Association of minority distribution and builiding envelope quality in Baltimore City Neighborhoods

Arjun Kizhakkemarakkattil Janardhanan

2024-06-08

# Stop warnings printing
knitr::opts_chunk$set(echo = FALSE, warning=FALSE, message = FALSE)
## Reading layer `Studyarea1n2' from data source 
##   `C:\Users\arjun\OneDrive - The Pennsylvania State University\CourseWork  Fall23\GEOG 364\Project\StudyArea\Study area combined\Studyarea1n2.shp' 
##   using driver `ESRI Shapefile'
## Simple feature collection with 103 features and 2 fields
## Geometry type: MULTIPOLYGON
## Dimension:     XY
## Bounding box:  xmin: -76.70413 ymin: 39.26819 xmax: -76.52945 ymax: 39.3722
## Geodetic CRS:  NAD83

Background

Vacant row houses in Baltimore

Baltimore City bears the legacy of historical segregation, which divided neighborhoods along racial lines in the past(grove2018?). It is hypothesized that the effects of these unjust practices persist today. The city is going through a housing crisis, with the number of vacant houses on the rise (thecost?). The architectural quality of neighborhoods is deteriorating, and the rise in vacancy can affect the safety of neighborhoods. Research suggests that dilapidated and vacant houses are associated with a variety of negative outcomes, including a higher crime rate(Roth 2019). Low housing quality and lack of maintenance are key factors that lead to vacancy (Read 1991). This intertwining of the architecture of homes can have a significant impact on the lives of their occupants.

The paper “Linking Historical Discriminatory Housing Patterns to the Contemporary Food Environment in Baltimore” shows that even food choices in Baltimore could be affected by housing quality (Sadler, Bilal, and Furr-Holden 2021). Similarly, the lack of housing quality can be detrimental to health, especially in urban environments. Urban air pollution can seep into the living areas of poor-quality houses, leading to respiratory issues such as asthma (Grant and Wood 2022). Additionally, urban flooding paired with low-quality housing can cause casualties.

Redlining Map-(Source: https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/items/7583d1ed-61d7-4373-9ad2-e23ec862f3ee)

The objective of this research is to examine the spatial association between neighborhood locations and the architectural quality of housing in these areas. This will be accomplished by using 311 service requests as a proxy for housing quality. Similar to 911, 311 is an open portal for reporting non-emergency service requests to the governing body. The system contains over 400 service request types that impact the quality of life in neighborhoods and communities, with a specific focus on those related to architecture. This similar methodology has been applied by these researches[(agonafir2022?)](eugene2022?). By analyzing 311 service requests related to housing and architecture, this research aims to establish a correlation between neighborhood location and housing quality in Baltimore City.

Methodology

To conduct this study, specialized 311 data is acquired from the OpenBaltimore1 open-source data library. To understand the association between neighborhoods and architectural quality, two different neighborhoods have been selected for analysis. Spatial analysis is conducted on both and compared with each other to form conclusions. The selection of the neighborhoods was selected based on Home Owner Loan Corporation2 shown above . Two neighborhood were selected, are shown below, neighborhood aggregate one has majorly HOLC red and yellow zones where as neighborhood aggregate two has HOLC blue zones. The selected zones are show belows:


Selected Zones

Limitation

There could be several fallacies that can influence the interpretation of the analysis such as non-uniformity of space, edge effect, MAUP etc.,. Most prominent being, no uniformity of space, since we are study housing problem the spatial clustering can simply represent housing clusters, hence the study concentrates on the comparison aspect. The correction of fallacies does not lay in the scope of this project.

Data set

Data is sourced from the openbaltimore3 website. ‘311 data’ is a open data set for public use.311 connects Baltimore citizens, businesses & visitors with a vast array of city services, programs and information. It is collected either by a live agent-assisted phone call or through the self-service web or mobile portal, 311 allows customers to report a problem, request a service, check the status of a previously submitted service request, and obtain information regarding City programs or event4. This dashboard shows the requests: 5

