Deirdre Pfeiffer
Associate Professor, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
Arizona State University
PO Box 875302
Tempe, AZ 85287-5302
Titles
- Senior Global Futures Scientist, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory
- Associate Professor, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Biography
Deirdre Pfeiffer's scholarship, teaching, and community engagement focuses on housing strategies to advance social equity, the relationship between housing and health, and the socioeconomic impacts of housing market disruptions.
Pfeiffer is Principal Investigator of the Arizona Research Center for Housing Equity and Sustainability (ARCHES), a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Hispanic Serving Institution Center of Excellence jointly led by ASU's Morrison Institute for Public Policy and University of Arizona's Drachman Institute. ARCHES is advancing knowledge and evidence-based solutions related to problems of housing security, climate, and health in the arid Southwest through 19 research projects on 1) Equitable Housing Growth and Production to Support Hispanic and Underserved Households, 2) Healthy Homes and Aging Communities, and 3) Housing Innovations for Resilience in the Arid Southwest.
Pfeiffer's current research on housing and health explores whether single-family home garages and driveways form an adaptive neighborhood infrastructure that has the potential to offer broad public benefits by studying how residents use these spaces for purposes other than to park cars and their potential future use in addressing pressing community issues like housing affordability, social isolation, and exposure to extreme heat. Pfeiffer also is advancing knowledge on the neighborhood built environment drivers of subjective wellbeing (aka "happiness") by examining how living in arid ecosystems and among garage homes -- car-oriented single-family homes where the garage and driveway take up a large portion of the front yard -- relate to residents' subjective wellbeing. Pfeiffer's current research on housing and social equity integrates housing planning and policymaking, anti-discrimination law, and computational linguistics to better understand and help dismantle the "legal hack" of use of racial code words in grounds for opposition to affordable and diverse housing in local decision making.
Pfeiffer teaches housing planning and policy and planning methods. She recently co-created an award-winning course on Zoning for Equity, which is collaboratively taught at seven institutions nationwide. Her teaching excellence has been recognized through her students’ receipt of state and national planning awards and her nomination for eight university teaching and mentoring awards.
Pfeiffer is deeply committed to community partnerships to help solve pressing housing, health, and social-equity issues and maintains an active agenda of community and professional service. She is Senior Associate Editor at Journal of Urban Affairs, President of the Board of Directors for the Southwest Fair Housing Council, Chair of the Rover Elementary school garden committee, Vice President of Communications for the Rover Elementary PTA, and Park Steward with the City of Phoenix's desert mountain preserves. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Education
- PhD, Urban Planning, University of California-Los Angeles, 2011
- MA, Urban Planning, Housing Policies and Development, University of California-Los Angeles, 2007
- BS, Anthropology and Performance Studies, Northwestern University, 2005
Expertise
External Links
Journal Articles
2022
Pfeiffer, D., M. M. Ehlenz and R. Saadaoui. 2022. Coping and connecting through creativity in the neighborhood realm during COVID-19. Journal of Planning Education and Research DOI: 10.1177/0739456X221125443. (link )
2021
Lobo, J., M. Alberti, M. Allen-Dumas, L. M. Bettencourt, A. Beukes, L. A. Bojorquez, W. Chen, A. Dodge, Z. Neal, A. Perreira, D. Pfeiffer, A. Revi, E. Stokes, D. Roberts, C. Rozenblat, S. T. Shutters, M. E. Smith, D. Strumsky and J. Wu. 2021. A convergence research perspective on graduate education for sustainable urban systems science. npj Ubran Sustainability 1:Art. 39. DOI: 10.1038/s42949-021-00044-8. (link )
Pfeiffer, D., A. Schafran and J. Wegmann. 2021. Vulnerability and opportunity: making sense of the rise in single-family rentals in US neighbourhoods. Housing Studies 36(7):1026-1046. DOI: 10.1080/02673037.2020.1739235. (link )
2020
Pfeiffer, D., M. M. Ehlenz, K. L. Larson, S. Cloutier and R. Andrade. 2020. Do neighborhood walkability, transit, and parks relate to residents’ life satisfaction? Insights from Phoenix. Journal of the American Planning Association 86(2):171-187. DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2020.1715824. (link )
Pfeiffer, D., J. Wegmann and A. Schafran. 2020. Exploring the relationship between housing downturns and partisan elections: Neighborhood-level evidence from Maricopa County, Arizona. Urban Affairs Review 56(6):1630-1658. DOI: 10.1177/1078087418824748. (link )
2019
Pfeiffer, D., G. Pearthree and M. M. Ehlenz. 2019. Inventing what Millennials want downtown: Housing the urban generation in low-density metropolitan regions. Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability 12(4):433-455. DOI: 10.1080/17549175.2019.1626267. (link )
