Publications and Reports
http://hdl.handle.net/2148/422
2024-03-28T19:03:11Z
2024-03-28T19:03:11Z
Rural Ethnic Entrepreneurship: A Spatial Networks Approach to Community Development
Steinberg, Sheila Lakshmi
Steinberg, Steven J.
Eschker, Erick
Keeble, Sarah M.
Barnes, Jason M.
http://hdl.handle.net/2148/647
2014-01-29T10:23:42Z
2010-07-06T00:00:00Z
Rural Ethnic Entrepreneurship: A Spatial Networks Approach to Community Development
Steinberg, Sheila Lakshmi; Steinberg, Steven J.; Eschker, Erick; Keeble, Sarah M.; Barnes, Jason M.
Rural ethnic entrepreneurship is a major driving force for strong rural communities (Fairlie 2004; Grey and Collins-Williams 2006; Quadrini 1999; Robles and Cordero-Guzman 2007; Rochin, Saenz, Hampton and Calo 1998; Verdaguer and Vallas 2008; Zarrugh 2007). In this project, we used a mixed methods approach to better understand rural entrepreneurship and to examine experiences and social network structures associated with ethnic entrepreneurs. This report identifies factors leading to successful ethnic-owned businesses and contributes to an understanding of the social networks and local resources using a sociospatial, community-focused approach. The term sociospatial means the active consideration of space, place and social indicators in a holistic fashion (Steinberg and Steinberg 2009). We explore issues important to ethnic business owners, how they work to achieve success in rural environments, and strengths they bring to the larger community. The result is a model for effective engagement in community and economic development for non-majority and ethnic groups who may not be at the table.
2010-07-06T00:00:00Z
People, Place and Health: a Pesticide Atlas of Monterey County and Tulare County, California
Steinberg, Sheila L.
Steinberg, Steven J.
http://hdl.handle.net/2148/429
2013-12-02T21:53:52Z
2008-04-14T00:00:00Z
People, Place and Health: a Pesticide Atlas of Monterey County and Tulare County, California
Steinberg, Sheila L.; Steinberg, Steven J.
This project employs a mixed‐method, place‐based approach to study agricultural worker health issues related to pesticide use in rural California. Sociospatial analysis considers space, place and social indicators in a holistic and integrated fashion (Steinberg and Steinberg 2008). This project utilizes Geographic Information System (GIS) to effectively integrate environmental and social data related to farmworker health and pesticide use. GIS is a computerized system of mapping. The value of a sociospatial approach is that it allows for the spatial portrayal of social and environmental data in a holistic fashion. In this case, our sociospatial approach highlights the interplay between people and place. We focus on environmental and social issues for farmworkers in the three communities in both Monterey and Tulare counties. Using this visual approach for communication and portrayal of data proves to be effective across both language and literacy barriers.
To conduct this study, the California Center for Rural Policy and the Institute for Spatial Analysis, located at Humboldt State University, worked in partnership with the Agricultural Worker Health Initiative (AWHI) funded by the California Endowment, including Poder Popular ‐ a community‐based group to empower farmworker communities throughout the state of California. We wish to thank the California Endowment for support of this project. We would especially like to thank Mario Gutierrez, M.P.H., Director, Rural and Agricultural Worker Health Program for his vision in supporting this work.
This atlas includes both maps and interview data integrated to tell the stories of farmworkers, their communities and pesticide drift resulting from our extensive environmental mapping of pesticide use and application rates within the study region. Particular emphasis is placed on the amount and types of pesticides and fumigants used near schools, neighborhoods and community gathering places. The associated report People, Place and Heath: A Sociospatial Perspective of Agricultural Workers and Their Environment, details the project interviews and results to accompany this atlas, concluding with a summary of our findings and policy recommendations.
2008-04-14T00:00:00Z
People, Place and Health: A Sociospatial Perspective of Agricultural Workers and their Environment
Steinberg, Sheila L.
Steinberg, Steven J.
http://hdl.handle.net/2148/428
2013-12-02T21:53:52Z
2008-04-14T00:00:00Z
People, Place and Health: A Sociospatial Perspective of Agricultural Workers and their Environment
Steinberg, Sheila L.; Steinberg, Steven J.
This project employs a mixed‐method, place‐based approach to study agricultural worker health issues related to pesticide use in rural California. Sociospatial analysis considers space, place and social indicators in a holistic and integrated fashion (Steinberg and Steinberg 2008). This project utilizes Geographic Information
System (GIS) to effectively integrate environmental and social data related to farmworker health and pesticide use. GIS is a
computerized system of mapping. The value of a sociospatial approach is that it allows for the spatial portrayal of social and
environmental data in a holistic fashion. In this case, our sociospatial approach highlights the interplay between people
and place. We focus on environmental and social issues for farmworkers in the three communities in both Monterey and Tulare counties. Using this visual approach for communication and portrayal of data proves to be effective across both language and literacy barriers.
To conduct this study, the California Center for Rural Policy and the Institute for Spatial Analysis, located at Humboldt State
University, worked in partnership with the Agricultural Worker Health Initiative (AWHI) funded by the California Endowment, including Poder Popular ‐ a community‐based group to empower farmworker communities throughout the state of California. We wish to thank the California Endowment for support of this project. We would especially like to thank Mario Gutierrez, M.P.H., Director, Rural and Agricultural Worker Health Program
for his vision in supporting this work.