##   [1] "SW-Bulk Scheduled"                                                
##   [2] "HLTH-Animal Failure to Restrain Animal, Known Owner/Known Address"
##   [3] "ECC-Information Request"                                          
##   [4] "HCD-Sanitation Property"                                          
##   [5] "HLTH-Animal In Danger/Injured/Abused/Neglected"                   
##   [6] "TRS-Parking Complaint"                                            
##   [7] "WW-Water Leak (Exterior)"                                         
##   [8] "HCD-Vacant Building"                                              
##   [9] "WW-Water Water In Basement"                                       
##  [10] "SW-Dirty Street"                                                  
##  [11] "TRS-48 Hour Parking/Abandoned Vehicle"                            
##  [12] "HLTH-Animal Running At Large/Stray (Tracking)"                    
##  [13] "HCD-CCE Building Permit Complaint"                                
##  [14] "TRM-Saltbox Concern"                                              
##  [15] "SW-Dirty Alley"                                                   
##  [16] "WW-Water No Water"                                                
##  [17] "ECC-Vehicle Look Up"                                              
##  [18] "WW-Sewer Misc Investigation"                                      
##  [19] "HLTH-Animal Dead Animal Pickup-Wildlife or Stray"                 
##  [20] "TRM-Potholes"                                                     
##  [21] "HCD-Illegal Dumping"                                              
##  [22] "TRM-Sign Damaged/Sign Structure"                                  
##  [23] "HLTH-Animal Barking Dog"                                          
##  [24] "SW-Public (Corner) Trash Can Issue"                               
##  [25] "WW-Hydrant Leaking"                                               
##  [26] "SW-Leaf Collection Scheduling"                                    
##  [27] "HCD-Maintenance Structure"                                        
##  [28] "BGE-StLight(s) Out"                                               
##  [29] "TRT-Crosswalks"                                                   
##  [30] "TRT-Traffic Calming"                                              
##  [31] "SW-Graffiti Removal"                                              
##  [32] "FIR-Fire Smoke Alarm Installation Request"                        
##  [33] "TRT-New Traffic Sign"                                             
##  [34] "TRM-StLight Damaged/Knocked Down/Rusted"                          
##  [35] "SW-Mixed Refuse"                                                  
##  [36] "HLTH-Animal Aggressive Animal"                                    
##  [37] "FOR-Tree Inspection"                                              
##  [38] "WW-Sewer Overflow"                                                
##  [39] "SW-Municipal Trash Can Concern"                                   
##  [40] "HLTH-Animal Dead Animal Pick Up, Death of a Pet (Tracking)"       
##  [41] "FOR-Down Tree"                                                    
##  [42] "TRT-Traffic Signal Repairs"                                       
##  [43] "ECC-Miscellaneous Request"                                        
##  [44] "FOR-Fallen Limb"                                                  
##  [45] "HLTH-Animal Inspection/Follow-up"                                 
##  [46] "SW-Appliance (White Goods) Special"                               
##  [47] "BGE-StLight(s) Out Rear"                                          
##  [48] "BGE-StLighting Cable Faults"                                      
##  [49] "HCD-Systems"                                                      
##  [50] "HLTH-Animal Police/Fire/Sheriff/City Work Crew Standby"           
##  [51] "TRM-Debris Hanging From Wires or Poles"                           
##  [52] "SW-Appliance (White Goods)"                                       
##  [53] "SW-Rat Rubout Proactive"                                          
##  [54] "TTR-Vehicle Removal"                                              
##  [55] "FIR-Fire Code Inspection Request"                                 
##  [56] "FCPF-Other"                                                       
##  [57] "SW-Cleaning"                                                      
##  [58] "WW-Water Meter Leak"                                              
##  [59] "HLTH-Animal Stray Held"                                           
##  [60] "WW-Sewer Water In Basement"                                       
##  [61] "HLTH-Animal Attack Against Human"                                 
##  [62] "HLTH-Animal Unsanitary Conditions"                                
##  [63] "TRM-Street Repairs"                                               
##  [64] "TRS-Parking Away Notification"                                    
##  [65] "WW-Storm Flooded Street"                                          
##  [66] "SW-Rat Rubout"                                                    
##  [67] "HLTH-Animal Wildlife Complaint"                                   
##  [68] "WW-Storm Damaged Inlet"                                           
##  [69] "HLTH-EV Noise"                                                    
##  [70] "DPW-Calendar or Water Quality Report Request"                     
##  [71] "BCLB-Liquor License Complaint"                                    
##  [72] "SW-Fire Debris Removal"                                           
##  [73] "ECC-Escalation"                                                   
##  [74] "SW-Public (Corner) Trash Can Request/Removal"                     
##  [75] "RP-Park Maintenance"                                              
##  [76] "TRS-48 Hour Parking Complaint (DNU)"                              
##  [77] "SW-Community Pitch-In"                                            
##  [78] "SW-Recycling"                                                     
##  [79] "TRM-Curb Repair"                                                  
##  [80] "TRM-Snow/Icy Conditions"                                          
##  [81] "SW-Municipal Trash Can Stolen/Lost"                               
##  [82] "HCD-Rodents"                                                      
##  [83] "SW-Boarding"                                                      
##  [84] "TRT-Traffic Sign Request"                                         
##  [85] "TRT-Signal Timing"                                                
##  [86] "HCD-Zoning Investigation"                                         
##  [87] "WW-Hydrant Open"                                                  
##  [88] "RP-Playgrounds"                                                   
##  [89] "WW-Water Low Pressure"                                            
##  [90] "FCPF-Transfer of Liability"                                       
##  [91] "FCPF-Trial Request-Red Light"                                     
##  [92] "FCPF-Trial Request-Speed Citation"                                
##  [93] "FCPF-Payments"                                                    
##  [94] "FCPF-Makes Differ"                                                
##  [95] "HCD-Abandoned Vehicle"                                            
##  [96] "FCPF-Trial Request-Parking"                                       
##  [97] "WW-Water Meter Cover Missing or Damaged"                          
##  [98] "FCCS-Metered Water"                                               
##  [99] "FCCS-Personal Property Tax"                                       
## [100] "SW-HGW"                                                           
## [101] "FIN-City Motor Vehicle Accident"                                  
## [102] "FCCS-Refunds"                                                     
## [103] "WW-Storm Inlet Choke"                                             
## [104] "SW-Bulk Special"                                                  
## [105] "SW-Park Cans"                                                     
## [106] "WW-Customer Inquiries"                                            
## [107] "HCD-Trees and Shrubs"                                             
## [108] "PABC-General Parking Request"                                     
## [109] "HLTH-Food Facility Complaint"                                     
## [110] "ECC-Citizen Compliment or Praise"                                 
## [111] "TRM-Steel Plate Complaint"                                        
## [112] "TRM-Bridge Concern"                                               
## [113] "BGE-Extend Feed"                                                  
## [114] "SW-Trash Can/Recycling Container Complaint"                       
## [115] "BGE-StLight Pole Installation"                                    
## [116] "TR-Escalation"                                                    
## [117] "BGE-Fixture-Arm"                                                  
## [118] "ECC-Language Line"                                                
## [119] "HCD-Bed Bugs"                                                     
## [120] "WW-Water Turn Off (Request)"                                      
## [121] "TTR-Vehicle Relocation"                                           
## [122] "TEC-Footways Contract/Reconstruction"                             
## [123] "TEC-Footways Complaint"                                           
## [124] "TRA-Ombudsman Review"                                             
## [125] "ECC-Citizen Complaint or Concern"                                 
## [126] "HCD-Animals"                                                      
## [127] "ECC-Community Pitch-In"                                           
## [128] "HCD-Fire Protection"                                              
## [129] "SW-Dirty Alley Proactive"                                         
## [130] "FCCS-Parking Fines Refunds"                                       
## [131] "TRM-Debris In Roadway"                                            
## [132] "TRM-Illegal Sign Removal"                                         
## [133] "SW-Dirty Street Proactive"                                        
## [134] "SW-Mechanical Street Sweeping"                                    
## [135] "TRM-Bench Concern"                                                
## [136] "HCD-Emergency Sewer Investigation"                                
## [137] "HCD-Illegal Signs on Public Property"                             
## [138] "PABC-Handicapped Parking Request"                                 
## [139] "FCCS-Refund Check Issues"                                         
## [140] "TRM-Alleys"                                                       
## [141] "FCCS-Paid Wrong Account/Misapplied Payment"                       
## [142] "SW-Graffiti Removal Proactive"                                    
## [143] "TRM-Street Cut Issues"                                            
## [144] "WW-Water Discolored"                                              
## [145] "TRM-Footways Repair"                                              
## [146] "HCD-Illegal Flyers"                                               
## [147] "FCCS-City Dynamics Request"                                       
## [148] "WW-Water Turn On (Request)"                                       
## [149] "PABC-EZ Parking Meter Complaints"                                 
## [150] "WW-Sediment or Erosion Problem"                                   
## [151] "TRM-Street Light Out"                                             
## [152] "SW-Christmas Tree Removal"                                        
## [153] "TR-Right-Of-Way Permit"                                           
## [154] "PABC-Single Space Meter Complaints"                               
## [155] "HLTH-EV Odor"                                                     
## [156] "FCPF-Stolen Vehicle/Tags"                                         
## [157] "WW-Surface Repair"                                                
## [158] "FCCS-Other"                                                       
## [159] "RP-Street Lighting Repairs"                                       
## [160] "WW-Water Rip Rap"                                                 
## [161] "SW-Bag Pickup"                                                    
## [162] "TRM-StLighting Inadequate/Too Bright"                             
## [163] "TRM-Fence Concern (Repair)"                                       
## [164] "SW-SIU Clean Up"                                                  
## [165] "WW-Hydrant Damaged"                                               
## [166] "FCPF-Ombudsman Review"                                            
## [167] "FCPF-Certified