Galveston is a small city with numerous tourist attractions: museums, historical buildings, the beach, Moody Gardens, and several festivals each year. This research investigates if these tourist attractions are accessible to the elderly and disabled. The issue is particularly important because tourism represents the greatest possible source for economic growth in Galveston. According to estimates of the “Baby Boom” generation moving toward retirement, the number of potential tourists in the population who will require accessible attractions will increase. Other research has also shown that many individuals with disabilities focus on accessible tourism such as “leisure” trips that serve to immeasurably enhance their quality of life. Based on this research, recommendations are made for future action for the city, the historical foundation, and service providers who rely on tourist dollars. Galveston Island has unique physical characteristics, a large number of historical buildings, a beach, plus a history of hurricanes. These characteristics make accessibility difficult for certain properties.

Mobility management aims at the provision of accessible, multimodal, and affordable transportation services to all individuals in a community, including the elderly, disabled and lower income individuals. It has much potential to deliver public transit services in a cost efficient way and uses a customer driven and market based approach to make it more responsive to the needs of individuals in a community. In mobility management, there is much emphasis on coordination and collaboration, which makes mobility management an attractive option for many communities, especially in an era of limited funding and shortage of resources. To explore the feasibility of its practice in this country, this paper has tried to disseminate valuable information on regulations and statutes that help to establish the legal foundation for mobility management and also support services that are available from advocacy agencies and interest groups to develop, manage, and sustain such programs.

The effect of global economic crises has greatly impacted housing market, in particularly affordable housing which suffered dramatically. Poor environmental quality, higher resident’s health complications, and larger maintenance and operation bill have all been noticed as major common outcomes of such an impact. As a result, the idea of Affordable Sustainable Housing Neighborhoods (ASHN) was reformed to consider healthier lifestyle, better environmental surrounding, and higher cost efficiency. In this work research, an assessment of cost efficiency will be performed on these neighborhoods, in terms of shelter, utility, and transportation for better understanding and recommendations. This study will be based on both supply-side stakeholders and demand-side feedbacks. As a result of this study work, a salient discrepancy was found between supply-side and demand-side stakeholders in term of ASHN’s efficiency. That is, ASHN’s efficiency did not meet resident's expectations and therefore, a comprehensive assessment methodology is necessary to involve third party for cross validation purposes and facilitate interpretation of research results

The urban forest holds several important positions within the built and unbuilt environments. Those positions include economic, health, sustainability, quality of life measures, and overall protection of the environment, including air, water, and soil. The points are highlighted by Wolf (2005;2007); McPherson (2005) and Rowntree and Nowak (1991). This research references the four socio-economic sectors; the public or government sector, for profit or market sector, philanthropic or nonprofit sector, and the household or private sector (Biggs and Helms, 2007). The common purposes and role of each sector with respect to the urban tree cover takes on importance as they interrelate with concerns for public health, economic viability, tree coverage, tree placement, ecological relationships, and public policy. Harris County and its 52 heterogeneous subgovernmental units serve as the study area and the base for the administration of a random internet-based survey. Additionally, the research used urban tree canopy data to relate socio-economics, household preferences, sustainability measures, and overall environmental consciousness to gauge the sectors" connection to the urban forest. The research used multiple correlation analysis and regression modeling with secondary data. The research incorporated the results of the primary data collected, employed hierarchal linear modeling to address the perceived problem of a lack of concern for the urban forest and sustainability in respect to sectoral frame of reference in answering the survey questions. The element of willingness and receptivity serves as independent variables and overall environmental sustainability. The results can help policy makers promote sustainable initiatives that enhance the urban forest and protect the overall natural environment for the benefit of all, now and in the future. Contribution/ Originality:This study is one of very few studies that examined the urban forest resource as a critical element of our overall ecosystem with values and benefits that far outweigh the cost of maintainance and or expansion. The study also demonstrated that awareness and knowledge precipitates action. How we act though, may require clarity of understanding of the various roles of all the sectors and how each sector, may or may not, take, or be willing to take responsibility for our urban tree canopy"s future. There is a need for a balance within the ecosystem in order to enhance as well as retain our natural heritage of our homes, communities, and regions, by protection of the urban forest, both its resources and benefits. The public in general may not perceive the urban forest as an economic good, but often as an abstraction and not accounted as real property.

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