Debates about the causes and consequences of gentrification for urban poor have been active for decades, but inconclusive due to methodological constraints and inconsistent definitions. However, gentrification research in the context of transit oriented development (TOD) allows scholars to overcome these issues, because of its clear definition. While studies generally theorize that populations change through low-income, often non-white, residents moving out of an area, research finds that urban poor are far less mobile than higher income groups. At the same time, metropolitan cities are currently experiencing technology booms and rapid population growth that reveal puzzling racial trends. In Seattle, Black and Hispanic populations are declining, while White populations are increasing in a way not explained by existing theory. The present study attempts to explain this pattern by suggesting that middle and upper income groups are shifting the racial composition of neighborhoods because of their capacity to move. Using descriptive statistics and difference-in-difference estimates, I examine the effect of Light Rail transit on population race and socioeconomic status compositions of Seattle census tracts between 1990-2019 with a unique time-series dataset composed of American Community Survey estimates and Census data. My study has implications for theories of urban demographic change, as it will illuminate how race and class interact in this context. The study is also relevant to urban planning and public policy professionals interested in how local government policy affects existing residents.

People with autism spectrum disorder experience varying challenges in sharing social-emotional reciprocity and the establishment and maintenance of social relationships (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Having social relationships is important for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to, building and solidifying lifelong skills in conflict resolution, improving self-perception, and promoting healthy emotional and cognitive development (Bukowski & Sippola 2005). There is growing research that has provided characteristics of autistic individuals’ peer relationships and friendships, however, these studies often must approach these complex relationships through a focused lens. In order to better understand the characteristics  of social relationships in this community, we must comprehensively examine this literature base, and to our knowledge, no such literature review exists. Thus, the current project explored 31 studies of autistic individuals’ social relationships with friends, peers, or acquaintances, finding connections in the existing literature including friendship reciprocity, social network centrality, and how severity of diagnosis affects friendships. Results from these studies show that the majority of autistic participants maintain friendships, but there are significant differences in friendship quality, the friends’ characteristics, duration and frequency of interaction, and satisfaction and enjoyment of friendships. Furthermore, several factors can influence how these friendships are formed and sustained, including parental involvement, the participant’s diagnosis and other characteristics, environment, and technology. This review will allow for further understanding of ASD and the social aspects of the disorder, which could have implications for academic supports, clinical interventions, and further research on social relationships among individuals with ASD. 

Over the last 50+ years, American Crow populations have increased in urban areas in the United States, taking advantage of abundant food sources and protection received under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. However, heightened urbanization is correlated with increased anthropogenic noise, which can negatively impact bird communication. Some avian species compensate for this by increasing their call frequency to improve sound transmission. Previous work has also shown that avian social behavior can vary with urbanization, with individuals displaying increased boldness in more urban environments. In this study, we assessed the vocalizations, number of approaches per crow, latency to respond, and closest approach of groups of American Crows in response to a predatory owl decoy and playback of a distressed crow call, across an urban gradient in Western Washington. To quantify urbanization, we scored aerial photographs of each site, assessed levels of pavement, vegetation, building cover, and water, and used principal component analysis to create an urbanization score. Analysis of the first 12 sample sites revealed no statistically significant relationship between behavior or the frequency of vocalizations against urbanization. Surprisingly, ambient noise did not vary across our urbanization gradient, so our lack of significant findings may be the result of decreased anthropogenic noise due to the Covid-19 shutdown. However, we did detect a significant negative relationship between average pause duration, the spans of silence between separate calls, and urbanization, so crows may have adapted to produce more predator-related calls in the once noisier urban areas. We have increased our sample size to 31 sites and are currently continuing our analysis. Understanding how human impacts on the environment influence how wildlife responds to threats is important given the continuous expansion of urban areas. Our results may aid with ecologically-focused urban planning and urban wildlife efforts.