It has been proven that cycle tracks are the safest form of bike infrastructure in terms of car-bike collisions, however this study explores how different buffers in cycle tracks rank in terms of safety perception. Safety perception is measured by an online survey that asks respondents to rank how comfortable they would be using various cycle tracks on a scale from “Very Uncomfortable” to “Very Comfortable”. The eventual goal of the survey is to produce a ranking of buffers in order to create a recommendation for the City of Seattle to implement more of these types of cycle tracks, as there is a correlation between higher safety perception and increased comfort with ridership.
Archives: Projects
You Are Not Alone
Mental health is a tough subject to tackle. It’s messy, it’s unclear, and it’s difficult to pin down. It has stigma attached to it and people do not want to touch it. This is especially true for Asian Americans. According to the NLAAS (National Latino and Asian American Study) on mental health and many subsequent studies that were based off of its findings, Asian Americans exhibit help seeking behavior at a lower rate than the general population. Even though they have the same or greater amount of need.
This is due to a number of things. Namely: lack of time, money, knowledge, and the influence of Confucian and Buddhist values in many Asian cultures. The lack of time and money is a common complaint that is familiar to many. The knowledge There is an emphasis on philosophies that encourage people to save face, value social harmony, and to “roll with the punches”. While these values are not inherently bad (in fact they can be the exact opposite), they can negatively impact an individual’s likeliness of help seeking.
My project is a short podcast that hopes to help combat this. By interviewing other Asian Americans and shining light on their relationships with mental health, I hope to validate the experiences of my audience and then to give them resources on the subject. The podcast will be published online for free on social media to increase its chances of circulation and to keep the resources free, relatively easy to access, and discrete.
Mega Effects of Mega Events
Mega events, such as the Olympic Games or the FIFA World Cup, are catalysts for change and transformation in cities and countries across the globe that attract a large number of visitors, have a large reach, incur large costs, and have large impacts on the built environment and population. This project has analyzed data on select cities and countries that have hosted mega events in the past as case studies in order to examine both the proposed benefits of hosting these events, as well as the shortcomings that surface once the events finish. The product of this report will eventually be a key findings report that highlights and synthesizes my broader research on the topic – I will be submitting this report to the United States Soccer Federation Professional Council on August 1st and for that reason, I have opted to work on the report over summer while finalizing the broader capstone report for graduation purposes. Potential hosts see mega events as opportunities to catalyze development and improvement across the board, yet the vast majority of cities and countries fall short in establishing a positive post-event legacy for themselves. The project identifies issues within the governing guidelines of these mega events and the discrepancies between the goals of the organizing and bidding committees and the goals of the general public, which leads to the failure of establishing a sustainable event legacy once the event has ended. To complete the report, a comprehensive literature review was compiled that examined the history of mega events, as well as specific literature on the selected case studies, which were combined with onsite research and the data gathering which generated the overall findings.
Divesting from Disposables
The University of Washington prides itself on being a leader in sustainability, but it is currently not doing all that it can to reduce carbon emissions and the waste that ends up in landfills. In particular, the UW continues to allow the sale of disposable water bottles, which contribute to the University’s carbon footprint and the amount of plastic it sends to landfills. While many universities across the United States have banned the sale of disposable water bottles on their campuses, including five Washington State schools, the University of Washington has not made
an effort to do the same. To address this problem, my project identifies the critical steps that the University of Washington needs to take in order to stop selling bottled water at their Seattle campus. To do this I wrote a report analyzing the human, environmental, and economic impacts of divesting from disposable water bottles on the University of Washington Seattle campus and then created a set of suggestions for the administration, detailing what needs to be done for the University to successfully stop selling bottled water. Getting the University of Washington to divest from selling disposable plastic water bottles on its Seattle campus will benefit student and environmental health.
A Feast for the Senses
To promote holistically healthy and nutritious food systems and challenge the dominant narrative about food in the US, I hosted a café and curated a disruptive advertising campaign and art exhibition in the University of Washington Business School that highlighted truths about the industrial and sustainable food systems and their social and environmental effects. This project juxtaposed the concepts of “farm to table” and “firm to table;” and included the combination of art, music, poetry, and film to influence the participant’s experience. Through the method of a pop-up café called “A Feast for the Senses,” the event utilized culinary storytelling to encourage active community participation and engagement around food, facilitated dialogue, and the act of eating to motivate people to think critically about what is behind a food brand and the power of an individual ethic of choice around food consumption
Seattle Bike Share Program
As a student, I have found it impossible to walk to class without seeing at least a couple bike share bikes. You’ve probably seen them around: these green, yellow and orange bicycles have been introduced in a pilot program by the Seattle Department of Transportation to test whether dockless bike share can overcome the challenges that Pronto!, Seattle’s previous attempt at bike share did not address well. The relatively new SDOT pilot program, which provides permits for operation to three companies, has been extended through the end of 2018. The main question I would like to answer is: How can SDOT adequately update its bike share program policy after the pilot has ended to support the long-term viability of dockless bikeshare and address the concerns of the public while simultaneously continuing to encourage the dockless bikeshare model? In this project, I address what it will take for LimeBike, ofo, and Spin to become a logical business case for SDOT with support from citizens. I create solutions of how to solve some of the problems this new bikeshare model faces by utilizing urban design principles, transportation planning theory, and sustainable business models. By synthesizing interviews with bike share professionals and combining this human perspective with comprehensive qualitative and quantitative research on the topic, I provide specific recommendations for bike share permitting policy changes, infrastructure improvements, and business practice goals. By producing this set of recommendations, I hope to benefit the future of mobility in Seattle and ensure a lasting place for bike share in the urban fabric of our city.
