can be implemented in other cities and regions to forecast the local elderly's QoL under possible scenarios, and offer concise evidence for deciding improvement strategies of neighborhood environment to support aging-in-place.

Value Capture and Vertical Allocations of Public Amenities

This paper describes and critically reviews an important but under-theorized value capture mechanism that we have termed “vertical allocations” (or vertical exactions). This mechanism enables cities to capture value vertically by allocating floor space for public utilities in privately owned, mixed-use, vertical development. As a value capture tool, vertical allocations allow the government to tap value uplift to supply the nearby neighborhood, and the city as a whole, with much needed public services. The owner or developer is required to make in-kind contributions in the form of spaces provided for a range of public facilities such as schools, preschools, community centers, and public medical clinics. While focusing on vertical exactions in Israel we explore how a certain share of land/floorspace can be allocated for public amenities in a given project. There are several legal pathways for securing public floorspace including negotiated agreements, land readjustment and expropriation. The findings show that unclear policies and regulations could create frictions between developers and municipalities, and these raise the nexus question as well as debates about construction costs and financial contributions developers have to make. Specifically, the paper finds that while developers often argue that cities should cover the costs of constructing public floorspace, city officials assert that the costs should be borne by the owners and developers.

An Evaluation of the Three Pillars of Sustainability in Cities with High Airbnb Presence: A Case Study of the City of Madrid

The recent proliferation of private tourist accommodations on what has been known as sharing economy has induced new models on urban tourism and on the use of traditional housing. Urban tourism pressure has caused many transformation processes with important impacts in neighborhoods with high tourist interest, which are shown in the evolution of certain urban sustainability indicators, such as those proposed by the UN-Habitat Agenda for Sustainable Cities in line with the principles of the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities. Due to the above, the objective of this work is to analyze the spatial distribution of Airbnb accommodations, and explore the factors associated with the situation of Airbnb rentals in relation to the indicators of urban sustainability of neighborhoods and variables related to the gentrification processes of neighborhoods in which there is crowding or overtourism, measured through the Global Tourist Stress Index. For this, a first-order spatial autoregressive panel (SAR) data model with fixed effects has been specified, the results of which provide us with information to understand how sustainability indicators in the neighborhoods of the city of Madrid in the time period 2015–2018, they would explain the location and number of Airbnb accommodations found there. Additionally, it allows us to observe the existence of a spillover effect from the central neighborhoods, with a high per capita income, to nearby neighborhoods with lower income due to the level of tourist crowding, which is a contribution to the scarce existing literature.

Mosquito Vector Production across Socio-Economic Divides in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

We investigated the role of socio-economic factors in the proliferation of mosquito vectors in two adjacent but socio-economically contrasting neighborhoods in Baton Rouge, LA, USA. We surveyed mosquito larvae habitat, mosquito larvae, and adult mosquitoes during the summer of 2020. We also evaluated the number of requests for mosquito abatement services in the years preceding the study for each area. While we did not find differences in terms of the most abundant species, Culex quinquefasicatus (F1,30 = 0.329, p = 0.57), we did find a higher abundance of mosquito habitats, particularly discarded tires, as well as larvae (z = 13.83, p < 0.001) and adults (F1,30 = 4.207, p = 0.049) of the species Aedes albopictus in the low-income neighborhood. In contrast, mosquito abatement requests were significantly higher in the high socio-economic neighborhood (z = −8.561, p < 0.001). This study shows how factors such as adjudicated properties, discarded tires and pest abatement requests can influence the abundance of mosquito vectors, disproportionately affecting low-income groups. This study also highlights how Aedes spp. may be better indicators than Culex spp. of socio-economic differences between nearby neighborhoods, due to their short flight range and habitat preferences, and this should be considered in future studies attempting to detect such disparities in the future.

The Growth and Shifting Spatial Distribution of Tent Encampments in Oakland, California

Tent encampments have become an especially common form of homelessness in West Coast cities like Oakland, California, where the number of people living in tent encampments increased by 130 percent between 2017 and 2019. Living in tent encampments provides residents both benefits and risks, depending on the encampments’ location, size, and stability. Using data from Google Street Views, I document the growth and spatial dynamics of tent encampments in west and central Oakland over the last decade. The number and size of tent encampments rapidly increased between 2014 and 2019, varying widely in their stability. City interventions like the city’s outdoor transitional housing sites displaced several large tent encampments. Combined with overall tent encampment growth, these displacements dispersed the encampments throughout nearby neighborhoods and other parts of the city.

