Pittsburgh Revitalization map (Wilkinsburg, Braddock, Liberty: apartment, how much, home)

[airwave09]

Here is a map I made of Pittsburgh based on Stable, in flux, and declining areas. This should be a helpful guide to those who are new to or just unfamiliar with the city and would like to have a pretty good idea of what to expect when moving to a new address.

The colored fields are supposed to represent what I believe is the current trajectory of the neighborhoods that they encompass. I also included the nicer inner ring burbs as well. Since I am not by any means an expert, I am open to adjusting the boundaries or changing the colors of regions with some feedback here. So what do you guys think??


Pittsburgh Revitalization - Google Maps


Edit: I put a decent amount of work into this map when I was bored at work, so in the areas that I am familiar with the boundaries should be accurate down to the street.

[ferraris]

It seems like you're trying to measure two things at once, how nice/safe a neighborhood is, and how much and in which direction the neighborhood is changing (if at all). I think you need to either add more categories to provide for enough granularity to measure both of those things, or just pick one or the other to look at. And you're also differentiating between suburbs and city proper, which seems unnecessary for this purpose.

For example, the Mexican War Streets and Lawrenceville are rapidly improving, while Morningside and Stanton Heights are holding steady for the most part. Even if they are all considered to be equally as nice right now (they are all orange on your map), I think it's important to indicate which neighborhoods are currently experiencing a revitalization.

As for the actual borders, it seems like a good guide to me. I would extend the orange areas a block or two in from Penn Ave in Garfield and E. Liberty. The only other striking thing is how you have Regent Square marked, I don't know that any of Regent Square proper should belong in the orange category.

All in all, good work

[BrianTH]

Using the "change in median home value" map available through this tool would probably help fill in this project:

Mapping America ? Census Bureau 2005-9 American Community Survey - NYTimes.com

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

It seems like you're trying to measure two things at once, how nice/safe a neighborhood is, and how much and in which direction the neighborhood is changing (if at all). I think you need to either add more categories to provide for enough granularity to measure both of those things, or just pick one or the other to look at. And you're also differentiating between suburbs and city proper, which seems unnecessary for this purpose.

Yep, I was trying to do many things at once here obviously with varying degrees of success. I will try to simplify it down a bit and get rid of the burbs.

For example, the Mexican War Streets and Lawrenceville are rapidly improving, while Morningside and Stanton Heights are holding steady for the most part. Even if they are all considered to be equally as nice right now (they are all orange on your map), I think it's important to indicate which neighborhoods are currently experiencing a revitalization.

That's a good point, I think I can differentiate places like morningside from lawrenceville if I add another category. Those areas are not on the same trajectory, yet they can't be just relegated into a green or red region just yet either.

As for the actual borders, it seems like a good guide to me. I would extend the orange areas a block or two in from Penn Ave in Garfield and E. Liberty. The only other striking thing is how you have Regent Square marked, I don't know that any of Regent Square proper should belong in the orange category.

Yeah, for that I just went by the city boundaries. From all of the people that live in Regent square and post here frequently, I always hear that Regent square city side is like Squirrel Hill, and wilkinsburg side is in flux. So if anyone that lives there would like to correct me on the boundaries, I would appreciate it.

All in all, good work

Thanks!

[SammyKhalifa]

Haha, the deck in the back of my apartment is the border between green and gray. I knew crazy things were going on out there when I wasn't looking.

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Using the "change in median home value" map available through this tool would probably help fill in this project:

Mapping America ? Census Bureau 2005-9 American Community Survey - NYTimes.com

Great source there, I will investigate later. So do you have any corrections for the regent square area Brian?

P.S. I fixed the map per the suggestions so far. I added a category for rapidly gentrifying/transitional areas. Orange is now for stable/stagnant and red is just declining. I think this version is much more informative.

[ferraris]

I wasn't suggesting you totally get rid of the suburbs, just that they don't need their own separate color scheme for this purpose. It really only matters for taxes and schools.

The Pittsburgh portion of Regent Square extends a little East of Braddock Avenue, and even parts of the Wilkinsburg section are nice enough to be "Green" in my opinion, maybe even all of it, I'm not sure of the exact boundaries.

[airwave09]

I will probably add the suburbs at some point, but I think its easier to understand if I stick to just the city for now.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by airwave09

So do you have any corrections for the regent square area Brian?

If it were me I would put everything south of Forbes/Union/Biddle into the green category.

[stburr91]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

If it were me I would put everything south of Forbes/Union/Biddle into the green category.

I completely agree with Brian on this.