PHS’s LandCare program has managed over 10,000,000 square feet of vacant land through its clean and green treatment. About 700 properties have become “inactive,” meaning that the property has a new use, which might include housing or a community garden. For Summer of Maps, we are proposing a three stage project. The initial phase includes mapping all inactive properties by category. A second stage would explore the developed properties by documenting neighborhood trends and by overlaying PHS historic data with current economic census data. In addition to data analysis, we would also like help in creating compelling visualizations that illustrate the impact of the program on neighborhoods and demonstrate areas where the program has had maximum results. Lastly, we would like to combine current staff members’ knowledge with the analysis of inactive properties to create a GIS suitability analysis that assists in selecting new target areas for the LandCare treatment.
We would like both static and dynamic maps that illustrate the different types of development that has occurred on vacant parcels. Another series of maps would illustrate trends in particular neighborhoods or over time, such as large housing developments or new commercial growth. Lastly we would like to develop a suitability analysis model in GIS that we can use in the future to help locate new target areas in which to implement the LandCare program.
Maps and reports would be used both externally to present information and provide resources for public use, as well as internally to inform our future work. These maps will help communicate the importance of this work to funders by demonstrating the impact that the program has had. We would also use the maps for meetings with city officials and academic researchers, and as resources for presentations to other practitioners interested in implementing a similar program.
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