Environmental and health hazards of residents domiciled around Africa’s largest landfill

Landfills are a nuisance and an environmental feature whose siting creates uncertainty, anxiety and unrest in nearby residential neighborhoods. As such, hazards from Africa’s largest Landfill in Nigeria were surveyed, considering a 3 km radius of the site. Primary data were collected across four seasons from 473 participants in neighborhoods situated within a 1, 1–2 and 2–3 km radius of the site. The research established that environmental and health hazards experienced differ significantly in space, due to exposure to landfill pollutants which varied in space. However, experience in both the dry and rainy seasons was the same. The overall results reveal that place dependence, social bonding and economic status are the significant factors influencing residents’ decision to continue residing in their neighborhoods despite the hazards. The research advocated for more studies on the spatio-temporal pattern of hazardous land uses to ensure a sustainable environment that supports healthy living.

Impact of Single-Family Home Foreclosures on Apartment Rents

We examine the impacts of single-family home foreclosures on rents for 513 apartment buildings in Shelby County, Tennessee from 2001 through 2016. We find significant, positive nonlinear relationships between foreclosure rates and apartment rents, suggesting that foreclosure market shocks increase demand for apartments and cause occupancy changes from owner to renter. Specifically, rents increase with increasing nearby neighborhood single-family home foreclosure rates. Foreclosure effects were exacerbated by the higher acute foreclosure rates occurring during the 2007–2009 financial crisis, indicating greater price impacts on rents, while during periods with lower foreclosure rates, price impacts were more attenuated. Additionally, impacts on rents vary by rent levels with greater rent increases for higher-end apartments relative to lower-end units.

Spillover effects in neighborhood housing value change: a spatial analysis

Despite numerous studies on neighborhood change, the importance of spatial dependence has largely been overlooked. This study aims to examine spillover effects among neighborhood change factors, which means that demographic, housing, and socio-economic characteristics in nearby neighborhoods affect housing value change in a given neighborhood. In analyzing spillover effects, this study used the Neighborhood Change Data Base that includes decennial census data in the U.S. and employed a spatial Durbin model that can analyze both direct and indirect (spillover) effects of neighborhood change factors. The major findings are as follows: 1) neighborhood change factors have spillover effects; 2) the spillover effects are greater than the direct effects for demographic characteristics; 3) the spillover effects of housing and socio-economic characteristics are less dominant compared to those of demographic characteristics. Based on these findings, this study suggests that efforts to promote neighborhood revitalization and to prevent neighborhood decline should take into account spillover effects coming from surrounding neighborhoods.

Perceptions of NO2 Exposure and Health in a Cohort of Low-Income Adults in Mysore, India

Urban air quality remains a major concern for public health officials and the general public, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where baseline exposures are high. In India, air quality awareness campaigns are major efforts of governments at every level. Yet, our understanding of relationships between ambient air pollution exposure, public perceptions of air quality, and concerns about associated health risks is incomplete. We asked 609 respondents in low-income neighborhoods in Mysore, India, about perceptions of air pollution exposures and self-efficacy, or their ability to act to reduce the health effects of air pollution in their community. Based on lung function tests, we found a 9.3% prevalence (standard error: 0.8%) of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma. An additional 21% of the population reported experiencing chronic cough, phlegm, wheezing, and difficulty walking due to shortness of breath, and 27% of the participants reported visiting a hospital or clinic in the previous 6 months due to chest pain, breathing issues or allergic reaction. On air pollution perception, we found 30% of the respondents believed air pollution in their own neighborhood was worse than pollution in nearby neighborhoods, and 80% of respondents believe air pollution levels in the city of Mysore have been detrimental to their own health. Only 1.5% of respondents prioritized minimizing disruption of their daily routine due to air pollution, and less than 1% of respondents believed they could act individually or collectively within their community to reduce the impacts of their pollution exposure. Public awareness campaigns should be combined with education on ways the public can protect themselves from the adverse impacts of pollution exposure, and should be tailored explicitly for targeting vulnerable populations such as those living in low-income neighborhoods that experience high ambient air pollution levels.

