A Measurement of Highway-Induced Changes in Land Use, Population Density, and Minority Business Opportunities 740025

The impacts of locating and operating highways and other transportation facilities in disadvantaged, minority neighborhoods are being assessed in the inquiry that this report is based upon. The major impact areas being investigated are the changes in: land use, population and residential densities, and the growth and development of minority business enterprises. This is a report of a partial inventory of conditions in the study area before the highway; it will be completed for comparison with the data to be assembled for the area after the highway.

The partially complete baseline inquiry reveals that the study area has been developed partially in a very piecemeal and haphazard manner. This is evidenced by the existence of large tracts of undeveloped land, a mixture of light industrial and commercial activities with residential neighborhoods, and the fact that a high proportion of the local streets are dead-end and are poorly maintained. The area is low in population density per square mile, the housing is overwhelmingly of the single family type, with about one-third of the housing units in the “substandard” category. These and related data are described and will be used for later comparison in the impact assessment and will provide insights for developing remedial community planning approaches.