" Urban transportation studies have shown that the ease of accessing urban opportunities in a compact community, characterized with higher density, mixed land uses, and high connectivity, are extremely crucial for urban residents to lead full and active lives. While researchers have also increasingly recognized the differences in travel behavior based on gender and different socioeconomic and ethnic/racial composition, the realities confronted by lower-income, urban minorities, and particularly women, in neighborhoods experiencing disinvestment and decline have been overlooked in most studies. In this context, this study focuses on the Detroit region (SEMCOG), which is recognized as one of the most decentralized and racially segregated metropolitan areas in the U.S. Six neighborhoods in the Detroit region were selected based on socio-demographic and urban built environment characteristics; with two urban Detroit neighborhoods, communities experiencing extreme disinvestment and decline, being compared to four wealthy suburban neighborhoods. This dissertation explores the linkage between specific urban built environment characteristics and individual travel behavior, in order to identify the neighborhood typologies defining neighborhood-level differences in travel patterns. The analysis also examines gender differences in travel behavior after controlling for urban built environment, socioeconomic and demographic factors. Two main datasets were used for this dissertation: (1) built environment data from field surveys and inventories; and (2) individual or household travel data from a mail survey... " -- Abstract.
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