Stitching Back Seattle: Creating the Lid I-5 Toolkit
Interstate 5 is a freeway that runs north/south through the heart of Seattle, splitting the residential area of Capitol Hill from the central business district of Downtown. Recently, a group of urban activists and designers has proposed a solution to this problem in the form of a “lid” or cover over the I-5 roadway that would re-connect the city’s urban grid as well as provide new, and much needed, open space. My project supports this effort by developing a series of design guidelines aimed at enhancing the pedestrian experience of the new lidded area. Using a matrix based on the Dutch architect Jan Gehl’s twelve criteria for successful public spaces and the design criteria of a Woonerf or Dutch “living street”, I develop several recommendations that will improve the safety, accessibility, and user experience of this important future urban amenity.
An Analysis of Colorism in the Mexican Immigrant Community
My research poses the following question: how does colorism affect the Mexican immigrant community in Yakima, Washington? Colorism is the allocation of privilege or disadvantage based on one’s skin color. In Yakima, Mexican immigrants suffer marginalization not only based upon their class and citizenship, but also their skin color. This latter form of discrimination rarely appears in the scholarly literature or in public discussions of immigrant rights. To learn how colorism as a form of racism and discrimination impacts the lives of Mexican immigrants, I conducted two focus groups in Yakima, Washington in partnership with a non-profit organization called La Casa Hogar which provides educational services to the Latino population in the area. The results of my research show that participants connected colorism to different forms of discrimination that intersect with age, gender, language, and [dis]ability, etc. Additionally, themes emerged from participants’ experiences about how discrimination exists in the work place, within the family and the Mexican culture, and how racist rhetoric is communicated. All these themes turned into a discussion of how discrimination effects Mexicans physiologically, mentally and emotionally. This research deepens our understanding of this important issue and to remind professionals such as policy makers, planners, and educators that social constructs around skin color continue to negatively affect marginalized communities of color.
A Smartphone App for Sugar-Free Shopping
Research shows that the excessive consumption of sugar is one of the primary factors leading to obesity and health problems in America.
One of the most significant sources of added sugars in American diets is breakfast cereal. The aim of this project is to explore the potential of a smartphone app to educate and mitigate the confusion caused by food labels on cereal boxes at grocery stores. This project aims to help American consumers make healthier choices by laying the groundwork for a new app that will help consumers make sensible decisions when choosing breakfast cereals. The app will provide the visual framework for providing key information on the nutritional and sugar content of common breakfast cereals, as well as make recommendations for alternative cereals that are lower in sugar. Specifically, in the project I designed a set of example screen displays of a smartphone app that provides real-time shopping assistance to compare products and receive a recommendation based on the sugar content. I conducted a literature review of the health impacts of added sugars and the marketing techniques utilized in selling breakfast cereals. This smartphone app will positively influence consumer choices at grocery stores by providing nutrition information relevant to cereals and mitigate the confusion caused by complex nutrition labels. If successful with cereals, later versions of the app can include additional food products.
Sustainability in UW Dentistry: Introducing Bamboo Toothbrushes
Every year in the United States, 50 million pounds of plastic toothbrushes are sent to landfills. This project aims to change that by convincing the American public to switch to compostable bamboo toothbrushes. To do this, I created a pilot program for the University of Washington School of Dentistry faculty and students to receive informed feedback. Funded by the UW Campus Sustainability Fund and the Community Support Grant through the Community, Environment and Planning major, the project produced 150 complete “green” goodie bags with compostable floss, biodegradable toothpaste, and a compostable bamboo toothbrush packaged in a compostable bag with a survey. The survey’s purpose is to assess the user experience of UW Dentistry faculty and students. The initial results of the study show barriers to adapting to “green” dental products, specifically bamboo toothbrushes. This was particularly acute among respondents, who expressed hesitation towards the green dental products. This study demonstrates that attempts to make dental care more sustainable will face challenges, including technological, regulatory, economic, and cultural barriers to change.