Greenspace Site Selection - Preliminary Analysis
Site Selection
Below, I identify parks owned by Philadelphia Parks & Rec in West Philadelphia, within the five zip codes served by the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative. I attempt to prioritize greenspace in areas that are not currently undergoing gentrification and in areas with fewer resources and affected by poverty. This is a preliminary and exploratory analysis and can be altered quite easily.
Gentrification Metrics
There is a plethora of research on different metrics to identify and predict gentrification, from using US Census data, to credit scores, to Yelp data. Below, I use a few simple metrics to identify priority areas for possible park maintenance by Green City Works. First, I only consider census tracts with median household income less than 75% of the median household income of Philadelphia as a whole.
Metrics:
- Percent change in household income from 2000 to 2016 (lower % change or negative change = higher priority)
- Percent of households that are owner occupied (higher % = higher priority)
- To get at housing duration/tenure of residence, median move-in dates (less recent = higher priority)
I weighted the above three metrics equally. They are somewhat arbitrary, but should give a rough idea of spatial economic distribution.
While most census tracts experienced income increases from 2000 to 2016, some experienced decreases in median household income. This is not necessarily telling on its own.
Below are the results of this exploratory analysis. Gray areas on the map represent census tracts with median household income greater than 75% of Philadelphia median household income; these census tracts were excluded from consideration. Lighter blue census tracts represent higher priority areas (lower % income change or income decreases, longer residence duration, and higher proportion of owner-occupied homes). Parks are overlaid on top of the priority areas. The numbers on the legend represent a unitless index.
| park | score |
|---|---|
| Christy Recreation Center | 2.4407806 |
| Sherwood Park | 2.4407806 |
| Carroll Park | 2.4310821 |
| Myers Recreation Center | 2.2763584 |
| Conestoga Playground | 2.2401009 |
| Shepard Recreation Center | 2.1191487 |
| West Mill Creek | 1.9695823 |
| Southern Grounds HQs | 1.9695823 |
| 47th & Grays Ferry Park | 1.8586985 |
| 48th & Woodland Playground | 1.8586985 |
| Kingsessing Recreation Center | 1.8586985 |
| Miles Mack Playground | 1.8484694 |
| 39th & Olive Playground | 1.8484694 |
| 37th & Mt Vernon Playground | 1.8484694 |
| Nichols Park | 1.7801305 |
| Horton Street Play Lot | 1.7660971 |
| Clayborn & Lewis Playground | 1.6809028 |
| Bartram’s Garden | 1.4770589 |
| Deritis Playground | 1.4770589 |
| Bartram’s Mile | 1.4770589 |
| Bartram’s South | 1.4770589 |
| Clara Muhammad Square | 1.4521846 |
| Mill Creek Playground | 1.4521846 |
| Lee Cultural Center | 1.3688560 |
| Belmont School Playground | 1.0633119 |
| 33rd & Wallace Playground | 0.8692106 |
| Wright Recreation Center | 0.8692106 |
| Mantua Community Garden | 0.8692106 |