Alex B. Hill

Good isn’t Good just because it’s Good

Sat, 25 May 2013 01:35:07 -0400

Good isn’t Good just because it’s Good

Obesity Prevalence and Corner Stores in Detroit I remembered...

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:25:00 -0400

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...

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:56:00 -0400

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...

Thu, 09 May 2013 16:07:09 -0400

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...

Wed, 08 May 2013 08:00:00 -0400

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...

Wed, 01 May 2013 08:07:01 -0400

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...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 07:41:26 -0400

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.

Groceries, Homicide, Health and Population Density I’ve...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:42:30 -0400

Groceries, Homicide, Health and Population Density

I’ve been interested in how Detroit’s population has shifted over the years. From its founding on the Detroit river banks to movement outward with New Center and the suburbs, poorest populations concentrated in Cass Cooridor, and now to population growth Downtown.

These are maps of certain topics over a layer of population density from the 2010 Census.

Detroit Food Map Building off of the sample logo that I made...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:22:25 -0400

Detroit Food Map

Building off of the sample logo that I made bidding for the Detroit Food Policy Council’s logo and web design, I repurposed the logo to fit my ongoing research project.

I built the site working off of a template theme and embedded a navigable Mapbox map.

http://detroitfoodmap.com

@detroitfoodmap

Map Your Detroit Inspired by Mapping Manhattan and wanting to...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 20:04:00 -0400

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...

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 23:02:00 -0400

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....

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:39:35 -0400

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

Map of Bicycle City, Detroit I’ve noticed a larger amount...

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 08:06:30 -0500

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...

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:09:32 -0500

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...

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:49:00 -0500

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”...

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:27:00 -0500

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

Rainbow Superheroes! Flash, Aquaman, Wolverine, Green Lantern,...

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:29:00 -0500

Rainbow Superheroes!

Flash, Aquaman, Wolverine, Green Lantern, Captain America, Galactus, Batman, Frozone

Hmmm … indigo?

Live Enhanced: I used to wear a Live Strong wristband in high...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 09:06:35 -0500

Live Enhanced:

I used to wear a Live Strong wristband in high school and watch Lance Armstrong’s incredible rides in the Tour de France. In college, I still watched him, but in the back of my head knew it wasn’t really possible for the human body to accomplish what he was doing.

I know there are other athletes who use performance enhancement as a means to succeed and that there are countless others behind the scenes who help them do it.

Maybe we need to enter a new era where there is an “enhanced” sports category for athletes. There will be the “enhanced” baseball series, “enhanced” swim meets, and even the “enhanced” Olympics.

Lance Armstrong’s story is a good reminder that winning isn’t everything and that if you win without your values, then what is it worth.

Map of Petition Signatures for Medicaid Expansion in Michigan I...

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:06:00 -0500

Map of Petition Signatures for Medicaid Expansion in Michigan

I made this map based on the zipcodes of individuals who signed our petition on Change.org asking Governor Snyder to expand Medicaid health coverage (Medicaid Matters for Michigan). The Largest areas are easy to see Ann Arbor, Detroit (and Metro Detroit), Lansing, and Grand Rapids. The odd Michigan outline is from my family density mapping.

These areas also correlate with Michigan’s largest population densities, but it is still awesome to see that our efforts covered nearly the entire state.

Medicaid Matters for Michigan Medicaid expansion as part of the...

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:00:00 -0500

Medicaid Matters for Michigan

Medicaid expansion as part of the Affordable Care Act has been a hot button issue. In less than 24 hours, about a month ago, MICHUHCAN asked me to turn out a clean looking campaign to pressure Governor Rick Snyder to fully support Medicaid expansion and cover 46% of uninsured Michiganders.

The tumblr campaign site that I launched received over 1013 views, the petition I started on Change.org garnered over 2,500 signatures, and the Ryan Gosling meme that I made was shared across the inter webs (viral) in by Medicaid expansion campaigns in 5 other states as well as nationally by FamiliesUSA, a major health advocacy organization - all this in a span of 30 days!

4,500 petition signatures as well as stories of need were delivered to Governor Snyder’s staff on Feb 4th, 2013. Snyder attended a press conference on Feb 6th, 2013 to announce he fully supported Medicaid expansion in Michigan.