Month: May 2024

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Week 7 – Redlining and Interpolation

  1. What patterns do you see between mortgage companies and locations that supplied lendeesin Philadelphia?

Here, the total number of mortgages are shown shaded in black. More darkly shaded areas are the ones in which the most mortgages were offered. Berean Savings and Loan Association, a black-owned company, is shown in green. This company’s mortgages were concentrated in areas marked to be high-risk. Metropolitan Life, shown in red, was not a black-owned company. It also sold most of its mortgages in high-risk areas, but the correlation is not quite as dramatic.

    2. Which regions had the highest interest rates?

    In this map, high interest rates are shown in dark orange. They line up almost exactly with the areas marked as the most high-risk for lenders.

    3. What indication do you see (if any) that HOLC maps caused redlining (as opposed to
    mapping preexisting discrimination)?

    Here, the percentage of black people living in each neighborhood is represented as a cloropleth map underneath the interest rate layer, with the highest percentages of black residents in purple. Some of the districts the HOLC marked as high risk were in places with few black residents, but the HOCL marked all places with a high percentage of black residents as high-risk. This suggests that while race wasn’t the only factor that caused districts to be marked high-risk, it definitely was a factor.

    4. What additional data layers do you think might supply evidence of discriminatory housing policy/segregated urban development that you don’t have access to in this exercise?

    I’m not very familiar with the intricacies of redlining and honestly, I barely know what a mortgage is, so I don’t think I’m very equipped to identify what data I might be missing. That being said, I think it’d be interesting to be able to see how much money these companies made from collecting interest in different areas. That would help to determine the motivation for their lending patterns and show how much high interest rates affected the likelihood of people taking out loans.

    5. Create one clear, legible map that you think best demonstrates the most compelling
    visualization of redlining in Philadelphia.

    I think that the layer showing interest rates is a very important piece of evidence, but after trying a few different things, I wasn’t able to make it look comprehensible. It looks fine on its own, but when you add any other layer to the same map, it becomes very hard to tell what’s going on.

    My second idea was to show the percentage of black residents in each neighborhood over the HOLC map, but QGIS wasn’t letting me change the opacity of the polygon layers for some reason, so I’ve settled for making the georeferenced HOLC map transparent. It doesn’t look very good, but it does display the same information: neighborhood with a high percentage of black people were always marked as high-risk. The best I could do for readability was get rid of the basemap.

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    Stage 6- Marie Amelse to Evan Murphy

    This storymap was on futbol/soccer stadiums in the United States and how different things impact their creation and continued use. The story map not only explains the locations of the stadiums but also different leagues that have existed in the country, and still do today such as the MLS, NSWL, and the USL. The map also included how these different leagues also would share geographical spaces, or in other cases be more spread out. In addition the story map explains United States culture around futbol but also how it fits into futbol culture around the world.

    The use of several different maps to show physical location, change over time, and comparison was one of this maps strengths. In addition the way in which the story map told the story was a large assets The story of culture intertwined with organization is something that can not always be told linearly, but this story map did a great job of including enough information in the right sections, in a way that was not overwhelming. Another thing that was very impressive about this map was the use of different medias- images, timelines, even a video.

    This map had many strengths and I felt it was a very effective story map, my only critique is that it might have been beneficial to use different types of maps, along with the maps that showed the physical locations of the stadiums. I enjoyed how culture was tied into so it might have been interesting to have seen a map to represent that in some way.

    This story map is an excellent example of how storytelling and maps can work well in complimenting each other to show a more complete story.

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    Week 9 – Intro to ArcGIS Online

    Here are my maps. The higher the percentage of land cultivated, the darker yellow the counties appear.

    1880
    1900
    1940

    The increasing amount of land developed into farmland is definitely visually apparent. Generally, farmland spread to the west, but the areas with the very highest proportion of developed land stay more or less the same. Dark yellow is mostly concentrated in eastern Kansas in all three maps. Although westward expansion and the construction of irrigation infrastructure allowed crops to be grown farther west, the best farmland remained in the northeast.

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    Gabe Murphy: Stage 6 – Review of Sam Ellerbeck

    In the maps provided, and the project as a whole, Sam showed the history of redlining practices, medical facilities, and the ties to racial inequality. He even discussed the implications it had on COVID-19, which I thought was a great touch. Overall, Sam’s argument can be summed in one quote: “In Omaha, medical deserts are appearing in the areas in which redlining was once practiced – the locations of marginalized minority communities who have been disadvantaged by historically structured racial discrimination.”

