Category: Research Area
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Lewis Center Faculty Lead Study on Impacts of Housing Boom
In the heady years before the Great Recession, did cities and municipalities get carried away with boomtime spending? Once the downturn hit, how prepared were local governments to face suddenly pressing needs in their communities? Urban Planning professors Paavo Monkkonen and Michael Lens plan to address these questions as they lead a three-year, $610,000 study aiming to better understand…
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Climate Change Initiative Director Juan Matute Interviewed By UCLA Today
Juan Matute, Director of the UCLA Climate Change Initiative was recently interviewed by UCLA Today. Click here to read more about climate change, transportation, and what we can do about it. Juan Matute is the director of the UCLA Local Climate Change Initiative at the Luskin School of Public Affairs. He studies how to transform notoriously car-dependent cities like…
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CicLAvia Associated with Increased Sales to Local Businesses
LOS ANGELES, October 1, 2012 — Businesses along the June 2013 CicLAvia route experienced a 10 percent bump in sales on the day of the event, a new study from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs has found. The increase was greater among those businesses that engaged with CicLAvia participants such as with a vending…
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Juan Matute Addresses California Assembly Committee on Community and Neighborhood Development
Manager of the Local Climate Change Initiative Juan Matute addressed California State Assembly Members about options to finance public improvements. Matute recently wrote a policy brief on the evolution of policy options used to fund or finance local infrastructure improvements in California. A key finding was that though financing needs for infill settings in established communities…
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Study: Downtown L.A. Parklets Improve Community, Quality of Life
In February 2013, City of Los Angeles unveiled its first pair of parklets. Six months forward, UCLA Luskin and affiliated researchers have found the parklets bring an improved quality of life to residents and visitors along the Spring Street corridor. In an evaluation (PDF) completed as a part of the “Reclaiming the Right of Way” project, researchers at…
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2013 Lake Arrowhead Symposium Focuses On Smart Technologies, Smart Policies
The 23rd annual UCLA Lake Arrowhead Symposium on the Transportation – Land Use – Environment Connection will explore the implications of recent and foreseeable future technological innovations for transportation, land use, and environmental policy and planning. The Symposium is an annual invitation-only retreat attended by about 125 policy makers and senior policy analysts from around the country. Many…
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Housing Lecture Series Recap: Interest Rates and Fundamental Fluctuations In Home Values
Professor Albert Saiz,of MIT visited the Lewis Center in May to discuss his research findings about interest rates and their connection with fluctuations in housing prices. Speaking to an audience of 25, he found that the interest rate-housing prices link has significant consequences for wealth accumulation, labor mobility, consumption, macroeconomic volatility, and financial market stability. However, Prof.…
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Annual Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Contest Winners Announced!
The Lewis Center is proud to announce the winners of this year’s annual GIS contest. The three winning projects successfully applied research methods and spatial analysis to produce descriptive and analytical insights into distinct policy questions. The 1st place winner will receive $500, the 2nd place winner $300, and the 3rd place winner $200. In…
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Local Climate Change Initiative Director Juan Matute Quoted in The New York Times
Juan Matute, director of the Local Climate Change Initiative at the Lewis Center was quoted Friday, July 12 in a New York Times article about new ride-sharing programs in Los Angeles that use smartphone apps to connect drivers and passengers. The Local Climate Change Initiative is designed to strengthen local governments’ capacity to reduce emissions and adapt to climate…
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Norman Wong Joins Amicus Brief in GIS Case; Supreme Court of California Rules Data Are Public Records
The Supreme Court of California ruled on Monday, July 15 in Sierra Club v. County of Orange that digital mapping files, also referred to as geographic information systems (GIS) fall under the state’s public records law. Lewis Center GIS Program Manager Norman Wong participated in an amicus brief in the case. As stated in the brief,