Obesity Prevalence and Corner Stores in Detroit

I remembered that the CDC completed a Youth Risk Behavior Survey in Detroit and reported that 19% of High School students were obese. I figured that I could estimate how many and where these students were based on the 2011 American Community Survey (ACS) data on public High School enrollment. 

The data maps fairly closely with population density, but there is enough of a variation to make it worthwhile as a starting point to examine the interactions between social and environmental factors.

I added corner stores to the map to demonstrate the prevalence of these food locations in relation to obesity among High School students. 

Volcanoes, Cities, and Population in Oregon

I made this not so beautiful map in my summer GIS class. I was ahead of my class in understanding ArcGIS basics, so I threw together these datasets. 

Interestingly, population and cities are focused around the port city of Portland and you can see how the geographic line of volcanoes and accompanying mountains keeps higher population density on the left side of the state. 

Michigan Bicycle Advocacy Infographic

I was approached by the League of Michigan Bicyclists (LMB) to put together an infographic of Michigan bicycle data to highlight areas where Michigan leads the nation where bicycles are concerned. 

The infographic will be used during the 2013 Bicycle Advocacy Day when talking with Legislators about vulnerable roadway users, safe passing for bicyclists on roads, and funding for bicycle-related projects.

Amtrak From Detroit to Chicago & Back

During a recent family train trip to Chicago I wanted to keep track of our progress to see how much the train gets delayed. It turns out not really that much. The longest wait time was 7min and we never arrived more than 15min late going either way.

The return trip was much quicker because there were less people to pick up and we even skipped over a few stops because there was no one getting off or on.

Wayne County Population Cartogram

Inspired by the style of William Bunge, I put together this cartogram to get an idea of how population is weighted in Wayne County knowing that the suburbs to the west have significantly higher median incomes.

Every New Tomorrow is the Future

My wife said this around new year’s 2013 and it sounded so inspiring. I googled it and no one else had been quoted saying it yet, so here it is. I had her write out the alphabet and made her own font.

Map Your Detroit

Inspired by Mapping Manhattan and wanting to get more community members involved in mapping their own city, DETROITography is hoping to share print copies of this map template across the city - in schools, churches, and community centers to let people map their own favorite places, memories, or visions for Detroit.

I’m putting all my Detroit maps in one place and hoping to bring together the Detroit cartographic, geographic, and planning peoples.

DETROITography

How does Detroit stack up? Debt and bankruptcy in U.S. Municipalities

Map of Bicycle City, Detroit

I’ve noticed a larger amount of articles talking about Detroit becoming a bicycle city. Beyond the influx of young people and hipsters, I see many Detroit residents outside of the Midtown/Downtown areas using their bicycles to get around the city. Where there is an inadequate transportation system and personal cars potentially add to economic hardship, bicycles are fairly prevalent.

It’s unclear how many people actually use bicycles as their primary mode of transportation, but there is definitely a strong history of bicycles in Detroit. Dodge first made bicycles and Ford made his first “car,” the quadricycle out of bicycle parts.

@DaveAtBicycling: Bruce Katz of @brookingsinst says bike manufacturer’s presence in downtown Detroit is “the future of America.” #nbs13

BCBSM Deal is Bad for Michiganders

Developed for MICHUHCAN as part of their efforts to keep insurance companies accountable. In this case I hope the infographic explains the issues of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, which was established with the State of Michigan to be the insurer open for all the people of Michigan.

Detroit Average Rent Price Per Month by Neighborhood

I was really curious about this when my wife and I were apartment searching in Sept. 2012, I recently found the data from Zillow and decided to put it together. Zillow updates their data each week, so this is from data accessed on 18 Feb 2013. 

MICHUHCAN’s “Medicaid Matters for Michigan” campaign had a successful push to get the Governor’s support of Medicaid Expansion, but now the big hurdle is the Michigan Legislature.

I worked with the staff and Board to develop this graphic to demonstrate the next steps and encourage people to contact their representatives.

Used by:

• MICHUHCAN
• Expand Medicaid Coalition
• Michigan Hospitals Association
• Michigan Consumers for Healthcare