(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023-05)
Knight-Scott, Ethan
Property taxation forms a pillar in the U.S. system of public spending, but policymakers in Georgia have expressed increasing concern that commercial properties are being under
appraised. Underappraisal would lead to a loss of government revenue to spend on public projects and social well-being. To analyze the extent of underappraisal, I use a dataset collected by Georgia Tech’s Urban Research Group from CoStar of 2,015 properties appraised in Fulton County, Georgia between 2015 – 2020. I find that the median commercial property is appraised for nearly half – 57% – of what the property eventually sells for. After running a series of one way ANOVA tests, I conclude that property use and property value are significant potential determinants of commercial property underappraisal. Time-related variables are also significant, suggesting a need to better control for underlying economic and financial changes in a future regression model.
The use of micromobility devices is on the rise, especially in denser urban environments, as people choose cycles, scooters, skateboards, and their electric counterparts to travel between destinations. While numbers vary by mode, ridership tends to be highest among white males and lower among women, black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), and persons with disabilities. Inadequate infrastructure and parking, safety concerns, and societal expectations are among the many reasons cited for these disparities. Initial research identifies end-of-trip facilities as an opportunity area where improvements can be made to support underserved and underrepresented populations. The aim of this project was to collect feedback from these groups which informed the design of a multifunctional storage device. Current users of micromobility devices were surveyed to ascertain what amenities have had the greatest positive impacts on their transportation experiences, as well as those that are still largely missing but desirable. Concepts were developed, visualized, and presented to target audiences for further feedback used to improve the design and validate the solution.
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023-05)
Yang, Jeremy
There is a lack of literature on the location and characteristics of assisted living homes and their residents, a fact that means many local governments do not prioritize them and assisted living developers must rely on industry trends for their location. Assisted living homes provide both housing and economic impact upon communities, and allow for a needed service for elderly citizens. This paper covers the characteristics and defining factors of assisted living homes, as well as mapping the assisted living homes and analyzing their locational distribution within the state off Georgia, to gain a better glimpse of the industry and better understand prohibitive locational factors. Finally, a survey of assisted living home administrators is analyzed to provide new findings on the constituency, preferences, and town-home interactions within towns of varying sizes in Georgia.