This report contains sociospatial data, consisting of both maps and interview data integrated to tell the stories of farmworkers, their communities and pesticide drift. The project also incorporated extensive environmental mapping of pesticide use and application rates within the study region with associated qualitative data relating to farmworker health. The complete map set along with details regarding spatial analysis methods and data are detailed in a separate document, People, Place and Health: A Pesticide Atlas of Monterey County and Tulare County, California. Methods used include key‐informant interviews, ethnographic methods, public participation GIS, attending community meetings, and environmental mapping. We highlight how a community based participatory research approach is a means to understand
community members’ interests and knowledge about pesticides.
Particular emphasis is placed on the amount and types of pesticides and fumigants used near schools, neighborhoods and community gathering places. The report concludes with a
summary of our findings and policy recommendations.
2008-04-14T00:00:00Z
McKinleyville Community Planning Area Residential Development Analysis
Steinberg, Steven J.
Smith, Michael D.
Gough, Michael O. A.
http://hdl.handle.net/2148/427
2013-12-02T21:53:53Z
2007-03-17T00:00:00Z
McKinleyville Community Planning Area Residential Development Analysis
Steinberg, Steven J.; Smith, Michael D.; Gough, Michael O. A.
Humboldt County is currently engaged in the process of updating their comprehensive land-use plan. This General Plan update will play a large role in determining how the county will develop in the next twenty-five years.
This study was conducted in order to better understand how alternative residential development scenarios will affect the future of the county by the year 2025. For illustrative purposes, one part of the county - the McKinleyville Community Planning Area (CPA) - was chosen for analysis. The McKinleyville CPA was chosen because it is the largest unincorporated community and the fastest growing area in the county. Between 1980 and 2000, the population of the McKinleyville CPA nearly doubled from 7,765 to 13,599 residents. According to California Department of Finance population projections, the McKinleyville CPA is expected to continue to attract the highest rate of population growth in the county for the next few decades.
When planning for new growth, one of the most important factors land use planners must take into account is the density at which residential development will take place. Developing at lower densities in primarily urbanized areas will necessitate the construction of more homes in the open spaces and agricultural lands surrounding these urbanized areas. The focus of this analysis is therefore a quantitative and visual assessment of various development options in the McKinleyville CPA.
The computer models and simulations used in this analysis were generated using the computer software package ArcGIS© 9.1 in conjunction with the CommunityViz® extension. This software package allows for a powerful quantitative analysis of various development scenarios and the generation of advanced realistic looking 3-Dimensional Models to allow for visualization.
The purpose of this analysis is not to recommend a particular scenario for how population growth and development should occur in McKinleyville in the next few decades. Rather, it is to illustrate the implications of various assumptions and hypothetical planning decisions and to demonstrate the potential that the CommunityViz® modeling software has to assist planners, policy makers, and the public in making more-informed decisions involving future development patterns in McKinleyville and throughout Humboldt County.
We examine six hypothetical but plausible scenarios for this analysis. These scenarios represent a reasonable range of development options. Each scenario models residential development at a specific density in areas where considerable urban development already exists the McKinleyville Urban Development Area (UDA) and Urban Expansion Area (UEA), and subsequently demonstrates how development at these densities will impact:
• The character of the remaining undeveloped land in McKinleyville.
• The capacity of these areas (the UDA and UEA) to accommodate the projected population growth by the year 2025.
• The number of homes and the density at which development would need to occur in the open spaces and agricultural lands in the remainder of the CPA in order to fully accommodate the 2025 projected population growth.
The results of the analysis indicate that in order to accommodate the projected population growth by the year 2025 for McKinleyville entirely within the Urban Development Area (UDA), development in this zone would need to occur at a density of 7.9 dwelling units per acre on vacant, residentially zoned parcels (and parcels known to be considered for development). Under this scenario, parcels with homes already existing on them would not need to be developed further, nor would any additional development be required in the UEA or the remaining CPA in order to accommodate the projected population growth by the year 2025.
As the density at which development occurs in the UDA and UEA decreases, the number of new homes required in the remainder of the CPA increases proportionately. Conversely, developing at densities greater than 7.9 dwelling units per acre in the UDA ensures a surplus of vacant, residentially zoned parcels within the UDA, which would then be available to accommodate population growth beyond the year 2025.
Use of the CommunityViz® software package for this analysis provides a transparent method for analyzing various growth and development scenarios. Although every effort has been made to provide detail and specificity about the methods and data used, a model is by its very nature a representation of reality and will not always be in accordance with reality itself. If our use of certain data, methods, and assumptions is disputed by readers and reviewers of this report, we would like to take that information into consideration, and modify the computer model accordingly. It is our hope that we will be able to use the software to work with planners, policy-makers, and interested groups and individuals to illustrate the implications of different assumptions and hypothetical planning decisions. Thus, we hope that the results presented here will lead to future productive discussions on how to balance the need to accommodate future population growth with the desire to provide more affordable housing opportunities for existing and future residents and the desire to protect the rural landscape qualities that make McKinleyville and the rest of Humboldt County such a special place.
2007-03-17T00:00:00Z