Abstract

Mapping Opportunity Areas for Chicago's Public Housing Residents
Track: Urban and Regional Planning
Authors: Keith Searles

As part of the Chicago Housing Authority's (CHA) "Plan for Transformation," ArcGIS Spatial Analyst and ArcGIS Online were used to identify and visualize "Opportunity Areas" - targeted geographic areas recommended to CHA families in an effort to move them out of communities with high concentrations of poverty. A unique public-private partnership was assembled to identify diverse areas with ample community assets and quality housing choices. Rather than compiling the datasets into spreadsheets and creating queries with rigid parameters, Spatial Analyst was used to index the chosen variables, thereby placing them on a common and continuous scale. Although non-traditional, converting socio-demographic data to rasters to perform a site suitability analysis helped the CHA rank census tracts in Chicago, allowing it to see a range of possibilities for their residents. Residents can view the results using a mapping application created with ArcGIS Online, embedded on the CHA website.