Paper Details

TRB 91st Annual Meeting (January 22-26, 2012)

Event Number:	711
Event Title:	Innovations in Activity and Travel Behavior
Event Date:	Jan 25 2012 8:30AM- 10:15AM
Event Location:	Hilton, International Center
Event Description:
Event Agenda:

Street Networks, Mode of Travel, and Sense of Community in a University Town (12-0521)

An emerging interest in transportation research concerns the factors that can help to create strong, sustainable, and ‘livable’ communities; however, relatively limited empirical work has been conducted to date. In this paper we investigate the perception of sense of community among neighborhood residents. Drawing from research on tertiary street-communities (t-communities), this paper explores the effect of the urban landscape, particularly street networks, and neighborhood and individual characteristics on sense of community. A sample of students at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, is used for the analysis. In addition to providing an opportunity to study sense of community, a student sample is interesting on its own right, as they are often a component of essential but at times uneasy relations between universities and towns. Analysis is based on the application of an ordered probit model with a spatial lag. The results provide evidence that t-community membership can influence sense of community.

Authors
     Whalen, Kate E., McMaster University, Canada
     Paez, Antonio , McMaster University, Canada
     Bhat, Chandra R., University of Texas, Austin
     Moniruzzaman, Md , McMaster University, Canada
     Paleti, Rajesh , University of Texas, Austin