Publications

@techreport{nokey,

title = {Racial Segregation in Pasadena: The Role of Freeway Development and Institutional Mechanisms},

author = {Paul M. Ong and Chhandara Pech and Casey Chung and Jacob L. Wasserman },

url = {https://knowledge.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Racial-Segregation-in-Pasadena.pdf},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-05-01},

urldate = {2025-05-01},

abstract = {This study documents the historical and current patterns of racial/ethnic residential segregation in Pasadena,

examining the role of freeways and other mechanisms in shaping these outcomes. Using quantitative data, this

project compares racial segregation in Pasadena with that in the rest of Los Angeles County and analyzes

demographic changes in the neighborhoods containing Interstate 210 and State Route 710 before and after their

construction. Additionally, the study investigates other institutional policies, practices, and projects that

contributed to segregation. The findings offer insights to support Pasadena’s efforts to redress the historical

impacts of freeway development.



Pasadena and the wider Los Angeles County have become more racially diverse over time. Despite these

broader changes, neighborhoods along the built and unbuilt freeway corridor have grown increasingly segregated

and economically polarized. From 1960 to 1970, tracts affected by freeway construction lost almost 1,800 units of

housing (-28%), while the city overall and the South tract, not directly impacted by freeway construction,

experienced steady growth. Home values, rents, and income generally fell north of SR-710 but rose around it and

south of it. Pasadena mirrored national trends in housing discrimination, including redlining, racially restrictive

covenants, school integration resistance, and anti-integration ballot measures. In the face of these barriers,

residents of color successfully organized protests and pursued legal remedies. Urban renewal projects,

particularly around the SR-710 stub, disproportionately displaced communities of color under the guise of

eliminating urban blight. Freeway development in Pasadena left a lasting legacy of environmental and social

inequality},

keywords = {neighborhoods, transportation},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{nokey,

title = {Racial Segregation in Pasadena: The Role of Freeway Development and Institutional Mechanisms},

author = {Paul M. Ong and Chhandara Pech and Casey Chung and Jacob L. Wasserman },

url = {https://knowledge.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Racial-Segregation-in-Pasadena-1.pdf},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-05-01},

urldate = {2025-05-01},

keywords = {inequality, transportation},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{nokey,

title = {Further Implications of Freeway Siting in California: Freeway Development and Communities of Color in Colton, Fresno, and San Diego},

author = {Paul M. Ong and Chhandara Pech and Jacob L. Wasserman and Andres F. Ramirez and Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and Leila Ullmann and Megan Riley},

url = {https://knowledge.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/eScholarship-UC-item-0b31t9sf-1-1.pdf},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-02-01},

abstract = {This study examines the consequences of freeway construction on neighborhoods of color across California, with a focus on socioeconomic changes, route selection, community reactions and resistance, and the disruptions to residents, businesses, and other assets. Expanding on three prior case studies conducted by the research team, this study incorporates three additional case studies: South Colton, West Fresno, and City Heights in San Diego. The construction of freeways was a contributing mechanism to the perpetuation of racial inequality, weakening social institutions, disrupting local economies, and physically dividing neighborhoods. However, the outcomes varied across locations. In South Colton, a freeway was ultimately not built through its community of color, though largely for reasons of construction costs. City Heights, initially a predominantly non-Hispanic white neighborhood, underwent a demographic transformation driven by white flight during a decades-long pause in freeway construction. West Fresno did face consequences from freeway development but was also unique in its diversity of residents pre-freeway, including people of color and non-Hispanic white immigrant communities. Freeway development contributed to transforming West Fresno into an overwhelming community of color. Across these cases, freeways fragmented communities, displaced residents, and reinforced pre-existing racial divides. These racialized impacts stemmed from systemic socioeconomic marginalization and exclusion of people of color in the planning process. Today, public investments aimed at reconnecting communities offer an opportunity to address the enduring harms caused by freeways. However, achieving meaningful progress will require the integration of restorative justice principles into the planning and decision-making processes.},

keywords = {demographics, equity, neighborhoods, transportation},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{Ong2023,

title = {Stockton's Crosstown Freeway, Urban Renewal, and Asian Americans: Systemic Causes and Impacts},

author = {Paul M. Ong and Chhandara Pech and Christopher Hung-Do and Anne Yoon and Jacob L. Wasserman},

