Where did we get the data?

This map was developed by the Research & Analytics Group of the Atlanta Regional Commission, using data from U.S. Census: County Business Patterns to show number and density of business establishments and payroll data, for 2005-2015, by zip code in the Atlanta region. This map gather data on several types of businesses but we choose to observe only the proportion of small businesses in the area. By focusing on small businesses we stay coherent with the previous work that has been done and with the expectations from the CAP. 

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The Implications 

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This map depicts which areas in Downtown Atlanta have the highest percentage of Small Business given out between 2005 and 2015 . This is useful as it shows the historical trends of small business percentage.

Why this Map Matters 

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There are many key benefits to small business presence, one of those being the fact that areas with small businesses have a stronger community identity which is one of the key factors listed in CAP’s Downtown Master Plan as something the citizens of Atlanta truly value. There are also environmental benefits associated with small business. Small businesses help facilitate walkable downtowns therefore decreases Co2 emissions for driving and traffic congestions. Lastly they also increase competition and employment which plays a major role in bettering Downtown Atlanta’s equity factor. 

Considering how the existence of small businesses in an area affect the different sustainability factors in our report it seemed coherent to emphasize on their actual proportion among all businesses. Our report will be used by a certain audience who might be very sensible to the small business evolution in Downtown. We want our report to directly speak to the people who are affected about our results and who should benefit from it. Thus, it could be used by downtown customers, business owners, and inhabitants. 

Possible Combinations with other Maps 

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Among the maps we have in the report the one features we were looking for was also the possibility for us to overlap them. The small businesses by Zip Code one can be easily used with the Commercial Electricity map to see if these small businesses affect the electric consumption in the area.

Where did we get the data? 

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The following map was built by the by the Research & Analytics Group of the Atlanta Regional Commission. To develop such map this team was using data from Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). 

This map can show total amount and number of small business loans, by loan size, for 2014, by census tract in the Atlanta region. The fact that this map is divided by census tract help us to have a precise overview of the economic small business development in Downtown. 

The Implications 

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This type of map is really useful in our study because we can assess through an economic lense the development of the downtown neighborhood. With this map we emphasize this economic development on the small businesses located in the area. In our vulnerability assessment report constitute important indicators of economic well-being in this zone. This map depicts which areas in Downtown Atlanta have the highest percentage of Small Business Loans given out in 2014.

Why this Map Matters 

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There are many key benefits to small business investment, one of those being the fact that areas with small businesses have a stronger community identity which is one of the key factors listed in CAP’s Downtown Master Plan as something the citizens of Atlanta truly value. There are also environmental benefits associated with small business investment. Small businesses help facilitate walkable downtowns therefore decreases Co2 emissions for driving and traffic congestions. Lastly they also increase competition and employment which plays a major role in bettering Downtown Atlanta’s equity factor. Consequently this map perfectly fit the logic underlying this vulnerability report. It is also a way to share our research with the audience in Downtown who could benefit directly from our study. These are the small business owners, the downtown customers and the people living in this neighborhood. 

Possible Combinations with other Maps 

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Among the maps we have in the report the one features we were looking for was also the possibility for us to overlap them. The small business loans map can be overlapped with lots of our economic ones top obtain interesting combinations. We can imagine for example to mix this map with the small business percentage per zip code to produce a map showing the actual investment level according to the level of small businesses in the zone. Maybe certain zones are favored for small business investment even if the small business population is lower.

Where did we get the data? 

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This data came from helen_biz using feature services of publicly sourced data from ArcGIS Online. The maps created from the data used the WGS_1984_Web_Mercator_Auxillary_Sphere Projected Coordinate System and the GCS_WGS_1984. It is survey data taken from multiple restaurants in the downtown area in 2017.

The Implications 

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We are using this data as a proxy from economic development in the sense that we are able to get a better idea of the money flows going in and out of the local economy based on restaurants foot traffic in these areas. The key variables we are looking at in this map are the highways and local roads to give context to our bearings within the downtown Atlanta area, as well as the amount of times people visit restaurants in 34 designated locational blocks.  This shows use which areas of downtown Atlanta people are spending their money and time based on Restaurants.

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Why this Map Matters 

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This map matters because if we can figure out which parts of Atlanta people are spending their time as well as their money then we will have a better idea of which areas they are not. This means that these areas would be in greater need of economic development investment as they are not receiving the customer base necessary to operate successful businesses or there is a distinct lack of businesses overall which means that the area is still in need of subsides and or investment to increase quality of life in the area in question.

