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This paper examines whether social capital in a neighborhood is influenced by its design, taking the cul‐de‐sac as a special case. It offers two contributions: using carpooling to school as a proxy for social capital and a precise definition of the neighborhood using geo‐coded survey data from California. Living in a cul‐de‐sac neighborhood is found to increase the probability of carpooling, but the effect loses statistical significance when residential self‐selection is accounted for. The analysis reveals competing insights about the self‐selection behavior that must be resolved before neighborhood design can be considered an effective policy tool for enhancing social capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper uses a before-after, experimental-control group method to evaluate the impacts of the newly opened Expo light rail transit line in Los Angeles on personal vehicle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We applied the California Air Resources Board's EMFAC 2011 emission model to estimate the amount of daily average CO2 emissions from personal vehicle travel for 160 households across two waves, before and after the light rail opened. The 160 households were part of an experimental-control group research design. Approximately half of the households live within a half-mile of new Expo light rail stations (the experimental group) and the balance of the sampled households live beyond a half-mile from Expo light rail stations (the control group). Households tracked odometer mileage for all household vehicles for seven days in two sample waves, before the Expo Line opened (fall, 2011) and after the Expo Line opened (fall, 2012). Our analysis indicates that opening the Expo Line had a statistically significant impact on average daily CO2 emissions from motor vehicles. We found that the CO2 emission of households who reside within a half-mile of an Expo Line station was 27.17 percent smaller than those living more than a half-mile from a station after the opening of the light rail, while no significant difference exists before the opening. A difference-in-difference model suggests that the opening of the Expo Line is associated with 3,145 g less of household vehicle CO2 emissions per day as a treatment effect. A sensitivity analysis indicates that the emission reduction effect is also present when the experimental group of households is redefined to be those living within a kilometer from the new light rail stations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is required to designate critical habitat (CH) for listed species. Designation could result in modification to or delay of residential development projects within habitat boundaries, generating concern over potential housing market impacts. This paper draws upon a large data set of municipal-level (FIPS) building permit issuances and critical habitat designations (CHDs) in California over a 13-year period to identify changes in the spatial and temporal pattern of development activity associated with CHD. We find that the proposal of the median-sized CH results in a 23.5 percent decrease in the supply of housing permits in the short run and a 37.0 percent decrease in the long run. The results indicate the proposal of CH acts as a signal that all development in that FIPS will be more costly. We also find that the impact varies across the two periods in which CH is designated and by the number of years relative to when CH was first proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we summarize an integrated, operational model of losses due to earthquake impacts on transportation and industrial capacity, and how these losses affect the metropolitan economy. The procedure advances the information provided by transportation and activity system analysis techniques in ways that help capture the most important ecomonic implications of earthquakes. Network costs and origin-destination requirements are modeled endogenously and consistently. Indirect and induced losses associated with direct impacts on transportation and industrial capacity are distributed across zones and ecomonic sectors. Preliminary results are summarized for a magnitude 7.1 earthquake on the Elysian Park blind thrust fault in Los Angeles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use the National Establishment Time-Series database to describe shifts in the geographic dispersion of employment and ownership of firms. Focusing on data on business establishments in California, and establishments anywhere in the United States that are owned by firms headquartered in California, we find shifts in the operations of businesses headquartered in California to other states. However, this shift has been offset by increased employment in the state by firms headquartered elsewhere, resulting in California's share of national employment holding quite constant. The evidence points to increasing geographic dispersion of firms' operations, especially in industries with lower communication costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the impact of smog reduction on county growth in California. Reduction of pollution levels in the area due to environmental regulation; High population growth in Los Angeles suburbs that have experienced the largest pollution reductions; Statement that regulation has increased local quality of life which has encouraged in-migration; Other potential reasons for improved quality of life in the area.