url = {https://knowledge.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Stocktons-Crosstown-Freeway-Urban-Renewal-and-Asian-Americans.pdf},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-10-01},

keywords = {aapi, Asian Americans, built environment, california, ethnic enclaves, ethnicity, stockton, transportation},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{Loukaitou-Sideris2023,

title = {The Implications of Freeway Sitting in California: Four Case Studies on the Effects of Freeways on Neighborhoods of Color},

author = {Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and Susan L. Handy and Paul M. Ong and Jesus M. Barajas and Jacob L. Wasserman and Chhandara Pech and Juan Carlos Garcia Sanchez and Andres F. Ramirez and Aakansha Jain and Emmanuel Proussaloglou and Andrea Nguyen and Katherine Turner and Abigail Fitzgibbon and Francois Kaeppelin and Felipe Ramirez and Marc Arenas},

url = {https://knowledge.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-Implications-of-Freeway-Siting-in-California.pdf},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-03-01},

urldate = {2023-03-01},

keywords = {built environment, california, environment, ethnic enclaves, ethnicity, minority, neighborhoods, transportation},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{Ong2022b,

title = {The Spatial Dilemma of Sustainable Transportation and Just Affordable Housing: Part II, Low-income Housing Tax Credits},

author = {Paul M. Ong and Chhandara Pech and Tiffany Green and Allie Padgett and Anne Yoon and Jacob L. Wasserman},

url = {https://knowledge.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Spatial-Dilemma-of-Sustainable-Transportation-and-Just-Affordable-Housing-Part-II.pdf},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-09-13},

keywords = {affordable housing, equity, housing, housing tax credits, low-income, transportation},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{Ong2022,

title = {The Spatial Dilemma of Sustainable Transportation and Just Affordable Housing: Part I, Housing Choice Vouchers},

author = {Paul M. Ong and Chhandara Pech and Tiffany Green and Allie Padgett and Anne Yoon and Jacob L. Wasserman},

url = {https://knowledge.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Spatial-Dilemma-of-Sustainable-Transportation-and-Just-Affordable-Housing-Part-I.pdf},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-09-13},

urldate = {2022-09-13},

keywords = {affordable housing, equity, housing, housing choice voucher, low-income, section 8, transportation},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{ong2020bfb,

title = {Screening Method and Map for Evaluating Transportation Access Disparities and Other Built Environment-Related Determinants of Health},

author = {Paul M Ong and Chhandara Pech and Justine Pascual and Silvia R. Gonzalez and Jonathan Ong and Gregory Pierce and Madeline Brozen},

url = {https://knowledge.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/CARB_Final-Report_18RD021_3.7.22.pdf},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-03-07},

urldate = {2022-03-07},

keywords = {built environment, disparity, inequality, transportation, transportation analytics},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{nokey,

title = {Assessing the Incorporation of Racial Equity into Analytical and Modeling Practices in Transportation Planning },

author = {Paul M Ong and Chelsey Bryant and Silvia R. Gonzalez and Mark Garrett and Jared Tadayon and Chhandara Pech},

url = {https://knowledge.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Assessing-the-Incorporation-of-Racial-Equity-into-Analytical-and-Modeling-Practices-in-Transportation-Planning.pdf},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-11-01},

urldate = {2021-11-01},

keywords = {california, inequality, transportation, transportation analytics, vulnerable communities},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{ong2020bgbb,

title = {Mobility, Accessibility and Disadvantaged Neighborhoods: Assessing Diversity in Transportation-Related Needs and Opportunities},

author = {Paul M Ong and Chhandara Pech and Tiffany Green and Nataly Rios},

url = {https://knowledge.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/ca21-3431-finalreport-a11y.pdf},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-06-01},

urldate = {2021-06-01},

keywords = {california, inequality, los angeles, san joaquin county, spatial-transportation mismatch, transportation, transportation analytics, vulnerable communities},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

@techreport{Ong2023,

title = {Stockton's Crosstown Freeway, Urban Renewal, and Asian Americans: Systemic Causes and Impacts},

author = {Paul M Ong and Chhandara Pech and Christopher Hung-Do and Anne Yoon and Jacob L. Wasserman },

url = {https://knowledge.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Stocktons-Crosstown-Freeway-Urban-Renewal-and-Asian-Americans.pdf},

keywords = {aapi, Asian Americans, built environment, environment, ethnic enclaves, neighborhoods, stockton, transportation},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}