Asymptotically-Optimal Topological Nearest-Neighbor Filtering

Nearest-neighbor finding is a major bottleneck for sampling-based motion planning algorithms. The cost of finding nearest neighbors grows with the size of the roadmap, leading to a significant computational bottleneck for problems which require many configurations to find a solution. In this letter, we develop a method of mapping configurations of a jointed robot to neighborhoods in the workspace that supports fast search for configurations in nearby neighborhoods. This expedites nearest-neighbor search by locating a small set of the most likely candidates for connecting to the query with a local plan. We show that this filtering technique can preserve asymptotically-optimal guarantees with modest requirements on the distance metric. We demonstrate the method's efficacy in planning problems for rigid bodies and both fixed and mobile-base manipulators.

Culex erythrothorax (Diptera: Culicidae): Activity periods, insecticide susceptibility and control in California (USA).

The mosquito Culex erythrothorax Dyar is a West Nile virus (WNV) vector that breeds in wetlands with emergent vegetation. Urbanization and recreational activities near wetlands place humans, birds and mosquitoes in close proximity, increasing the risk of WNV transmission. Adult Cx. erythrothorax abundance peaked in a wetland bordering the San Francisco Bay of California (USA) during the first 3 hours after sunset (5527 ± 4070 mosquitoes / trap night) while peak adult Culex tarsalis Coquillett abundance occurred during the subsequent 3 h period (83 ± 30 Cx. tarsalis). When insecticide resistance was assessed using bottle bioassay, Cx. erythrothorax was highly sensitive to permethrin, naled, and etofenprox insecticides compared to a strain of Culex pipiens that is susceptible to insecticides (LC50 = 0.35, 0.71, and 4.1 μg/bottle, respectively). The Cx. erythrothorax were 2.8-fold more resistant to resmethrin, however, the LC50 value was low (0.68 μg/bottle). Piperonyl butoxide increased the toxicity of permethrin (0.5 μg/bottle) and reduced knock down time, but a higher permethrin concentration (2.0 μg/bottle) did not have similar effects. Bulk mixed-function oxidase, alpha-esterase, or beta-esterase activities in mosquito homogenates were higher in Cx. erythrothorax relative to the Cx. pipiens susceptible strain. There was no difference in the activity of glutathione S-transferase between the two mosquito species and insensitive acetylcholine esterase was not detected. Larvicides that were applied to the site had limited impact on reducing mosquito abundance. Subsequent removal of emergent vegetation in concert with larvicide applications and reduced daily environmental temperature substantially reduced mosquito abundance. To control Cx. erythrothorax in wetlands, land managers should consider vegetation removal so that larvicide can efficiently enter the water. Vector control agencies may more successfully control adult viremic Cx. erythrothorax that enter nearby neighborhoods by applying adulticides during the 3 h that follow sunset.

Building Community Well-being by Leveraging the Economic Impact of Health Systems.

Local communities face systematically deepening disparities in economic, health, and well-being outcomes. Nurses are increasingly leading initiatives to positively impact the social determinants of health in local communities. This article describes how to use the enormous economic impact of hospitals and health systems as anchor institutions embedded in local communities. By leveraging the everyday business practices of hospitals and health systems, such as hiring, purchasing, and investing, nurses can help to transform the economic and consequent health well-being of socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals and neighborhoods. Hiring, purchasing, and investing in nearby neighborhoods build community wealth through both gainful employment and subsequent recirculation of money locally. Improving the economic viability of the local community positively impacts concomitant social determinants of health. Nurses, with their experience and expertise in collaboration and communication with diverse stakeholder and with their high ranking as the most trusted profession, are natural leaders to build community networks and partnerships that promote community transformation for well-being.

Preliminary study on transit-induced residential gentrification in Nagoya, Japan

Abstract The transit-induced residential gentrification caused by two urban rail transit lines in Nagoya, Japan is investigated individually. The difference-in-differences model, a quasi-experimental model, is used to explore the possible causal relationship between rail investments and residential gentrification. Two rail transit lines, which consist of subway and elevated railways, began operation in the same year and during a period of economic downturn. Investigations reveal that these rail transit lines located in different areas have achieved their own geographic scales of influence. Furthermore, the results show that the rail transit line located at the center of Nagoya causes a significant change in the household income of nearby neighborhoods, while evidence of transit-induced residential gentrification is not found for the suburb of Nagoya.