Conducting a Housing Condition Assessment with ArcPad:
The West University Neighborhood in Eugene, Oregon
Assistant Professor: Marc Schlossberg
Graduate Students: Zachary Phillips and Darren Wyss
Planning, Public Policy and Management (PPPM)


Project Summary - Findings

The following summary is taken directly from the final report of the project.

Following are the key findings of CPW’s research:
  • The majority (97%) of dwellings in the WUN are renter-occupied.
  • The WUN is home to a large student population; 60% of the survey respondents were under age 25.
  • The majority of WUN households earn less than $15,000 annually. This is consistent with a large student population.
  • The WUN houses a transient population. Nearly 80% of survey respondents reported having lived in the WUN for two or fewer years.
  • The majority (76%) of WUN households experience cost burden (e.g., they pay more than 30% of their income for housing). This finding is consistent with a large student population with low incomes. It is difficult to interpret how this equates to affordable housing due to the student population.
  • About 64% of the respondents reported they had no difficulty finding or keeping housing. A remarkably high 36% indicated they experienced barriers that included disabilities, gender, student status, age and several others.
  • About one-third of the respondents reported they did not want to move or faced no barriers. The other two thirds reported a variety of barriers to moving. Cost was the major barrier reported by respondents.
  • Survey results show that between 17% and 46% of the respondents indicated every element of their dwelling needs improvement. Insulation and energy efficiency were most frequently rated as elements that need improvement.
  • A significant percentage of respondents reported a wide variety of deficiencies ranging from unreliable plumbing to exposed wiring. It should be noted that while many of these deficiencies represent inconveniences to residents’, the do not necessarily imply code violations or substandard housing conditions.

The findings of the external, ArcPad based housing condition evaluation are available in PDF format, here.

Click here to go back to the methods.


  Main Community-Based GIS with ArcPad Page  
       
Neighborhood GIS Walkability GIS Housing Condition GIS Teaching GIS

   

   

 For more information:
 Marc Schlossberg
 541-346-2046
 schlossb@uoregon.edu
http://www.uoregon.edu/~schlossb/PPPM/

   

Last edited on: December 07, 2004