Mail"                                              
## [168] "HCD-Insects"                                                      
## [169] "ECC-Grass Mowing"                                                 
## [170] "SW-RP Bulk Pickup"                                                
## [171] "PABC-Parking Investigations"                                      
## [172] "WW-Water Odor/Bad Taste"                                          
## [173] "SW-Leaf Removal"                                                  
## [174] "TTR-Abandoned Vehicle Turn-in Program"                            
## [175] "HLTH-Animal Search and Seizure"                                   
## [176] "HCD-CCE Building Inspections"                                     
## [177] "TRM-Saltbox Refill"                                               
## [178] "TRT-New Stop Sign"                                                
## [179] "HLTH-Animal Trapped In Vacant Building"                           
## [180] "TRM-StLight Pole Pickup"                                          
## [181] "TRM-Major Street Repairs (In-House)"                              
## [182] "HLTH-Animal Attack Against Animal"                                
## [183] "TEC-Alley Reconstruction Complaint"                               
## [184] "WW-Storm Misc Investigation"                                      
## [185] "TRM-Guardrail Concern (Repair)"                                   
## [186] "TR-Youth Snow Program Student Application Request"                
## [187] "HLTH-Animal Domestic Animal Trap or Capture Request"              
## [188] "MOIT-Address Validation Issue"                                    
## [189] "HCD-Overcrowding"                                                 
## [190] "TRA-Red Light/Speed/Truck Camera"                                 
## [191] "FOR-Broken Branch in Tree"                                        
## [192] "HLTH-EV Dust"                                                     
## [193] "TRT-New Traffic Signal"                                           
## [194] "WW-Contractor Issues"                                             
## [195] "HCD-Weatherization"                                               
## [196] "TRM-WO Sign Installation"                                         
## [197] "RP-Building Maintenance"                                          
## [198] "FCPF-VR119-Mail"                                                  
## [199] "WW-Waterway Pollution Investigation"                              
## [200] "FCPF-Investigation Request"                                       
## [201] "TRM-Street and Crosswalk Markings"                                
## [202] "SW-Graffiti Removal - Rec and Parks"                              
## [203] "WW-Water Noise In Pipe"                                           
## [204] "TRM-WO Street and Crosswalk Markings"                             
## [205] "TEC-Street Repair (Misc)"                                         
## [206] "TRM-StLight Pole Access Cover/Plate Missing"                      
## [207] "SW-Dumpster Collection"                                           
## [208] "BGE-C-Order Non-Damage"                                           
## [209] "FCPF-Trial Request-Commercial Truck"                              
## [210] "FIR-Fire Code Violation"                                          
## [211] "RP-Custodial Services"                                            
## [212] "FCCS-Transfer Request from Another Account"                       
## [213] "HCD-Rental Licensing Referral"                                    
## [214] "TRM-WO Sign Removal"                                              
## [215] "MOHS-Homeless Outreach"                                           
## [216] "WW-Storm Water In Basement"                                       
## [217] "BGE-C-Order Damage"                                               
## [218] "TRM-StLight Pole Missing"                                         
## [219] "HCD-OECS-No Heat Referral"                                        
## [220] "FCCS-Payment Not Posted"                                          
## [221] "TRM-Graffiti Referral"                                            
## [222] "HCD-Snow and Ice on Sidewalks"                                    
## [223] "BGE-Duplex"                                                       
## [224] "BGE-No Feed"                                                      
## [225] "FCCS-Property Tax Credits"                                        
## [226] "FCPF-Vehicle Owner Death/Funeral Procession"                      
## [227] "FCCS-ORCC Reversals"                                              
## [228] "HLTH-EV Institutional Facility"                                   
## [229] "TRM-Grass Mowing"                                                 
## [230] "HLTH-Food Borne Illness Alleged"                                  
## [231] "TRC-Conduit Repair"                                               
## [232] "RP-Grass Cutting"                                                 
## [233] "HCD-Illegal Campaign Signs on Private Property"                   
## [234] "TRC-Conduit Investigation"                                        
## [235] "BGE-Construction/New Development"                                 
## [236] "ECC-Supervisor Follow-Up"                                         
## [237] "HLTH-Animal Bite Pickup"                                          
## [238] "HLTH-Tobacco Enforcement Request"                                 
## [239] "HLTH-EV Smoking Ban Violation"                                    
## [240] "TRM-Barricades-Removal"                                           
## [241] "FCPF-Collection Agency"                                           
## [242] "TRM-Barricades-Install"                                           
## [243] "SW-Water Way Cleaning"                                            
## [244] "311-BCIT Service Desk"                                            
## [245] "TEC-Alley Contract/Reconstruction"                                
## [246] "BGE-Cable Replacement"                                            
## [247] "HLTH-EV Stagnant Water"                                           
## [248] "HCD-Graffiti"                                                     
## [249] "TR-Street and Mobile Vendor Licensing Complaints"                 
## [250] "SW-Rat Rubout Alley Concern (SW creation only)"                   
## [251] "HLTH-Animal Healthy Unwanted Animals (Tracking)"                  
## [252] "BPD-Miscellaneous Request"                                        
## [253] "TRM-Pickup Pothole"                                               
## [254] "TRM-Slow Street"                                                  
## [255] "ECC-BCIT Service Desk"                                            
## [256] "SW-Rat Rubout Follow-up"                                          
## [257] "ECC-311 CRM Account Request"                                      
## [258] "TRM-(ADA) Sidewalk Ramp Concern (Repair)"                         
## [259] "HLTH-EV Report of Retail Sale of Illegal Synthetic Drugs"         
## [260] "311-TEST SR"                                                      
## [261] "TRT-Truck Study"                                                  
## [262] "SW-BCPSS Graffiti Removal"                                        
## [263] "BGE-Duct Obstruction"                                             
## [264] "SW-Volunteer Clean-Up Event"                                      
## [265] "MOIT-Open Baltimore"                                              
## [266] "TRM-Steel Plate Repair"                                           
## [267] "SW-Clean Up (Mayor’s Spring Cleanup)"                             
## [268] "CC-Constituent Services Request"                                  
## [269] "SW-Mechanical Alley Sweeping"                                     
## [270] "SW-Bulk Scheduled (DO NOT CREATE)"                                
## [271] "TRT-School Zone"                                                  
## [272] "TRT-One Way Conversion"                                           
## [273] "TRT-Angled Parking Request"                                       
## [274] "HCD-Dirty Street RP (INTERNAL)"                                   
## [275] "TRS-Abandoned Vehicle(DNU)"                                       
## [276] "HLTH-EV Mosquito Surveillance"                                    
## [277] "DPW-MD Stormwater Participation Event"                            
## [278] "SW-Mechanical Street Sweeping DO NOT CREATE"                      
## [279] "WW-Water Turn On Seasonal"                                        
## [280] "HLTH-EV Tattoo Facility"                                          
## [281] "EOC-COVID 19 Donations"                                           
## [282] "FCPF-Court Petitions"                                             
## [283] "RP-Ball Field"                                                    
## [284] "BGE-Conduit Observation"                                          
## [285] "TRC-Conduit Observation"                                          
## [286] "TRC-Conduit Restoration"                                          
## [287] "TRM-Street Cut Notification"                                      
## [288] "SW-Bulk Special DO NOT CREATE"                                    
## [289] "HCD-CCE Demolition"                                               
## [290] "BGE-Contact Voltage"                                              
## [291] "WW-Water Turn Off Seasonal"                                       
## [292] "ECC-Salesforce 3-1-1 Issue"                                       
## [293] "ECC-ARTEST"                                                       
## [294] "ECC-AR TEST"                                                      
## [295] "FINBAPS-Refunds"                                                  
## [296] "FCDA-Tax Sale"                                                    
## [297] "HLTH-EV Public Swimming Pool/Spa Complaint"                       
## [298] "FCCS-Civil Citation Refund"                                       
## [299] "RP-Building Maintenance (INTERNAL)"                               
## [300] "TRM-Sandbag Pick Up"                                              
## [301] "ECC-Graffiti Complaint"                                           
## [302] "RP-Graffiti Removal"                                              
## [303] "HLTH-EV Waste Hauler"                                             
## [304] "OEM-Covid-19  Workplace Safety"                                   
## [305] "OEM-Covid-19 Workplace Safety"                                    
## [306] "WW-HCD Garden Water Setter Install INTERNAL"                      
## [307] "WW-HCD Acquisition/ Remove Meter"                                 
## [308] "WW-HCD Garden Water Setter Removal INTERNAL"                      
## [309] "BGE-Red Tag"                                                      
## [310] "BGE-Manhole Work"                                                 
## [311] "BCIT-Service Desk"                                                
## [312] "TRS-Abandoned Vehicle"                                            
## [313] "TRS-48 Hour Parking Complaint"                                    
## [314] "TR-Sign Issue"                                                    
## [315] "TRT-Sign Faded/Missing/Remove/Change"                             
## [316] "TRM-(Handicap) Sidewalk Ramp Concern (Repair)"                    
## [317] "TRT-Sign New"                                                     
## [318] "TRT-All Way Stop"                                                 
## [319] "TR-Youth Snow Program Complaint"                                  
## [320] "SW-Rat Rubout Alley Concern"                                      
## [321] "TRM-Sign Damaged (Do not use)"                                    
## [322] "FIR-Fire Smoke Alarm Installation Request-Internal"               
## [323] "FCCS-Tax Sale Voids"                                              
## [324] "TRM-Sign Structure Damaged (Do not use)"                          
## [325] "TR-Youth Snow Program Resident Registration"                      
## [326] "TEC-WO Street Markings"                                           
## [327] "TRT-Sign Faded/Missing/Remove/Change/New"                         
## [328] "SW-Summer Lunch Program - Missed Pickup"                          
## [329] "TRD-General Administration Request"                               
## [330] "FINBAPS-Other"                                                    
## [331] "TTR-Snow Abandoned Vehicle Relocate"                              
## [332] "SW-Clean Up (Mayor’s Fall Cleanup)"                               
## [333] "HCD-Unauthorized Vending"

