Project Titles and Abstracts - Spring 2013

2:

2:55 - 3:05

Creating Opportunity: Access to Social Resources in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside

The Downtown Eastside neighborhood of Vancouver, located in the heart of the city, has long been challenged with many complex social and economic issues, including homelessness, housing, unemployment, drug use, crime and business development. The median household income in the Downtown Eastside in 2006 was $13,691, less than 30% of the citywide median household income ($47,299) and many residents of the Downtown Eastside live in poverty, struggle with mental health and addictions and have no access to employment. In recent years the city of Vancouver, along with a number of community based, non-profit organizations have made a distinct effort to improve the accessibility of social services, such as affordable housing, food, healthcare, treatment centers, educational training programs and community centers, to the residents of the Downtown Eastside. However, many gaps in services still exist and the area today remains troubled. This report examines the current level of community services in the Downtown Eastside and the accessibility of these services to key population centers in the community. This analysis illustrates tools that may help direct and guide future investment and development toward stimulating a more prosperous, sustainable and socially inclusive community.

3:

3:10 - 3:20

4:

3:25 - 3:35

Lawrence

Barriner

The Food Movement: Justice or Just Us?

Due in part to groups interested in social justice and also to the perceived relationship between diet and health (particularly obesity), the inequity of food access has rapidly gained attention in the last 10 years. USDA defines ‘food deserts’as “census tract[s] with a substantial share of residents who live in low-income areas that have low levels of access to a grocery store or healthy, affordable food retail outlet.” While the issues are familiar to many urbanites interested in food, Julian Agyeman suggests in his book Cultivating Food Justice that, “The food movement narrative is largely created by and resonates most deeply with white and middle-class individuals.” The food movement and food justice movement, though distinct, are experiencing deepening connections. Though the movements could be powerful allies, the food movement needs to understand the context of the food justice movement. In order to provide an overview of the difference between the two populations, this mapping exercise will explore the economic and racial dimensions of Boston areas with low access to fresh foods. Using data from the U.S. American Community Survey, MassGIS, and MassDOT, I test my hypothesis that (urban) areas with low access to fresh foods are relatively high in poverty, primarily nonwhite, and far from subway lines.

5:

3:40 - 3:50

The purpose of this project is to look at high percentage areas of immigrant residents in the Boston Metropolitan area. The project analyses the conditions of these areas using the 2000 Massachusetts Census Data. Census maps are used to identify cities within metro Boston with high concentrations of immigrant residents (e.g. Lynn, Cambridge, Lowell, etc.). Within these areas Census tract and block group data are used to map:
1. The residency status of the foreign population: legal vs. illegal,
2. Tthe poverty status by citizenship status,
3. Tthe ability of residents to speak English, and
4. The educational attainment of the adult population.
The broader motive behind looking at these variables is to better understand the obstacles immigrants face in the United States and, more specifically, the major factors that might hinder the educational attainment of children of immigrants.