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Possible Combinations with other Maps 

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This map compared with Household Income from 2017 could give the user a better impression of what portion of a household’s income they are spending on food from restaurants. Looking at this map layer with Unemployment, and Small Business Loan Investment can also show us where businesses are successful vs where businesses are struggling to receive money from consumers.

Where did we get the data? 

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This data is from Georgia Power’s data collection they gathered in 2016. It looks specifically at energy consumption from businesses and it is not publicly sourced data. It is separated by zip codes within the downtown area. The numbers are based on kilowatt hours per year of energy consumption.

The Implications 

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The implications of this map are deciphering where the largest amount of consumption is located based on zip code. This is important as it tells us where we see larger commercial building as well as shows us which zip codes are more vulnerable places for Small Businesses based on the fact that Energy Bills could be making up a significant portion of their revenue.

Why this Map Matters 

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This map matters because if we can figure out which parts of Atlanta businesses are spending their money on electricity then we will have a better idea of which areas they are not. Therefore, the high consumption area would be in greater need of economic development investment as they have to spend much more money in their energetic needs. Or these areas are the ones where are located bigger businesses consuming more with the financial capacity to do so. 

Possible Combinations with other Maps

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This map compared with Small business loans could give the user a better impression of where the small business loans are allocated in an area where the energy consumption is the highest or rather if investors would allocate more investment in low consumption areas. Looking at this map layer with Small Business can also show us if small businesses are really affected by the high electricity consumption zone.

Where did we get the data? 

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This map was developed with data found from Georgia Power’s data collection they gathered in 2016. It looks specifically at energy consumption from businesses and it is not publicly sourced data. It is separated by zip codes within the downtown area. The numbers are based on kilowatt hours per year of energy consumption.

The Implications 

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The implications of this map are deciphering where the largest amount of consumption is located based on zip code. This is important as it tells us where we see a larger part of the downtown population is located as well as shows us which zip codes are more inclined to consume more based on the fact that Energy Bills could be making up a significant portion of the people's willingness to pay. Thus there possible investment in small businesses located in the area could change because of that. 

Why this Map Matters 

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This map has its place in our report because we thought we could have a more accurate overview of the areas that are more vulnerable and where people are spending a larger part of their income within electricity consumption. It could directly affect the revenue of small businesses around because people could less spend their money and be more inclined to save it for electricity.

Possible Combinations with other Maps 

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Considering these facts we can clearly imagine several combinations with this map. It could be overlapped with the Restaurant visits map to give a better look on the actual effect of electricity on money spending. Combining the small business loans map with A combination with the Small business map could also show similar patterns to see that small businesses are less located in an area where people pay more for electricity.

Where did we get the data?

This data is sourced from SimplyAnalytics, whose parent company Easy Analytic Software, Inc. (EASI) compiles data from the most recent US Census, American Community Survey, and ACS Public Use Microdata Sample to create year-by-year estimates.

The data set is based on the 2019 Census, therefore is data is up to date and provides us with an as accurate as possible representation of the current downtown Atlanta population. The data points are spatially based on census tract.

The implications

We are analyzing this map layer to gain a better understanding of which areas have a higher level of unemployment and therefore could be more socially vulnerable to factors other factors such as environmental and economic factors. The unemployment level spans the range of 4.05% max to 3.72% min. The map could also show use which areas are in need of investment and business development to increase the number of jobs in certain areas. 

Why this map matters

This map matters as it could be used to decipher not only were vulnerable populations are location (those that are homelessness, disabled, and in between jobs) but also shows which areas might be in need of government intervention to access and implement equity measures within the downtown area. It matters because those without jobs are extremely vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change such as poor air quality, Urban Heat Island effect, and flooding. 

Possible combinations with other Maps

This map was included as a reference material as well as to be overlayed with the environmental maps to see if those areas where people are struggling socially and economically are also the areas most affected by the Heat Island Effect and Flooding.

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Description

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This layer shows the median portion of household income spent on energy costs, by zip code. The national average household energy burden is 3.5% (ACEEE, 2017). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services classifies an energy burden of above 6% as “unaffordable” (Colton, What is the Home Affordability Gap, 2017). A significant portion of the Downtown area has a measured energy burden of 7.5%, shown in brown in this layer.