From this list of request types the ones pertaining to architecture quality was filtered based on paper that studies housing quality in the US(newman?)

##  [1] "HCD-Sanitation Property"                       
##  [2] "HCD-Vacant Building"                           
##  [3] "HCD-CCE Building Permit Complaint"             
##  [4] "HCD-Illegal Dumping"                           
##  [5] "HCD-Maintenance Structure"                     
##  [6] "HCD-Systems"                                   
##  [7] "HCD-Rodents"                                   
##  [8] "HCD-Zoning Investigation"                      
##  [9] "HCD-Abandoned Vehicle"                         
## [10] "HCD-Trees and Shrubs"                          
## [11] "HCD-Bed Bugs"                                  
## [12] "HCD-Animals"                                   
## [13] "HCD-Fire Protection"                           
## [14] "HCD-Emergency Sewer Investigation"             
## [15] "HCD-Illegal Signs on Public Property"          
## [16] "HCD-Illegal Flyers"                            
## [17] "HCD-Insects"                                   
## [18] "HCD-CCE Building Inspections"                  
## [19] "HCD-Overcrowding"                              
## [20] "HCD-Weatherization"                            
## [21] "HCD-Rental Licensing Referral"                 
## [22] "HCD-OECS-No Heat Referral"                     
## [23] "HCD-Snow and Ice on Sidewalks"                 
## [24] "HCD-Illegal Campaign Signs on Private Property"
## [25] "HCD-Graffiti"                                  
## [26] "HCD-Dirty Street RP (INTERNAL)"                
## [27] "HCD-CCE Demolition"                            
## [28] "HCD-Unauthorized Vending"
##  [1] "WW-Water Leak (Exterior)"                   
##  [2] "WW-Water Water In Basement"                 
##  [3] "WW-Water No Water"                          
##  [4] "WW-Sewer Misc Investigation"                
##  [5] "WW-Hydrant Leaking"                         
##  [6] "WW-Sewer Overflow"                          
##  [7] "WW-Water Meter Leak"                        
##  [8] "WW-Sewer Water In Basement"                 
##  [9] "WW-Storm Flooded Street"                    
## [10] "WW-Storm Damaged Inlet"                     
## [11] "WW-Hydrant Open"                            
## [12] "WW-Water Low Pressure"                      
## [13] "WW-Water Meter Cover Missing or Damaged"    
## [14] "WW-Storm Inlet Choke"                       
## [15] "WW-Customer Inquiries"                      
## [16] "WW-Water Turn Off (Request)"                
## [17] "WW-Water Discolored"                        
## [18] "WW-Water Turn On (Request)"                 
## [19] "WW-Sediment or Erosion Problem"             
## [20] "WW-Surface Repair"                          
## [21] "WW-Water Rip Rap"                           
## [22] "WW-Hydrant Damaged"                         
## [23] "WW-Water Odor/Bad Taste"                    
## [24] "WW-Storm Misc Investigation"                
## [25] "WW-Contractor Issues"                       
## [26] "WW-Waterway Pollution Investigation"        
## [27] "WW-Water Noise In Pipe"                     
## [28] "WW-Storm Water In Basement"                 
## [29] "WW-Water Turn On Seasonal"                  
## [30] "WW-Water Turn Off Seasonal"                 
## [31] "WW-HCD Garden Water Setter Install INTERNAL"
## [32] "WW-HCD Acquisition/ Remove Meter"           
## [33] "WW-HCD Garden Water Setter Removal INTERNAL"