Pfeiffer, D., A. Schafran and J. Wegmann. 2019. Exploring the relationship between housing downturns and partisan elections: Neighborhood-level evidence from Maricopa County, Arizona. Urban Affairs Review DOI: 10.1177/1078087418824748. (link )
2018
Chamberlain, A., D. Wallace, D. Pfeiffer and J. Gaub. 2018. Housing disinvestment and crime in a Phoenix suburb: Exploring the differential effects of investors and owner-occupants. Urban Affairs Review 54(1):190-224. DOI: 10.1177/1078087416640126. (link )
Pfeiffer, D. 2018. Rental housing assistance and health: Evidence from the survey of income and program participation. Housing Policy Debate 28(4):515-533. DOI: 10.1080/10511482.2017.1404480. (link )
Wallace, D., A. Chamberlain and D. Pfeiffer. 2018. The relationship between foreclosures and intimate partner violence during the U.S. housing crisis. Journal of Interpersonal Violence DOI: 10.1177/0886260518818431. (link )
2017
Lee, C. A., K. Wong and D. Pfeiffer. 2017. On the front lines of immigrant homeownership: Asian American nonprofits during the Great Recession. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 46(6):1209-1230. DOI: 10.1177/0899764017713726. (link )
Morris, E. A. and D. Pfeiffer. 2017. Who really bowls alone? Cities, suburbs, and social time in the United States. Journal of Planning Education and Research 37(2):207-222. DOI: 10.1177/0739456X16647160. (link )
Pfeiffer, D. and E. A. Morris. 2017. Are homeowners better neighbors during housing booms? Understanding civic and social engagement by tenure during the housing market cycle. Cityscapes 19(2):215-238. (link )
Pfeiffer, D., K. Wong, P. Ong and M. De La Cruz-Viesca. 2017. Ethnically bounded homeownership: qualitative insights on Los Angeles immigrant homeowners’ experiences during the U.S. Great Recession. Housing Studies 32(3):319-335. DOI: 10.1080/02673037.2016.1208159. (link )
Wegmann, J., A. Schafran and D. Pfeiffer. 2017. Breaking the double impasse: Securing and supporting the diverse housing tenures in the United States. Housing Policy Debate 27(2):193-216. DOI: 10.1080/10511482.2016.1200109. (link )
2016
Pfeiffer, D. and S. Cloutier. 2016. Planning for happy neighborhoods. Journal of the American Planning Association 82(3):267-279. DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2016.1166347. (link )
Pfeiffer, D. and J. D. Lucio. 2016. Section 8 renters in the Phoenix, Arizona, foreclosure crisis: Implications for poverty deconcentration. Housing Policy Debate 26(2):362-379. DOI: 10.1080/10511482.2015.1091367. (link )
2015
Cloutier, S. and D. Pfeiffer. 2015. Sustainability through happiness: A framework for sustainable development. Sustainable Development 23(5):317-327. DOI: 10.1002/sd.1593. (link )
Pfeiffer, D. 2015. Retrofitting suburbia through second units: Lessons from the Phoenix region. Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability 8(3): 279-301. DOI: 10.1080/17549175.2014.908787. (link )
Pfeiffer, D. and J. D. Lucio. 2015. An unexpected geography of opportunity in the wake of the foreclosure crisis: Low-income renters in investor-purchased foreclosures in Phoenix, Arizona. Urban Geography 36(8):1197-1220. DOI: 10.1080/02723638.2015.1053201. (link )
Pfeiffer, D., D. Wallace and A. Chamberlain. 2015. Is investor purchasing of foreclosures related to neighborhood crime? Evidence from a Phoenix suburb. Housing Policy Debate 25(1): 67-90. DOI: 10.1080/10511482.2014.923924. (link )
2013
Pfeiffer, D. and E. Tumpson Molina. 2013. The trajectory of REOs in southern California Latino neighborhoods: An uneven geography of recovery. Housing Policy Debate 23(1): 81-109. DOI: 10.1080/10511482.2012.731655. (link )
2012
Pfeiffer, D. 2012. African Americans' search from "more for less" and "peace of mind" on the exurban frontier. Urban Geography 33(1):64-90. DOI: 10.2747/0272-3638.33.1.64. (link )
Pfeiffer, D. 2012. Has exurban growth enabled greater racial equity in neighborhood quality? Evidence from the Los Angeles region. Journal of Urban Affairs 34(4):347-371. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9906.2011.00596.x. (link )
Pfeiffer, D. 2012. Moving to opportunity: African Americans' safety outcomes in the Los Angeles exurbs. Journal of Planning Education and Research 33(1):49-65. DOI: 10.1177/0739456X12459359. (link )
2010
Patraporn, R. V., D. Pfeiffer and P. Ong. 2010. Building bridges to the middle class: The role of community-based organizations in Asian American wealth accumulation. Economic Development Quarterly 24(7):288-303. DOI: 10.1177/0891242410366441. (link )
2007
Pfeiffer, D. 2007. Passing a mandatory inclusionary housing ordinance: Lessons from San Francisco and San Diego. Berkeley Planning Journal 20(1):. (link )
2006
Pfeiffer, D. 2006. Displacement through discourse: Implementing and contesting public housing redevelopment in Cabrini Green. Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development 35(1):39-74. (link )
Books
2018
Moos, M., D. Pfeiffer and T. Vinodrai eds. 2018. The Millennial City: Trends, Implications, and Prospects for Urban Planning and Policy. Routledge. ISBN: 978-1138631236.