    There were many approaches, from differing points of view, and the mapping products themselves were great. In particular, I thought the 30-minute Walk was a great use of technology to highlight the medical desert that northern and southern Omaha are. To begin, who would want to walk 30 minutes to a hospital when you need to see a doctor? In many cases, that walk may even be impossible. Secondly, I estimate ~60% of the map’s area is not within a 30-minute walk of the nearest hospital. Without access to a car, how in the world may people get the treatment they need? This is a real issue that needs serious change. Another strength I noticed was acknowledging the opposing side of the argument, and providing evidence for why that side was incorrect. Instead of ignoring opposing viewpoints, they were acknowledged and proven wrong: great. I also really appreciated the different styles of mapping Sam used for the project: choropleth, dot-vectors, geo-referencing historical maps. In my project, I used the text more to argue my point; but Sam’s use of mapping as one of the primary sources for evidence made it easy to see his argument. 

    Going back to the 30-minute Walk map, I think color-correlation would be something that could be changed. Many of the hospitals and 30-minute radius overlapped, so using different colors that each radius could correspond to the hospital point would make the overall viewing/analysis of the map much easier for the reader. My only other critique would be along the lines of color again: keeping a consistent theme. Some maps have orange, some have blue, some have red, some have yellow. That may be nit-picky, but I like to have a consistent feel and the different colors seemed a little jarring to me.

    Great project overall! The use of maps was outstanding.

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    Stage 6 – Peer Review for Marie Amelse

    I really liked your project. The lenses of civic virtue and labor were interesting and fitting ways to examine the construction of the capital building. I think you did a great job of integrating those themes throughout the project, but I think it would have been even more effective if you included more analysis of the labor, materials, and ideologies involved in the building’s construction. I don’t have any criticisms of the map, itself; it was great! Your symbology choices were good. The light gray background made sure that the blue markers for the points of interest were eye-catching, and the spatial relationship between the quarries and the building was evident even at a quick glance. There wasn’t any extra information to clutter the map and make it harder to tell what it was arguing.

    You make a lot of mentions of the budget throughout the project. The numbers do a fine job of communicating how many resources were allocated to construction, but I think it would be cool if you had some sort of graph that showed how much money went to each thing. That would make it easy to compare and contrast the budget for the statues, the materials, and the construction.

    Another thing I liked was the layout of the page. Having the first few paragraphs be linear and the rest of the text scroll on the side made your project visually interesting. I didn’t know you could combine structures like that. Lastly, I loved that you used an image for the cornerstone ceremony. I would have assumed it wasn’t that big a deal if not for the picture of the crowds. Showing how many people attended really drove home the magnitude of the event.

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    Madeline King, Stage 6 – Review of Erin Buglewicz Final Project

    Erin’s project details the water contamination of Hinkley, California with Chromium-6 and how this contamination has continued to affect residents in many aspects of their lives. Erin begins her paper with an introduction to her question and information regarding the methods she used to gather data and information. She then continues her project with the introduction of the 1996 lawsuit that brought Hinkley, California to the forefront of news. Residents of Hinkley, California had had alarming health problems ranking from cancer to birth defects, all tied to PG&E’s gas compressor station. The remainder of Erin’s paper explains what Chromium-6 is and how this was related to PG&E, how the problem began, and how it has continued. She analyzed health effects, property values, access to education, and population changes.

    I thought that Erin’s project was very visually interesting to look at. She added a lot of elements in her project that engaged her reader. She had side bars, interactive maps, and I especially liked that touch of adding in the audio recording of news. I thought this really helped the reader take away the human aspect of this project. I also appreciated how informative Erin’s project was. I felt like I got a good understanding of the problem as it first existed as well as how it continues to be a problem for residents in Hinkley today. I thought Erin’s maps worn informative and they made the information being presented easy to understand.

    The main critique I had for Erin’s paper was organization. I felt as though there was some jumping around between topics and years. For example, the legal case is brought up several times throughout, but I think it could have been all one section. I also thought that information about Hinkley, such as median home value, property value, and population could have been organized more directly with each other, while information about Chromium-6, the plump, and PG&E could have been organized more directly with each other.

    Overall, I really enjoyed this project.

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    Stage 6- Criticism of Samuel Duncan Project

    . The project by Sam Duncan is focused on the population shift between East and West Germany before the fall of the Soviet Union. Sam’s achieved this by looking at the population shifts in West Germany (due to missing data in East Germany) and researching census data from individual states in West Germany. The author’s hope is that this project will contribute to the wider study of human mass migration and proof that the collapse of the Berlin Wall and Soviet Union were the greatest events in the 20th century.

    . Same used for his mapping project the tool of QGIS to complete his mapping project. Sam showed comparisons between population density of Germany between 1970 , 1972, and 1980. I found interesting from the maps (as the author noted) that once the tensions between East and West Germany began to decrease the population in East Germany grew. This is particularly clear during the 1980s, with the population of East Germany increasing due to immigration and higher birth rates in the East. The maps are pretty and the data is accurate and shows surprising population trends.