The selected features are listed below: “HCD-Rodents”,“HCD-Bed Bugs”, “HCD-Insects”, “HCD-Weatherization”,“HCD-Systems”,“WW-Water Leak (Exterior)” ,“WW-Storm Water In Basement”and “WW-Water Water In Basement”.

##        X                  Y            srrecordid        servicerequestnum 
##  Min.   :-8557173   Min.   :4750267   Length:32978       Length:32978      
##  1st Qu.:-8533783   1st Qu.:4763271   Class :character   Class :character  
##  Median :-8528504   Median :4766661   Mode  :character   Mode  :character  
##  Mean   :-8528521   Mean   :4767722                                        
##  3rd Qu.:-8524028   3rd Qu.:4771331                                        
##  Max.   :-8498167   Max.   :4812758                                        
##                                                                            
##     srtype          methodreceived     createddate          srstatus        
##  Length:32978       Length:32978       Length:32978       Length:32978      
##  Class :character   Class :character   Class :character   Class :character  
##  Mode  :character   Mode  :character   Mode  :character   Mode  :character  
##                                                                             
##                                                                             
##                                                                             
##                                                                             
##   statusdate          duedate           closedate            agency         
##  Length:32978       Length:32978       Length:32978       Length:32978      
##  Class :character   Class :character   Class :character   Class :character  
##  Mode  :character   Mode  :character   Mode  :character   Mode  :character  
##                                                                             
##                                                                             
##                                                                             
##                                                                             
##  lastactivity       lastactivitydate     outcome            address         
##  Length:32978       Length:32978       Length:32978       Length:32978      
##  Class :character   Class :character   Class :character   Class :character  
##  Mode  :character   Mode  :character   Mode  :character   Mode  :character  
##                                                                             
##                                                                             
##                                                                             
##                                                                             
##     zipcode          neighborhood       councildistrict  policedistrict    
##  Min.   :2.103e+04   Length:32978       Min.   : 1.000   Length:32978      
##  1st Qu.:2.121e+04   Class :character   1st Qu.: 5.000   Class :character  
##  Median :2.122e+04   Mode  :character   Median : 9.000   Mode  :character  
##  Mean   :1.841e+07                      Mean   : 7.945                     
##  3rd Qu.:2.123e+04                      3rd Qu.:11.000                     
##  Max.   :2.122e+09                      Max.   :14.000                     
##  NA's   :784                            NA's   :9214                       
##  policepost        latitude       longitude      geolocation       
##  Mode:logical   Min.   :39.20   Min.   :-76.87   Length:32978      
##  NA's:32978     1st Qu.:39.29   1st Qu.:-76.66   Class :character  
##                 Median :39.31   Median :-76.61   Mode  :character  
##                 Mean   :39.32   Mean   :-76.61                     
##                 3rd Qu.:39.35   3rd Qu.:-76.57                     
##                 Max.   :39.63   Max.   :-76.34                     
##                                                                    
##     ObjectId     
##  Min.   :     9  
##  1st Qu.:156734  
##  Median :380131  
##  Mean   :387828  
##  3rd Qu.:598124  
##  Max.   :855443  
##

lets remove missing values

## [1] 32978    25

There is 32978 data point between the years 2019 and 2020

Data summary and preparation

Variables

  1. X,Y - This table is the x,y coordinates of the service request

The above are the names of column that I’ve removed. These include numbering, activity data and spatial zoning distinction. Spatial zones are removed because the data will be integrated with census tract zoning at later stage.

