Our cities and urban needs are constantly changing. The reasons are interdisciplinary and complex—everything from land price, regulation, and inflation contributes to what we build, affecting how we live. Nevertheless, the cold truth is we are not building enough housing, third spaces, and community areas for present and future needs. We need creative solutions to alleviate issue. One highly contested topic is the adaptive reuse of increasingly vacant buildings. There is much to consider when adaptively reusing buildings; even more difficult is finding the right candidates for conversion. Specifically, mid rise buildings are often ideal for adaptive reuse since they balance density and historic value while avoiding the extreme challenges of high-rise; focusing on adaptive reuse policy for mixed-use midrise buildings by analyzing state regulations will be my focus. Conversions are often hindered by restrictive zoning laws, outdated building codes and a lack of policies that support transformation. The challenge lies in identifying buildings for reuse and reforming policies to enable conversions while ensuring environmental, cultural, and social benefits. What are the opportunities and challenges in adaptive reuse, and what policies need to change to support it? In this research paper, I analyzed successful and unsuccessful adaptive reuse case studies and the policy failures preventing success. I conducted interviews with planners and architects to understand the opportunities and challenges of converting vacant spaces. These interviews informed a policy analysis targeting state legislation, identifying state laws, zoning, codes, and financial barriers that hinder adaptive reuse. I analyzed case studies, conducted expert interviews, and examined policies to identify barriers and solutions for adaptive reuse. The result is a checklist of keys needed to greenlight a project. Although location and municipal codes pose limitations, a checklist can help planners assess candidates for adaptive reuse, easing the process of determining feasibility.

America as a whole is facing a housing affordability crisis. The US faces a deficit of 8 million affordable units available for the 18.9 million renter households that earn under 50% of their area median income (AMI). Due to this shortage, 56% of households considered very low-income (30% > 50% AMI) and extremely low-income (less than 30% AMI) are severely cost-burdened, spending over 50% of their annual income on housing and utility costs. Cities across the country engage in different efforts to combat this issue, this project answers one question: how can adaptive reuse, specifically non-residential to residential building conversions, be effectively applied as an affordable housing solution? This report begins with a literature review that compiles the history of adaptive reuse, strategies to produce more affordable housing and how they are being applied to adaptive reuse projects, and outlines a framework for evaluating successful adaptive reuse projects as they apply to affordable housing. This preliminary research is further supported by informational interviews conducted with industry professionals in affordable housing and adaptive reuse, coupled with a series of case studies that measure the effectiveness of several adaptive reuse projects in generating affordable housing. Finally, the results will inform a series of industry best practices that outline optimal building types for adaptive reuse projects, cost-reduction strategies, and recommendations for policy and zoning changes that can better facilitate the application of adaptive reuse. The best practices outlined in this paper will help developers implement adaptive reuse more effectively in affordable housing projects, ensuring the efficient transformation of vacant buildings into livable spaces. Additionally, these guidelines will inform policymakers of the necessary regulations and incentives to support and facilitate adaptive reuse, ultimately contributing to the expansion of affordable housing options and revitalizing underutilized properties.

Nightlife can drive economic development and cultural vibrancy in cities. Over the past 30 years, urban researchers and policymakers have increasingly recognized the untapped potential of after-dark activity. While promoting the nighttime economy can revitalize urban centers, it can also create conflicts between those who wish to work, party, and sleep. To help policymakers identify which nighttime areas to focus on, this research inventories Seattle businesses operating after dark, analyzes several factors impacting nighttime activity, and creates a series of maps illustrating the spatial and temporal dynamics of the nighttime economy in Downtown Seattle. By aligning with the existing Downtown Activation Plan, this research also supports initiatives aimed at making Downtown Seattle safer, more economically successful, and culturally vibrant.

In December 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services approved a State Innovation Waiver under section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), allowing Washington State to provide health and dental insurance coverage to all its residents, regardless of immigration status, from 2024 to 2028. The goal of the Section 1332 waiver is to decrease the number of uninsured, minimize the cost burden of healthcare on individuals and the government, improve health outcomes, and address health disparities. Health insurance navigators, who help people select, enroll, and use health insurance coverage, are charged with implementing this policy change. Their contributions to improving access to health insurance for vulnerable communities are often undervalued, even ignored, but will be crucial to ensuring migrant, refugee, and undocumented individuals are able to enroll for health insurance. This project presents key insights gained from interviews with navigators working in public health departments, community-based organizations, non-profit hospitals, and health clinics across the state, as well as, policymakers and activists focused on expanding healthcare access for immigrant communities. Using semi-structured interviews with insurance navigators, I explored their responsibilities and tasks, the process of enrolling immigrant communities for health insurance, and training and resources that support navigators. Additionally, I analyzed official documents used for the section 1332 waiver application to examine the motivations and narratives used to justify this insurance access expansion. My research shows how navigators deal with punitive immigration policies, xenophobic political rhetoric, financial uncertainty, cybersecurity concerns, staffing inadequacies, and high demand. This project advances our understanding of the systemic constraints, decision-making processes, and discretionary power that shape access to and use of healthcare and will inform policies that aim to codify health equity for immigrant communities.

Autistic young adults' experiences are often misrepresented and overlooked in academic literature. When researchers decide to analyze autistic individuals' unique experiences with identity and friendships, they do so from a deficit-based lens, consistently comparing autistic individual experiences to a non-autistic baseline. This low-barrier research sets itself apart from prior works both in methodology and inclusion policy, allowing for both officially diagnosed and self-diagnosed individuals to participate, which is contrary to industry standards. The main focus of this research is to understand how the autistic young adults of this study come to understand their neurodivergent identity, conceptualize friendship, and make friends. These overarching themes were explored through engagement with autistic young adults ages 18-22 in participatory photography and ethnographic interviews. Participatory photography is a photographic diary where participants take photos to address provided prompts that target the main research questions. Unlike other ethnographic methods, participatory photography puts the portrayal of self in the participant's hands. Through qualitative analysis of these photos and interview transcripts, themes were identified using abductive analysis, a qualitative analysis framework guided by the principle of surprise. A preliminary prediction is that virtual spaces, such as social media, will be tied to the making of friendships as digital spaces are increasingly accessible and remove some of the pressures of traditional social norms. Additionally, the ways in which autistic identity is portrayed and understood will likely vary greatly with the multifaceted identities of participants. There are limited spaces in which research regarding autistic individuals is not intervention-based, making this work particularly impactful by providing insights that can foster positive mental health outcomes amongst autistic young adults.