    . While the maps are accurate and I like the inclusion of historical events that impacted the population trends in West Germany. However, the project is somewhat brief in that it would’ve been cool if second-hand quotes were used in the project. For example, quotes from mappers and Professors that have researched this particular topic and what viewpoints they hold over the data. That way there is more of a diverse range of opinions on what the data presents and why… I understand that census data for East Germany is missing/ unavailable especially during the height of the Cold War. However, there is data available of the decline of the Jewish population in East Germany following the holocaust and anti-jewish programs right after ww2. A view sources with this information are the “Jewish Virtual Library” and “the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.”

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    Week 6 – Census Data and Cloropleths

    Cotton
    Corn
    Wheat
    Tobacco
    Sugar

    Just glancing at the maps, it’s easy to see that slave labor correlated strongly with the overall amount of crops harvested in each county. This correlation seems to be the strongest when it comes to cotton. The darkest areas on the cloropleth map line up almost perfectly with the cotton output. But while cotton was the biggest contributor, it’s also evident that the other crops were harvested using slave labor; every county with a high slave population outside of the cotton-growing areas correlates with another crop. For example, tobacco affected populations of enslaved people heavily in the northeast and in central Missouri. Sugar farming accounted for high numbers in southern Louisiana.

    If any of these crops weren’t harvested via slavery, it was wheat. Corn, while certainly not correlated as strongly with populations of enslaved people, does seem to have motivated slavery in northern Kentucky. Wheat doesn’t show a clear pattern, but because the patterns for other crops are so strong, I find it hard to believe that wheat just wasn’t harvested with slave labor. Wheat was mostly harvested further north and west, if I remember correctly. It’s likely that the amount of wheat being grown was just so low that it didn’t contribute significantly to the population of enslaved people.

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    Stage 6: Theresa Borkowski’s review of Leah Keith

    I had the pleasure of reviewing Leah’s final project this semester. Leah’s project was titled, Campus Updates: 1950 – 1980, How Much Do You Know About the History of Your College? I found her deep map to be very impressive and thorough. The map focuses on the updates to Creighton University, specifically looking 20th to 30th street and Cumming Street to the 480 interstate. Leah made sure to give special credentials to the Creighton University Bulletins, which was a handbook that has an updated map every two years beginning in 1950. The Bulletin also documented the development of buildings, parking lots, roadways, and the land that Creighton owned. 

    Leah was able to produce an interactive deep map that tells the story of Creighton University while also giving reference to the people those choices affected and the resources they needed. She ensured that the viewer would be able to understand who the university made the decisions that they did and whom those people would affect. An example of this that Leah gives is the construction of the North Freeway. When this freeway was proposed there was very little collaboration with North Omaha even though that would be whom it primarily effected. North Omaha was not consulted but repeatedly ignored when it came to the demolition of houses, schools, churches, and neighborhoods in preparation for the freeway. Leah references the Aerial Plat Book of Omaha to account for the amount of destruction and construction that was done. 

    Leah also has a separate section of her map labeled Chronology Collection where she has pictures of what Creighton used to look like and the dates oof each photo as well. When looking at these photos one can really begin to tell when the development of Creighton took off and it was a very nice addition. 

    Leah did very well at giving the viewer an overall look into the campus. The map takes you through time but also through a story because you are able to see and read about the progression of the campus. The only thing I would have enjoyed more of would be the mention of architecture. While this might not have been the route that Leah was going for, I think it could have been an interesting direction to take. Even now we can see all of the changing buildings going from old brick to newer sleek buildings with its of windows and sharp edges. It could be an interesting feature to add!

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    Stage 6- Hank Salsbury review of Ella Callon’s story map

    Ella’s story map looks over the history and development of St. Louis’ Forest Park and the significance of the 1904 World’s Fair held in Forest Park. I already knew a bit about the 1904 World’s Fair from Dr. Averett’s class on St. Louis but this piece revolving more around the history and layout of the park alone was incredibly interesting. The map shows a recreation of the original layout of the exhibits and stages of the 1904 World’s Fair that was themed around the hundredth anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase.

    The story map does a great job of showing the reconstruction of the park and how it was transformed into the fairgrounds, as well as showing and explaining a lot of the main attractions of the fair. Along with detailed historical commentary, the visuals of the story map and the maps themselves were pleasing all following a red yellow, and cream theme. The entire presentation was easy on the idea and easy to read which was a massive plus.

    I think it was smart how you waited to introduce the racial hierarchy theme of the fair to show that the fair was not some glittering festival, but something that attempted to glorify white, Western culture and paint other groups as primitive.

    The one large thing I would toggle is the zoom of the map because without really interacting with the map the viewer wouldn’t be able to figure out what each building was. Once I zoomed in, again, I thought the map was amazing. I also think it would have helped if you did certain spotlights on buildings or exhibits to really magnify their role in the fair and maybe also add some personal accounts from fair goers to add to the uniqueness.

    Overall I thought this was a really good project and I enjoyed learning about a city and an event that I tend to not think about.

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