## # A tibble: 32,978 × 14
##            X        Y srtype      methodreceived createddate srstatus statusdate
##        <dbl>    <dbl> <chr>       <chr>          <chr>       <chr>    <chr>     
##  1 -8531239. 4769464. WW-Water L… Phone          2020/01/01… Closed   2020/02/2…
##  2 -8538737. 4756899. WW-Water W… Phone          2020/01/01… Closed   2020/01/0…
##  3 -8527805. 4768205. WW-Water L… API            2020/01/01… Closed … 2020/01/0…
##  4 -8531886. 4756189. WW-Water L… Phone          2020/01/01… Closed   2020/01/0…
##  5 -8523729. 4776574. WW-Water W… Phone          2020/01/01… Closed   2020/01/0…
##  6 -8536576. 4773287. WW-Water L… Phone          2020/01/01… Closed   2020/01/1…
##  7 -8535584. 4770209. WW-Water L… API            2020/01/01… Closed   2020/01/0…
##  8 -8535052. 4766518. WW-Water L… Phone          2020/01/01… Closed   2020/02/2…
##  9 -8539464. 4775088. WW-Water L… API            2020/01/01… Closed   2020/01/0…
## 10 -8532421. 4763117. WW-Water W… Phone          2020/01/01… Closed   2020/01/0…
## # ℹ 32,968 more rows
## # ℹ 7 more variables: closedate <chr>, agency <chr>, outcome <chr>,
## #   address <chr>, neighborhood <chr>, latitude <dbl>, longitude <dbl>
  1. Srtype is the type of service request that is made. Method received is how the request was made.
  2. Srstatus is about whether the request has been catered to or not
  3. Createddate, Closeddate is the information when the request was made and when was it closed
  4. Agency is information on which government agency is involved in the service
  5. Method received is information about how the data was collected
  6. Address, neighborhood, latitude and longitude is information about the spatial location of the request

Data preparation

The initial plot shows that the there is points outside the Baltimore City area therefore I needed to filter the point that are only from the Baltimore City.

##   |                                                                              |                                                                      |   0%  |                                                                              |===                                                                   |   4%  |                                                                              |===========                                                           |  16%  |                                                                              |==========================================================            |  82%  |                                                                              |=============================================================         |  88%  |                                                                              |======================================================================| 100%
## Reading layer `StudyArea1' from data source 
##   `C:\Users\arjun\OneDrive - The Pennsylvania State University\CourseWork  Fall23\GEOG 364\Project\StudyArea\StudyArea1\StudyArea1.shp' 
##   using driver `ESRI Shapefile'
## Simple feature collection with 59 features and 2 fields
## Geometry type: MULTIPOLYGON
## Dimension:     XY
## Bounding box:  xmin: -76.70413 ymin: 39.26819 xmax: -76.59642 ymax: 39.33104
## Geodetic CRS:  NAD83
## Reading layer `StudyArea2' from data source 
##   `C:\Users\arjun\OneDrive - The Pennsylvania State University\CourseWork  Fall23\GEOG 364\Project\StudyArea\StudyArea2\StudyArea2.shp' 
##   using driver `ESRI Shapefile'
## Simple feature collection with 44 features and 2 fields
## Geometry type: POLYGON
## Dimension:     XY
## Bounding box:  xmin: -76.61002 ymin: 39.30014 xmax: -76.52945 ymax: 39.3722
## Geodetic CRS:  NAD83

Creation of utm and ppp objects for analysis. The objects needed to be converted to UTM to have the analysis done distance units sucha as Meters/Kilometers.

Initial Analysis

Histogram plot is used to check if there is any outliers and what is the extend of the coordinates

1.Quadrant analysis

study area 1

We can see here how color density change as per the division of the quadrant. This is an issue of MAUP, since we don’t have justified unit area for quadrant analysis it is difficult to make unbiased judgments Therefore we go for kernel density method.

2.Kernel Density

study area 1

We can see some yellow area towards the east side of the map.This area is closer to the downtown.

study area 2

We can see some yellow area towards the south west side of the map.

comparatively the cluster seems to prominent in study area 1 however, the scale and bandwidths are different.

3. Nearest Neighbor Analysis

study area 1

## [1] "The average nearest neighbour of study area 1 data is: 16.966 m away"

study area 2

## [1] "The average nearest neighbour of study area 1 data is: 24.673 m away"

The neighbors are more closer in study area 1, this may be due to the fact that density is higher close to the downtown of the city due land prices

4. Hypothesis test

In this section we carry out the testing of the hypothesis that the pattern shows complete pattern by an independent random process, using Clark Evan test

H0: The pattern shows complete spatial randomness caused by an independent random process. R=1. E.g. If we simulated 100 random point patterns and calculated the Clarke Evans ratio for each, we would get a histogram with a mean of 1.

H1: The pattern is unusually DIFFERENT (e.g. strangely clustered OR strangely uniform) compared to what we would expect in H0. E.g. R would be high or low.

## 
##  Clark-Evans test
##  Donnelly correction
##  Z-test
## 
## data:  points_within_SA1.ppp
## R = 0.3881, p-value < 2.2e-16
## alternative hypothesis: two-sided
## 
##  Clark-Evans test
##  Donnelly correction
##  Z-test
## 
## data:  points_within_SA2.ppp
## R = 0.47878, p-value < 2.2e-16
## alternative hypothesis: two-sided

test shows that the r value is .396, .475 with a p value that is very low. therefore we reject the null hypothesis. The pattern is unusually DIFFERENT.