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Where did we get the data? 

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Brown, M., Oxman, M., Toktay, B., Ahmadi, M., Ahmad, N., Shadi, Y.M., Ahmed, S.B., Froyd, E. (2018). The Low-Income Energy Burden of Atlanta Households. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta.

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The Implications 

Energy burden is an important variable to consider when measuring vulnerability, because of the relationship to climate warming emissions as well as the potential to show unequal effects of climate change. A high energy burden reduces the ability of low income residents to mitigate the effects of climate change. As average temperatures rise, some residents are unable to keep up with growing expenditures on household energy. This exacerbates the negative health effects that result from increased heat exposure. Nationally, Atlanta ranks 3rd highest in low-income energy burden levels.

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Description

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This layer shows the percentage of the civilian non-institutionalized population who are lacking health insurance by census tract in the Atlanta region.

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Where did we get the data? 

This layer was created by the Research & Analytics Group of the Atlanta Regional Commission, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 5-year estimates for 2012-2016.  

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Why this Map Matters 

We chose to analyze this data in relation to our vulnerability assessment because of the implications that a high uninsured population has on a region. Georgia’s health care system is not meeting the needs of its diverse and growing population. Nearly 2 million Georgians are uninsured and many more are at risk of losing coverage. The burden of a large, persistent group of uninsured Georgians is widespread. Those without insurance experience financial vulnerability associated with high medical bills and delays in primary and preventive care, resulting in worse health outcomes. Those with health insurance experience higher costs because of uncompensated care provided to the uninsured. Some communities with vulnerable providers experience the consequences of loss of service lines or an entire hospital, and the public pays for uncompensated care through taxes and higher premiums.

Possible Combinations with other Maps 

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Description

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The data used to create this layers is sourced from SimplyAnalytics, whose parent company Easy Analytic Software, Inc. (EASI) compiles data from the most recent US Census, American Community Survey, and ACS Public Use Microdata Sample to create year-by-year estimates.

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Where did we get the data? 

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This layer displays the proportion of the residential population in each census tract living below 100% of the 2019 Federal Poverty Level. 
 

Why this Map Matters 

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Poverty, defined as the inability to meet basic needs of shelter, food, proper sanitation, education, and healthcare, is a variable we have chosen in measuring vulnerability because of the broad implications of cost on a person or community’s ability to adapt to climate change. This is a problem in Atlanta particularly, as The Bloomberg Report article 10/10/18 noted that “Atlanta Ranks worst in Income Inequality in the U.S.” The Brookings Institute in 2014, reported that the wealthiest 5% (those earning $240,000+) of Atlanta households and those in the bottom 20% (earning less than $14,850 or less) is significantly higher than in any other American city. The state labor department says that households with income below $20,000 spend more than half their income for housing, mostly meaning rent in the downtown area. While wealthy Atlantans are able to use their air conditioning units more or super insulate their homes as heat waves intensify, those living in poverty will not have those options to avoid health damages of higher temperatures.

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Description

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This layer displays the frequency of transit trips per hour in Atlanta for all 167,289 parcels. Click on a parcel to view how many transit stops are available within a .25 mile walking distance and how many transit trips are made per hour between 7 and 9 AM on a typical weekday.

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Where did we get the data? 

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Data comes from 2018 GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification) data published by MARTA and compiled by the Atlanta Regional Commission.
 

Why this Map Matters 

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Transit frequency is an important indicator for each of the three priorities of sustainability planning. It provides access to jobs and economic activity, as well as reducing the number of vehicles on the road and thereby cutting carbon emissions. In terms of the social aspects of sustainability, we focus on the accessibility of transit to disabled and low income individuals, relatively high connectivity of Downtown Atlanta compared to surrounding areas, and the public health impacts of increasing transit utilization. 

Description

This layer shows the number of cases of asthma in each census tract, as reported by the MRI Consumer Survey.

Where did we get the data? 

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The data is sourced from SimplyAnalytics, whose parent company Easy Analytic Software, Inc. (EASI) compiles data from the most recent US Census, American Community Survey, and ACS Public Use Microdata Sample to create year-by-year estimates.

