An analysis of the geographic distribution of New York's new public plazas sought to determine if the program was meeting one of its stated goals: providing access to public plazas for low- and moderate-income households.
The NYC Plaza Program has set some lofty goals for the creation of new public spaces in the city. Writing in the Placemeter blog, Natalie Kunstadter took on the challenge of determining if the program is meeting one of its stated goals, by providing access to the new public plazas to households with low and moderate incomes. Using census data and location data for the new plazas provided by the city, Kunstadter's geospatial analysis looked at the proximity of target households to the plazas.
The Plaza Program wants to ensure that all New Yorkers are within a 10-minute walk of green space, so I analyzed the area within a 10-minute walk of each of the project sites. A quick internet search told me that a standard conversion for this walk was 800 meters, so I created an 800-meter buffer around each plaza. I then did a spatial join between the new polygons and the census/income polygons to find the average of the median household income that fell within a 10-minute walk of each plaza.
Kunstadter's analysis, detailed both in map and histogram form, found that approximately 54 percent of the new plazas were situated in areas that served low-income residents, meaning the program was achieving its stated goal for equal access. However she does seem room for improvement in the model, including giving weight to the population density in each tract. Better data analysis could potentially aid the program in placing future plazas in areas that need them.
[The article was updated with the correct spelling of the author's name.]
FULL STORY: Plazas For The People: A Geospatial Analysis Of The NYC Plaza Program
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
California Grid Runs on 100% Renewable Energy for Over 9 Hours
The state’s energy grid was entirely powered by clean energy for some portion of the day on 37 out of the last 45 days.
New Forecasting Tool Aims to Reduce Heat-Related Deaths
Two federal agencies launched a new, easy-to-use, color-coded heat warning system that combines meteorological and medical risk factors.
AI Traffic Management Comes to Dallas-Fort Worth
Several Texas cities are using an AI-powered platform called NoTraffic to help manage traffic signals to increase safety and improve traffic flow.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.