5. L function analysis

study area 1

This plot confirms that the data is unusually clustered as it way off the confidence interval lines

study area 2

This plot confirms that the data is unusually clustered as it way off the confidence interval lines

6. Adding SVI

study area 1

creation of SF objects

##  [1] "X"              "Y"              "srtype"         "methodreceived"
##  [5] "createddate"    "srstatus"       "statusdate"     "closedate"     
##  [9] "agency"         "outcome"        "address"        "neighborhood"  
## [13] "geometry"       "GEOID"          "ST"             "STATE"         
## [17] "ST_ABBR"        "STCNTY"         "COUNTY"         "LOCATION"      
## [21] "AREA_SQMI"      "E_TOTPOP"       "E_HU"           "E_HH"          
## [25] "E_POV150"       "E_UNEMP"        "E_HBURD"        "E_NOHSDP"      
## [29] "E_UNINSUR"      "E_AGE65"        "E_AGE17"        "E_DISABL"      
## [33] "E_SNGPNT"       "E_LIMENG"       "E_MINRTY"       "E_MUNIT"       
## [37] "E_MOBILE"       "E_CROWD"        "E_NOVEH"        "E_GROUPQ"      
## [41] "EP_POV150"      "EP_UNEMP"       "EP_HBURD"       "EP_NOHSDP"     
## [45] "EP_UNINSUR"     "EP_AGE65"       "EP_AGE17"       "EP_DISABL"     
## [49] "EP_SNGPNT"      "EP_LIMENG"      "EP_MINRTY"      "EP_MUNIT"      
## [53] "EP_MOBILE"      "EP_CROWD"       "EP_NOVEH"       "EP_GROUPQ"     
## [57] "RPL_THEME1"     "RPL_THEME2"     "RPL_THEME3"     "RPL_THEME4"    
## [61] "RPL_THEMES"     "F_POV150"       "F_TOTAL"        "rank"

study area 2

##  [1] "X"              "Y"              "srtype"         "methodreceived"
##  [5] "createddate"    "srstatus"       "statusdate"     "closedate"     
##  [9] "agency"         "outcome"        "address"        "neighborhood"  
## [13] "geometry"       "GEOID"          "ST"             "STATE"         
## [17] "ST_ABBR"        "STCNTY"         "COUNTY"         "LOCATION"      
## [21] "AREA_SQMI"      "E_TOTPOP"       "E_HU"           "E_HH"          
## [25] "E_POV150"       "E_UNEMP"        "E_HBURD"        "E_NOHSDP"      
## [29] "E_UNINSUR"      "E_AGE65"        "E_AGE17"        "E_DISABL"      
## [33] "E_SNGPNT"       "E_LIMENG"       "E_MINRTY"       "E_MUNIT"       
## [37] "E_MOBILE"       "E_CROWD"        "E_NOVEH"        "E_GROUPQ"      
## [41] "EP_POV150"      "EP_UNEMP"       "EP_HBURD"       "EP_NOHSDP"     
## [45] "EP_UNINSUR"     "EP_AGE65"       "EP_AGE17"       "EP_DISABL"     
## [49] "EP_SNGPNT"      "EP_LIMENG"      "EP_MINRTY"      "EP_MUNIT"      
## [53] "EP_MOBILE"      "EP_CROWD"       "EP_NOVEH"       "EP_GROUPQ"     
## [57] "RPL_THEME1"     "RPL_THEME2"     "RPL_THEME3"     "RPL_THEME4"    
## [61] "RPL_THEMES"     "F_POV150"       "F_TOTAL"        "rank"

SVI Plots

Racial & Ethnic Minority Status

study area 1

In this section I am plotting minority status with Poverty to see the association and its difference between the two areas.

The minority population is higher in this area. We can see the effect of HOLC zoning still persistent.

study area 2

The minority population is lesser in this area compared to study area 1. This shows how social structures once it gets specialized, it perpetuates the status-quo. We can also see how socio-economic status closely resembles the minority status. In study area one economic status and income is highly correlated.

Regression

Association of minority status and architecture quality

As a second step after investigating scoio-economic status and race, we move to test the association of infrastructure.

As my independent variable, I’m choosing, minority status from SVI data and for dependent variable im choosing the rate of housing architecture problems. This based of off historic housing segregation that happened in the city. Additionally we explored earlier the association of poverty and minority, and found there might be an association. On this hypothesis that the segregation might have affected the building issue, we run regression analysis on the two study areas.

Study Area 1

## [1] 59

Now i have the frequency of housing problems, however I have to standardize based on population. Since more people means more calls. For that i need to pull population data from ACS census data.

## [1] 59  3
## Simple feature collection with 59 features and 6 fields
## Geometry type: MULTIPOLYGON
## Dimension:     XY
## Bounding box:  xmin: -76.70413 ymin: 39.26819 xmax: -76.59642 ymax: 39.33104
## Geodetic CRS:  NAD83
## First 10 features:
##          GEOID Frequency                       geometry  Pop      Den
## 1  24510040100       288 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.61434 3... 5051 5.701841
## 2  24510040200        20 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.62213 3...  984 2.032520
## 3  24510110100       120 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.61135 3... 3177 3.777148
## 4  24510110200       227 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.61465 3... 5968 3.803619
## 5  24510120500       116 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.6082 39... 2190 5.296804
## 6  24510130100        73 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.63021 3... 2558 2.853792
## 7  24510130200        75 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.62327 3... 2751 2.726281
## 8  24510130300       142 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.6403 39... 2222 6.390639
## 9  24510130400        83 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.64053 3... 2171 3.823123
## 10 24510140100        70 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.62035 3... 4455 1.571268
##    MinorityPER Poverty
## 1         56.2    21.1
## 2         66.6    56.0
## 3         37.7    23.0
## 4         48.8    21.8
## 5         66.3    28.8
## 6         90.9    33.1
## 7         80.6    20.8
## 8         93.4    28.5
## 9         94.7    41.7
## 10        48.7    19.1

Using log transformation to combat the skewness

## [1] "GEOID"           "Frequency"       "geometry"        "Pop"            
## [5] "Den"             "MinorityPER"     "Poverty"         "MinorityPER_log"
Final Model of Study area 1

