Browsing by Author "Jeddi Yeganeh, Armin"

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    An Equity Analysis of the U.S. Public Transportation System Based on Job Accessibility
    Jeddi Yeganeh, Armin (Virginia Tech, 2017-05-09)
    Background: Access to quality public transportation is critical for employment, especially for low-income and minority populations. This research contributes to previous work on equity analysis of the U.S. public transportation system by covering the 45 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and their counties. Objective: This study analyzes job accessibility of transit commuters in the 45 largest MSAs to assess the existing differences in accessibility between Census-defined socioeconomic status (SES) categories. Method: 2014 Census demographic data were matched to a previously published 2014 dataset of transit job accessibility at the Census Block Group level. Transit equality and justice analyses were performed based on population-weighted mean job accessibility and SES variables. Results: The findings suggest that within individual MSAs, the low-income populations and people of color have the highest transit job accessibility. However, in certain MSAs with high job accessibility, such as New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Houston, there is a significantly disproportionate access to public transportation based on income. Variables such as income, and the use of personal vehicle, are found to have a statistically significant negative impact on job accessibility in almost all MSAs. The percentage of White workers has a significant impact on job accessibility in upper-mid-density MSAs and high-density MSAs. The percentage of the population with limited English speaking ability is not a significant determinant of job accessibility except in lower-mid-density MSAs. Disparities by income are greater than disparities by race. Racial disparities increase by MSA size and density controlling for income. The findings suggest that planning for public transportation should take into account risks, benefits, and other equally important aspects of public transportation such as frequency, connectivity, and quality of service.
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    Green Affordable Housing: Cost-Benefit Analysis for Zoning Incentives
    Jeddi Yeganeh, Armin; McCoy, Andrew P.; Hankey, Steven C. (MDPI, 2019-11-08)
    In the year 2017, about 89% of the total energy consumed in the US was produced using non-renewable energy sources, and about 43% of tenant households were cost burdened. Local governments are in a unique position to facilitate green affordable housing, that could reduce cost burdens, environmental degradation, and environmental injustice. Nonetheless, limited studies have made progress on the costs and benefits of green affordable housing, to guide decision-making, particularly in small communities. This study investigates density bonus options for green affordable housing by analyzing construction costs, transaction prices, and spillover effects of green certifications and affordable housing units. The authors employ pooled cross-sectional construction cost and price data from 422 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects and 11,016 Multiple Listing Service (MLS) transactions in Virginia. Using hedonic regression analyses controlling for mediating factors, the study finds that the new construction of market-rate green certified houses is associated with small upfront costs, but large and statistically significant price premiums. In addition, the construction of market-rate green certified houses has large and statistically significant spillover effects on existing non-certified houses. Existing non-certified affordable housing units show small and often insignificant negative price impacts on the transaction prices of surrounding properties. The study concludes that the magnitude of social benefits associated with green building justifies the local provision of voluntary programs for green affordable housing, where housing is expensive relative to its basic cost of production.
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    Pathways to Sustainable Housing
    Jeddi Yeganeh, Armin (Virginia Tech, 2021-04-19)
    The world is observing unprecedented, devastating, yet growing effects of climate change. GDP has been slow for decades; Covid-19 has disturbed the economy; energy prices are rising; unemployment remains high; consumer debt and budget deficit are climbing; wealth inequality is at an all-time high. Still, 89% of the energy consumed in the United States comes from non-renewable sources. Amid this challenging time, the question this work tries to answer is how can we protect our climate and environment through innovative development policies and practices that concurrently promote social equity and preserve economic viability? To answer this question, I explore five sustainable housing goals: climate protection, policy innovation, environmental protection, social equity, and economic growth. I use data and empirical analysis to show sustainable development challenges and conflicts are significant. I share lessons learned from cities and states that act as pioneers of climate and environmental protection; I explore a balanced integration of economic, environmental, and social goals through zero-energy building in the traditionally siloed policy sector of low-income housing; I show that a lack of consideration for social equity can turn environmental initiatives into luxury goods that surrender equity to profitability; I show that a lack of consideration for economic viability can lead to underinvestment in environmental and social equity initiatives. The overall insights derived from this study suggest that state housing agencies and local governments, particularly in large cities and in communities that are more vulnerable to environmental risks, are in a unique position to stimulate and drive climate and environmental protection. Significant between-agency differences in housing policy innovation persist, and future policy innovation research should explore factors that impact the utility of policy innovation and barriers the environmental sustainability movement faces at the organization level and beyond. Existing challenges to distributed energy generation need further study. This research highlights the need for greater policy attention to affordable housing needs in core urban areas, neighborhood diversity, and costs of gentrification.
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    A social equity analysis of the U.S. public transportation system based on job accessibility
    Jeddi Yeganeh, Armin; Hall, Ralph P.; Pearce, Annie R.; Hankey, Steven C. (University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies, 2018)
    Access to quality public transportation is critical for employment, especially for low-income and minority populations. This study contributes to previous work on equity analyses of the U.S. public transportation system by including the 45 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in a single analysis. Year-2014 Census demographic data were combined with an existing 2014 dataset of transit job accessibility. Then, transit equality and justice indicators were developed and a regression analysis was performed to explore trends in transit job accessibility by race and income. The findings suggest that within individual MSAs, low-income populations and minorities have the highest transit job accessibility. However, the overall transit ridership is low, and in certain MSAs with high transit job accessibility both high and low income populations have high access levels but middle income populations do not. Within individual MSAs, on average, accessibility differences by income are greater than accessibility differences by race. The relative importance of race versus income for injustice increases with MSA size. In upper mid-size and large MSAs, differences by race increase. Also, the differences by race are greater among low-income populations. Accessibility- related equality and justice indicators are only one of many issues that comprise the wider discussion of equity.