could weaken or dissolve both the abandoned and new neighborhoods.
4. Business viability could be affected by immediate financial losses, as well as the loss of steady customers
Special consideration should be given to those groups that are especially sensi tive to changes in community structure, such as the elderly, low-income families minorities, and longtime residents. These groups often experience the most negative and long-term effects of displacement [Fried, 1966]. Impacts on neighborhoods and on these groups could reach far beyond the construction period. As noted in a high way design manual produced by the U.S. DOT [1980] A new transportation facility may induce extensive business or industrial development and population growth, straining local services and facilities. Moreover, if the needs, desires, and social values of the incoming residents are at variance with the,current res idents, conflicts may arise and a new social structure may evol Table 3.19 shows the types of impacts that should be part of community impact analysis. Guidelines for assessing the community impact of transportation facilities have identified several attributes of community character and structure that can be directly measured [Kaplan et al., 1972; Manheim et al., 1975; U.S. DOT, 1979a; Burdge, 1987; U.S. DOT, 1996]. More sophisticated and robust models and data bases developed over the past 15 years have provided planners with a strong foun dation for analyzing community impacts. For example, geographic information sys tems (GISs) can be a powerful tool for assessing the impacts of transportation investment on different population groups and on different geographic areas. It seems likely that a detailed assessment of social impacts and of the actions needed to mitigate negative effects will become an ever more important effort in the plan ning process in future years.