Suburban Black Poverty in East Portland: The Role of Transportation in Making Ends Meet

Transportation choices among the poor are often monetarily and geographically determined (Krizek & El-Geneidy, 2007). Low-income households must weigh the costs and benefits of modes and the tradeoffs they make by choosing one mode over another (Blumenberg & Pierce, 2012). Non-driving transportation alternatives are often much more limited in suburban neighborhoods thus limiting options to the suburban poor (Kneebone & Berube, 2013). Additionally, as gentrification takes hold in low-income minority neighborhoods, the dispersal of population can also segment social networks further limiting transportation choices. Portland’s gentrifying Albina neighborhood and the low-income Black population in East Portland are the focus of study concerning how these populations make transportation choices, what tradeoffs they make in the process, and how gentrification has impacted their choices as well as their social network. By interviewing 30 total residents from low-income Black households split between Albina, defined by historical geographic boundaries (Gibson, 2007), and East Portland, defined as east of 82nd Ave to the Gresham border, this dissertation will investigate how those populations use transportation to make ends meet with the goal of influencing city land-use, housing, and transportation policy and the direction of non-profit and advocacy agency resources.

• Record URL:
  http://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/project/1079
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Dissertation in progress, expected completion June 2018

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $15000
• Contract Numbers:

  NITC 1079

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  TREC at Portland State University

  1900 SW Fourth Ave, Suite 175
  P.O. Box 751
  Portland, Oregon  United States  97201
• Project Managers:

  Hagedorn, Hau

• Performing Organizations:

  Portland State University

  Urban Studies and Planning
  P.O. Box 751
  Portland, Oregon  United States  97207
• Principal Investigators:

  Howland, Steven

• Start Date: 20161101
• Expected Completion Date: 20200814
• Actual Completion Date: 20200820
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benefit cost analysis; Choice models; Demographics; Low income groups; Minorities; Mode choice; Policy analysis
• Geographic Terms: Portland (Oregon)
• Subject Areas: Passenger Transportation; Policy; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01641392
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Institute for Transportation and Communities
• Contract Numbers: NITC 1079
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jul 22 2017 9:47AM