## 
## Call:
## lm(formula = Den ~ MinorityPER_log, data = frequency_SA1_sf, 
##     na.action = "na.exclude")
## 
## Coefficients:
##     (Intercept)  MinorityPER_log  
##         -0.8979           1.3571

ArchIssue = -0.8979 + 1.3571 * (MinorityPER_log)

## 
## Call:
## lm(formula = Den ~ MinorityPER_log, data = frequency_SA1_sf, 
##     na.action = "na.exclude")
## 
## Residuals:
##     Min      1Q  Median      3Q     Max 
## -3.1742 -1.1329  0.0518  1.1320  4.5383 
## 
## Coefficients:
##                 Estimate Std. Error t value Pr(>|t|)  
## (Intercept)      -0.8979     2.5263  -0.355   0.7236  
## MinorityPER_log   1.3571     0.5791   2.343   0.0226 *
## ---
## Signif. codes:  0 '***' 0.001 '**' 0.01 '*' 0.05 '.' 0.1 ' ' 1
## 
## Residual standard error: 1.939 on 57 degrees of freedom
## Multiple R-squared:  0.08786,    Adjusted R-squared:  0.07186 
## F-statistic: 5.491 on 1 and 57 DF,  p-value: 0.02263

If the model is truly independent the plot shall show complete spatial randomness. We can use Moran’s statistic to check what is probability of the plot being clustered. Therefore the plot shall not exhibit spatial autocorrelation.

Study Area 2

## [1] 44

Now i have the frequency of housing problems, however I have to standardize based on population. Since more people means more calls. For that i need to pull population data from ACS census data.

## [1] 44  3
## Simple feature collection with 44 features and 6 fields
## Geometry type: MULTIPOLYGON
## Dimension:     XY
## Bounding box:  xmin: -76.61002 ymin: 39.30014 xmax: -76.52945 ymax: 39.3722
## Geodetic CRS:  NAD83
## First 10 features:
##          GEOID Frequency                       geometry  Pop       Den
## 1  24510080101       177 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.56754 3... 3869  4.574826
## 2  24510080102       164 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.57173 3... 2159  7.596109
## 3  24510090100       179 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.60021 3... 3758  4.763172
## 4  24510090200        84 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.57695 3... 2756  3.047896
## 5  24510090300       119 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.59544 3... 4476  2.658624
## 6  24510090400        65 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.60581 3... 1520  4.276316
## 7  24510090500        78 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.59514 3... 1747  4.464797
## 8  24510090600       141 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.58457 3... 3010  4.684385
## 9  24510090700       229 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.59066 3... 2950  7.762712
## 10 24510090800       370 MULTIPOLYGON (((-76.60581 3... 2709 13.658176
##    MinorityPER Poverty
## 1         70.2    21.9
## 2         97.7    58.6
## 3         88.1    26.5
## 4         84.7     9.6
## 5         81.4    33.6
## 6         93.8    38.8
## 7         83.0    41.5
## 8         91.4    35.0
## 9         99.3    51.4
## 10        96.5    44.9

Using log trasformartion to combact the skewness

Final Model of Study area 2

## 
## Call:
## lm(formula = Den ~ MinorityPER_log, data = frequency_SA2_sf, 
##     na.action = "na.exclude")
## 
## Coefficients:
##     (Intercept)  MinorityPER_log  
##          -3.854            1.659

ArchIssue = -3.854 + 1.659 * (MinorityPER_log)

## 
## Call:
## lm(formula = Den ~ MinorityPER_log, data = frequency_SA2_sf, 
##     na.action = "na.exclude")
## 
## Residuals:
##     Min      1Q  Median      3Q     Max 
## -2.6753 -0.8861 -0.4654  0.6935  9.9304 
## 
## Coefficients:
##                 Estimate Std. Error t value Pr(>|t|)
## (Intercept)       -3.854      7.177  -0.537    0.594
## MinorityPER_log    1.659      1.632   1.017    0.315
## 
## Residual standard error: 2.113 on 42 degrees of freedom
## Multiple R-squared:  0.02402,    Adjusted R-squared:  0.0007858 
## F-statistic: 1.034 on 1 and 42 DF,  p-value: 0.3151

Conclusion

As we can see from the analysis, study area 1, in the area HOLC zone Red-Yellow, which has historically segregated and has been subject to disinvestment, has shown higher correlation (r =.07) compared to the other neighborhood in HOLC zone Blue. It is interesting to see that the p value on study area 2 is .31 meaning the effect of race is insignificant. Similar there is visual association socio-economic status and race prevalent in the mapping. This shows how in unjust housing policies that ended in the 20th century still haunts the city. In order reverse these legacies of the past, the requires tract specific housing policies.

References

Grant, Torie L., and Robert A. Wood. 2022. “The Influence of Urban Exposures and Residence on Childhood Asthma.” Pediatric Allergy and Immunology 33 (5). https://doi.org/10.1111/pai.13784.
Read, Colin. 1991. “Maintenance, Housing Quality, and Vacancies Under Imperfect Information.” Real Estate Economics 19 (2): 138–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6229.00546.
Roth, Jeffrey J. 2019. “Empty Homes and Acquisitive Crime: Does Vacancy Type Matter?” American Journal of Criminal Justice 44 (5): 770–87. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-019-9469-7.
Sadler, Dr Richard C., Dr Usama Bilal, and Dr C. Debra Furr-Holden. 2021. “Linking Historical Discriminatory Housing Patterns to the Contemporary Food Environment in Baltimore.” Spatial and Spatio-Temporal Epidemiology 36 (February): 100387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sste.2020.100387.

  1. https://311services.baltimorecity.gov/↩︎

  2. https://blogs.library.jhu.edu/2017/09/the-baltimore-redlining-map-ranking-neighborhoods/↩︎

  3. https://data.baltimorecity.gov/search?collection=Dataset&q=311↩︎

  4. https://311services.baltimorecity.gov/↩︎

  5. https://app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrIjoiNjQ1ZDAwNDAtYTNmMy00OTVmLTg3NWMtM2NlYzgxNDQ5ODAwIiwidCI6IjMxMmNiMTI2LWM2YWUtNGZjMi04MDBkLTMxOGU2NzljZTZjNyJ9↩︎