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An Examination of the Potential Impact of Multi-Use Trails on Housing Prices and Gentrification
Get PDFThe construction of green spaces in urban areas has shown to bring value to nearby properties. As this theory has held true for several multi-use trails constructed in cities in the United States, this paper uses the Champlain Canalway Trail, a multi-use trail in northeastern New York, as a case study to examine if housing prices respond similarly to the construction of multi-use trails in suburban and rural areas. Furthermore, this paper is used to test if theories of green gentrification also hold true outside of urban areas. A total of 8,619 house transactions conducted between 2005 to 2019 are used to conduct a spatial and difference-in-differences analysis to examine the effect of the construction and distance from the multi-use trail on the sales price of homes. The results of my research contradict previous green space theories and suggest that the construction of multi-use trails in suburban and rural areas can trigger a 17% decrease in the sales prices of houses within a half-mile from the trail, relative to the sales prices of houses two or more miles away. The results of this paper indicate that multi-use trails are unlikely to put urban and rural areas at risk of green gentrification
The Effect of Social Class on Political Party Affiliations in the African American Community
Get PDFDoes social class affect political party affiliation in the African-American community? Drawing on two contrasting theories: the theory of group interests and class-based theories of stratification put forth by Wilson and Shelton (2006), I propose that African -Americans who report being of a high socio-economic class are more likely to be Republican than African Americans of a lower socio-economic class. Through secondary analysis of data provided by the General Social Survey (GSS), I investigate the relationship between political party affiliation and social class in the African-American community. By combining data across 20 years between 1996 and 2016, the sample size is 1557 African-Americans. Measures of socio-economic status are limited to a single variable that asks respondents about their subjective social class, while the dependent variable was operationalized by a variable that inquires the respondent\u27s political party affiliation. Multiple regression analysis reveals that there is no statistically significant relationship between social class and political party affiliation. There is however, a relationship between political party affiliation and another measure of social class, specifically the respondents\u27 level of education. The strongest predictor of political party affiliation is the age of the respondents which gives insight on future voting patterns in the African-American community. While the hypothesis is not supported, the results shed light on the potential reasons for increased support for the Republican Party among African-Americans and could be used to predict voting outcomes among African-Americans for future elections
An Examination of the Attitudes towards Immigration across U.S. Demographic Groups
Get PDFWhat demographic backgrounds are associated with a person’s attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policies? Applying group threat theory and contact theory, I propose that race, age, education, political views, and religiosity all affect how people view immigration. To test the hypotheses, I analyze data from the 2014 General Social Survey, in which adults living in households in the United States are randomly selected and interviewed. A subset containing 1,022 respondents who answered every question relevant to this study is selected from the 2014 GSS. The univariate analysis shows that most Americans do not agree with the statement that immigrants undermine American culture, and that Americans are divided on whether the number of immigrants should be increased nowadays. The multivariate result indicates that education and political views are the most significant predictors of how one views immigrants and immigration policies, correspondingly, while race, age, and religiosity have no statistically significant relationships with either dependent variable. Statistical findings support the hypothesis that the more liberal a person is, the more likely the person is to agree that immigrants do not undermine American culture and to say that the number of immigrants nowadays should be increased. Contact theory is consistent with the result of this study. However, the findings also demonstrate that immigration is a complicated issue. This study is valuable in understanding the acceptance of immigrants across demographic groups. It also invites additional research on this important topic that will affect the future of th
Punitive Profit: An Analysis of Privatization and Prisons as Engines of Economic
Get PDFDuring the Prison Boom period (late 1980s through 2000), the US saw a dramatic increase in the number of prisons across rural America. Increasingly, policy makers came to see and use prisons as vehicles of economic growth intended to invigorate stagnant economies. This paper seeks to analyze the effectiveness of these promises by analyzing the effect of prisons on per capita income, unemployment, and poverty rates. I build on previous scholarship by differentiating between public and private prisons in my analysis. My results suggest that prisons are ineffective in spurring long term growth and that private prisons perform significantly worse than their public counterparts
Building Performance and Energy Star Ratings in Commercial Office Space
Get PDFLiterature surrounding the topic of environmental certification programs has consistently shown that green buildings financially outperform non-green buildings. Financial performance and energy performance go hand-in-hand when studying commercial real estate, as markets are dominated by institutional and private investors seeking the highest financial returns. Financial performance is the single greatest motivator for firms to implement sustainable initiatives as profit generation takes utmost priority. However, many indications suggest that environmental certification programs are simply branding techniques that do not meet expectations for energy performance. This study examines over 783 million ft2 of office space across four major metropolitan markets to understand greenhouse gas intensity levels as they relate to Energy Star ratings. This study finds that buildings ranked at the highest level by Energy Star underperform those with slightly lower scores, suggesting there is an underlying issue not captured by Energy Star performance measurement. Two main explanations for the results were rating inflation and over consumption of product. The paper argues that the current Energy Star rating system lacks a complete understanding of building performance and highlights the issues that can arise as they relate to financial performance
Direct Observations of Biological Carbon Export From Profiling Floats in the Subtropical North Atlantic
No full textThe complex interplay of biological and physical mechanisms comprising the ocean\u27s biological carbon pump has not been well characterized to date, due to the difficulty of observing these mechanisms in situ at adequate spatial and temporal resolution. An annual time series is presented of direct measurements of export production and particle properties collected using optical sediment trap‐equipped profiling floats cycling every 1.5–2.5 days. The observations indicate strong variability in particle export and bio‐optical properties, influenced by the spring bloom, mesoscale eddy activity, and the mixed layer pump. Temporal and vertical decoupling of fluxes at depths ranging from 150 to 1,000 m was also observed, and remineralization length scales were more variable than predicted by temperature‐ and oxygen‐based models. Net primary production was computed from float observations using a modification of the Carbon‐based Productivity Model and used to estimate export and export (e‐) ratios, which were compared to predictions of literature export models. Mechanistic models explicitly incorporating ecosystem processes and their depth dependence may perform better at reproducing regional observations collected at high temporal resolution
Determinants of Renewable Energy in West Africa
No full textMy paper analyzes the determinants of renewable energy in West Africa. I focus on 15 member states of the ECOWAS. I use an OLS model with state and country fixed effects for a period ranging from 1990-2015. Existing literature show that different factors such as political, country specific and socioeconomic can be attributed to the determinants of renewable energy consumption in the Sub Saharan Africa. My study seeks to investigate whether or not these factors are persisting in the West African region especially within the ECOWAS states. My results show renewable energy consumption is only affected by socioeconomic and country specific factors in West Africa