❮ Projects page Norris Square Civic Association

Spatial Analysis Project:

The NSCA board of directors is in the midst of a strategic planning process where they are evaluating NSCA’s programs and deciding the course of the organization for the next five years. In order to develop an effective strategic plan, NSCA needs to understand the impact of our past work, the current needs and resources of the Norris Square community, and how NSCA might meet these current needs and capitalize on the resources available. To that end, NSCA would be interested in developing one or all of the following mapping projects:

1. NSCA would like to create a map that visualizes the measurable outcomes of NSCA’s residential and commercial investments, tracking vacancies, abandoned lots, housing prices (sale and rental), homeownership rates, and crime statistics in the Norris Square community. In addition to helping visualize the impact of NSCA’s investments, the map will also help the NSCA board decide where to focus future real estate investments and program outreach.
2. NSCA would like to create a map to visualize the economic and social needs of the Norris Square neighborhood tracking crime statistics, police incident reports, areas where recent parolees have been released, poverty levels, educational attainment, income, housing prices (sale and rental) and number of renters and homeowners
3. NSCA would like to create a map that tracks commercial vacancies and current viable businesses present in the neighborhood. The map would also visualize average household size, income, age and educational attainment to help the NSCA board determine what small business development activities would best serve the Norris Square community’s present needs and resources.

Data available:

• RDA Vacancy Data
• Public Property Data
• Police Department Crime Statistics
• Empowerment Zone Data (describe)
• NSCA Real Estate Development Data
• Community Health Database

Maps and Reports that will be created:

• Mapping of all housing data including price, ownership, and vacancies to determine the impact of NSCA residential and commercial development on surrounding housing stock and to determine where future affordable housing developments should be placed. In addition to current data, maps will be created using data from 1990, 2000, and 2010 to provide a picture of how Norris Square has changed over the last twenty years and how NSCA’s programs and activities have impacted that change.
• Mapping of recent parolees, crime statistics and police incident reports to determine which areas need more outreach and assistance through NSCA’s social programs.
• Mapping of businesses by type present in the community compared to commercial vacancies to be compared to neighborhood needs as extrapolated from the average household size, income, age, and employment of population.

How the maps and reports will be used:

The maps and reports will be used to guide the NSCA board of directors and executive staff during the organization’s strategic planning process. The maps will enable NSCA to evaluate our past investments in Norris Square (both in programs and real estate development) and will help us identify the neighborhood’s current needs and resources.

The maps will also help NSCA tell our story to future funders, visualizing the outcomes of our efforts and demonstrating NSCA’s plans for the next five to ten year period.