Welcome to the final post for the Special Topics in GIS course. This last portion is dedicated to the report on Food Deserts that has culminated the last few weeks of preparation and analysis. The overall objective for this project was to explore open source GIS software and web mapping applications to create a simple but custom web map to work in concert with standalone maps generated with other open source GIS software, specifically QGIS.
The culmination of the analysis results is presented in the fully narrated power point presentation linked below. Additionally the independent web map also linked below is embedded into the presentation. For those who do not want to download the full powerpoint as its slightly large (25mb) the result map is below for your convenience.
A Growing Trend: Food Deserts PowerPoint Report
Palm Springs Food Desert Interactive Web Map
A brief overview: A food desert is an area in or around a city or urban center that is outside of 1 mile from a grocery store that doesn't offer fresh produce or other whole foods. The lack of these fresh foods can led to compounding health issues for those who might not have the means to travel farther to grocery stores with them and are stuck with local potentially unhealthy options. My project involved investigating the city of Palm Springs California for the presence of Food Deserts. The data was investigated at the census tract level, looking at the population information from the 2010 census. The center of the census tracts was evaluated to determine those outside of 1 mile from the grocery stores present. These food deserts were then color coded by population distribution highlighting those most impacted. The interactive web map supplements this information by allowing you to a better visual sense of the neighborhood distribution for the area in relation to the census tracts.
Overall the analysis resulted in 51% of the population being impacted by food desert conditions. This definitely highlights that there is a problem with food deserts in the area. This data can be used to help inform city planners for future developments of grocery stores or healthy food alternatives closer to impacted neighborhoods. This education about food deserts as followed through the last few weeks is the biggest way to help combat the spread of food deserts, by making the public informed.
All of this presentation was created utilizing open source information and software (minus a couple cheating moments of using ArcGIS). Open source products are hugely beneficial and with a little bit of time can be employed by just about anyone. This is a wonderful supplement of tools for the masses who might not have access to the more proprietary spatial analysis tools. Thank you for joining me on this journey and I look forward to you following along as I embark on a GIS internship.
The culmination of the analysis results is presented in the fully narrated power point presentation linked below. Additionally the independent web map also linked below is embedded into the presentation. For those who do not want to download the full powerpoint as its slightly large (25mb) the result map is below for your convenience.
A Growing Trend: Food Deserts PowerPoint Report
Palm Springs Food Desert Interactive Web Map
A brief overview: A food desert is an area in or around a city or urban center that is outside of 1 mile from a grocery store that doesn't offer fresh produce or other whole foods. The lack of these fresh foods can led to compounding health issues for those who might not have the means to travel farther to grocery stores with them and are stuck with local potentially unhealthy options. My project involved investigating the city of Palm Springs California for the presence of Food Deserts. The data was investigated at the census tract level, looking at the population information from the 2010 census. The center of the census tracts was evaluated to determine those outside of 1 mile from the grocery stores present. These food deserts were then color coded by population distribution highlighting those most impacted. The interactive web map supplements this information by allowing you to a better visual sense of the neighborhood distribution for the area in relation to the census tracts.
Overall the analysis resulted in 51% of the population being impacted by food desert conditions. This definitely highlights that there is a problem with food deserts in the area. This data can be used to help inform city planners for future developments of grocery stores or healthy food alternatives closer to impacted neighborhoods. This education about food deserts as followed through the last few weeks is the biggest way to help combat the spread of food deserts, by making the public informed.
All of this presentation was created utilizing open source information and software (minus a couple cheating moments of using ArcGIS). Open source products are hugely beneficial and with a little bit of time can be employed by just about anyone. This is a wonderful supplement of tools for the masses who might not have access to the more proprietary spatial analysis tools. Thank you for joining me on this journey and I look forward to you following along as I embark on a GIS internship.
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