Research update

Location, Location, Location! Mobility and Opportunity in East King County

by Bedrosian Center

Emily Lieb brings us another research update from Seattle from the Access to Opportunity Project:

What’s in a neighborhood? Scholars (and realtors) agree: Where a person lives determines how much access to opportunity she has. Good schools, safe streets, high-quality housing that appreciates in value, accessible jobs and services, clean air and water—all of these things make it possible for people to do the best they can for themselves and their families. Poor schools, high crime rates, bad housing, an unhealthy environment, and relative inaccessibility do the opposite. Each one of these things is an obstacle standing between a family and its potential.

How do we know what works?

by Bedrosian Center

Lisa K. Bates, Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Urban Studies in the Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University, updates us on research in the Access to Opportunity Project.

When thinking about assessing the impact of Humboldt Gardens’ GOALS program, which is the project‘s version of HUD‘s Family Self-Sufficiency Program (FSS), it is useful to know the program‘s context. The concept of FSS is straightforward — parents participate in programming designed to promote employment and financial stability, working with a case manager to set goals.

Changing Lives in a Changing Neighborhood

by Bedrosian Center

By Dr. Lisa K. Bates

Joining the Access to Opportunity team is bringing me into dialogue with amazing scholars and practitioners with deep understanding of policy systems, focusing on an under-studied context of west coast cities. I am looking forward to sharing the research from Portland as we complete this initial round of work. We are looking at Humboldt Gardens, a development of Home Forward (the Housing Authority of Portland), as a site for understanding low-income parents’ (mostly parents of color) strategies for accessing ‘opportunity’.

What does self-sufficiency mean in the face of skyrocketing housing costs?

by Bedrosian Center

Dr. Shawn Flanigan, San Diego State University, shares the next installment of our blog on the Access to Opportunity Project. San Diego is consistently ranked among the least affordable housing markets in the United States, topping that list in 2015! Coming in at number two on the list in 2016. Rather than looking exclusively at housing costs, assessments of housing affordability consider housing costs in relation to how many residents of a community could afford to purchase a home at the median price. In 2015, real estate industry research showed that less than half of households could qualify to buy a median priced home in 93.3 percent of San Diego zip codes. This was the highest ratio of any city in the study.

Small and Medium Multifamily Housing is Overlooked Part of Solution to Housing Affordability Challenges

by Bedrosian Center

While rental housing is often associated with large, high-rise apartments, 54 percent of U.S. rentals are in small and medium multifamily housing (SMMF), properties with between two and 49 units. SMMF is a much more important source of homes than has generally been recognized, especially for low-income households, according to new research from Enterprise Community Partners Inc. (Enterprise) and the The USC Bedrosian Center on Governance, housed at the USC Price School of Public Policy.

Pam McCann research update: House & Senate negotiations and policy choice

by Bedrosian Center

Pamela Clouser McCann, Ph.D., assistant professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy discussed updates to her research on House and Senate negotiations and policy choice. Legislators encode their policy choices in the text of bills they propose, debate, and pass. This text, and the policy choices within it, reflect the preferences of the members whose support…

Resh publishes new article in premier Public Administration journal

by Justine Dodgen

A new article co-authored by Bedrosian Faculty Affiliate Bill Resh was accepted into the  Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. The article, entitled “A Systems Theory Approach to Innovation Implementation: Why Organizational Location Matters,” examines how the “success” of adopted innovations depends on both the source of innovation and the organizational environment. Resh and coauthor Tima Moldogaziev argue that not…

Tang publishes new article in Policy Studies Journal

by Justine Dodgen

This month, Professor and Bedrosian Center Research Director Shui Yan Tang coauthored a new article in the Policy Studies Journal entitled “Political Commitment, Policy Ambiguity, and Corporate Environmental Practices.” His paper examines how regulatory factors are related to basic and proactive corporate environmental management practices in the Pearl River Delta region in China. His research found that the…

Tang published in Journal of Environmental Management

by Justine Dodgen

Last month, Professor and Bedrosian Center Research Director Shui Yan Tang was published in the Journal of Environmental Management. His article, entitled “Stakeholder demands and corporate environmental coping strategies in China,” looks at how corporations in China are developing environmental coping strategies and protection practices. His findings, based on surveys and interviews with Chinese manufacturing…

Ed Tinoco Awarded ALA Diversity Research Grant

by Justine Dodgen

Bedrosian Affiliate Ed Tinoco was awarded one of three Diversity Research Grants awarded by the American Library Association’s Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services for 2015. This grant will fund original research by Tinoco and co-recipient Dr. Win Shih, Director of Integrated Library Systems at USC. Their research project is titled “Facilitating the Learning and Academic…