Book Chapters
In Press
Pfeiffer, D. Diverging racial geographies in Phoenix's postwar and post-civil rights suburbs. In: Nijman, J. ed., North American Suburbanisms. University of Toronto Press. Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
2019
Pfeiffer, D., A. Tziganuk, S. Cloutier, J. Davis and G. Strasser. 2019. Realizing innovative senior housing practices in the U.S.. Pp. 256-270 In: Anacker, K. B., M. T. Nguyen and D. P. Varady eds., The Routledge Handbook of Housing Policy and Planning. Routledge. ISBN: 9781138188433.
2018
Moos, M., D. Pfeiffer and T. Vinodrai. 2018. The Millennial city, shaped by contradictions. Pp. 3-12 In: Moos, M., D. Pfeiffer and T. Vinodrai eds., The Millennial City: Trends, Implications, and Prospects for Urban Planning and Policy. Routledge. ISBN: 978-1138631236.
Pfeiffer, D. 2018. Chapter 17. Housing and agiig. Pp. 294-315 In: Anacker, K. B., A. T. Carswell, S. D. Kirby and K. R. Tremblay eds., Introduction to Housing, Second Edition. University of Georgia Press. ISBN: 978-0820349688.
Pfeiffer, D. and G. Pearthree. 2018. Is the real estate industry cementing Millennials’ residence in urban cores and central cities? Insights from Phoenix and Houston. Pp. Chapter 10 In: Moos, M., D. Pfeiffer and T. Vinodrai eds., The Millennial City: Trends, Implications, and Prospects for Urban Planning and Policy. Routledge. ISBN: 9781138631236.
Vinodrai, T., M. Moos and D. Pfeiffer. 2018. (Millennial) cities of tomorrow. Pp. 287-294 In: Moos, M., D. Pfeiffer and T. Vinodrai eds., The Millennial City: Trends, Implications, and Prospects for Urban Planning and Policy. Routledge. ISBN: 978-1138631236.
2017
Cloutier, S. and D. Pfeiffer. 2017. Happiness: An alternative objective for sustainable community development. Pp. 85-96 In: Phillips, R. and C. Wong eds., Handbook of Community Well-Being Research. Springer Netherlands. ISBN: 978-94-024-0876-8.
Reports
2020
Lobo, J., M. Alberti, M. Allen-Dumas, E. Arcaute, M. Barthelemy, L. A. Bojorquez-Tapia, S. Brail, L. M. Bettencourt, A. Beukes, W. Chen, R. Florida, M. Gonzalez, N. Grimm, M. Hamilton, C. Kempes, C. E. Kontokosta, C. Mellander, Z. Neal, S. Ortman, D. Pfeiffer, M. Price, A. Revi, C. Rozenblat, D. Rybski, M. Siemiatycki, S. T. Shutters, M. E. Smith, E. Stokes, D. Strumsky, G. B. West, D. White, J. Wu, V. C. Yang, A. York and H. Youn. 2020. Urban science: Integrated theory from the first cities to sustainable metropolises. Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation. Report submitted to the NSF on the Present State and Future of Urban Science Research Paper Series. (link )
2019
Lobo, J., M. Alberti, M. Allen-Dumas, L. Bettencourt, A. Beukes, Z. P. Neal, D. Pfeiffer, S. T. Shutters, M. E. Smith, E. Stokes, D. Strumsky and J. Wu. 2019. Graduate Education for a New Sustainable Urban Systems Science: Designing a New PhD Curriculum Integrating Sustainability Science and Urban Science. Morrinson Institute for Urban Innovation. Research Paper 14. (link )
Lobo, J., M. Allen-Dumas, L. M. Bettencourt, A. Beukes, Z. Neal, D. Pfeiffer, M. E. Smith, E. Stokes, D. Strumsky and J. Wu. 2019. Graduate Education for a New Sustainable Urban Systems Science: Designing a New PhD Curriculum Integrating Sustainability Science and Urban Science. School of Sustainability, Arizona State University. Conference Report (link )
2017
Larson, K., R. Andrade, A. York, D. Childers, P. Coseo, S. Earl, M. Ehlenz, N. Grimm, S. Hall, S. Harlan, D. Hondula, S. Lerman, D. Pfeiffer, J. Ripplinger, V. K. Smith, P. Warren, M. Watkins, D. White, S. Wittlinger, M. Wright and A. Wutich. 2017. The Phoenix Area Social Survey IV: Linking Social and Biophysical Dynamics in Urban Neighborhoods. (link )
Pfeiffer, D., G. Pearthree and M. M. Ehlenz. 2017. Cementing Millennials Downtown: Expressions and Impacts. Kinder Institute of Urban Research. (link )