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Why this Map Matters 

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The asthma count for Downtown is an important indicator of air quality exposure. Health and environmental factors are often related, as “researchers have found an association between increased hospital admissions for asthma and particulate matter, an outdoor air pollutant.” In 2017, there were 663,053 adults in Georgia with asthma, and 108 of these cases resulted in death. The data are from national and state surveillance systems administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, available at CDC.gov. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, ten people die every day from asthma. Most of these deaths are preventable with proper management, access to adequate medical care, housing improvements and better air quality. Yet, asthma still remains one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in our nation. It is also one of the most costly diseases – with an estimated annual cost to society of $82 billion.

Description

This layer shows the number of cases of asthma in each census tract, as reported by the MRI Consumer Survey.

Where did we get the data? 

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The data is sourced from SimplyAnalytics, whose parent company Easy Analytic Software, Inc. (EASI) compiles data from the most recent US Census, American Community Survey, and ACS Public Use Microdata Sample to create year-by-year estimates.

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Why this Map Matters 

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The asthma count for Downtown is an important indicator of air quality exposure. Health and environmental factors are often related, as “researchers have found an association between increased hospital admissions for asthma and particulate matter, an outdoor air pollutant.” In 2017, there were 663,053 adults in Georgia with asthma, and 108 of these cases resulted in death. The data are from national and state surveillance systems administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, available at CDC.gov. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, ten people die every day from asthma. Most of these deaths are preventable with proper management, access to adequate medical care, housing improvements and better air quality. Yet, asthma still remains one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in our nation. It is also one of the most costly diseases – with an estimated annual cost to society of $82 billion.

Map Description 

Darker blue areas indicate more water accumulation from precipitation. 

Source Data

This map was created using a DEM (digital elevation model) of downtown Atlanta with a resolution of 1/9 arc-seconds per pixel (approximately 3m/pixel at this latitude) from USGS. The DEM was produced in 2011. It is from a larger program called USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP). The DEM looks at the bare ground topography so does not include buildings in the analysis, only “what’s on the ground” (such as roads). 

Creating the Map

The DEM was input into arcmap where a built in tool in the Hydrology Toolbox (flow direction) was used to calculate which direction water would flow on a pixel by pixel basis (3x3m square of space in downtown). Once the flow direction was calculated, another tool called flow accumulation was used to produce the final product. The flow accumulation tool calculates the number of pixels which “flow” into a given pixel. So the darkest parts of the lines indicate pixels in which a large number of surrounding pixels flow into. These are local “flood” points because they ignore the large scale trend of the topography of the region and look at the very local scale. Basically, it is saying if a drop of water fell onto a certain piece of land, it would first flow downhill to the “local” low point (at this scale the local flood areas are on the scale of tens of meters) so this map can be used to determine the “flood zone” on an individual parcel which can be used to determine drain placement or green infrastructure needs rather than for the whole of the CAP focus area (which the flood map previously created by CAP does). This map will tell an observer which areas of the street or properties will accumulate water initially during a rain event. The previously created map will inform the city of at-risk areas for severe flooding where a large amount of water is accumulated at a regional (where the region in this case is the CAP defined area) scale.

Implications

The darker areas of the map are indicating the lowest areas of ground in the downtown area. This showcases the initial areas where water pools during precipitation events. This map indicates which individuals areas are affected by rain and flooding events first and the most. Buildings that fall on dark blue areas are more affected by rain events because even in non flood events water pools in these areas making them more susceptible to damage during heavy precipitation events comparative to others in the area. These low points in the ground are scattered all over the downtown area. Many of these low zones fall over places where small business and residential buildings are present. These places may be more vulnerable to flooding event since they are more at risk of not recovering from natural disaster events such as flooding.  This map slightly differs from the map located in the master plan which indicates any ground under 950 elevation as low points and indicates where water flows overall on a larger scale throughout the downtown area during a flooding event.

Significance

The significance of this map is that it shows the lowest point in the downtown area. This is helpful since traditional flood maps usually show a flooding plain where everything will be affected in major flooding events. This map allows us to see which areas are affected by less major events since water naturally in these areas, 

Suggested Pairings

This map can be paired with the buildings map to see which properties are more at risk to water damage and it can also be paired with the small business maps to see if they lie on more susceptible areas as small businesses are more prone to not recover after major weather events.

Description

This layer shows the number of cases of asthma in each census tract, as reported by the MRI Consumer Survey.

Where did we get the data? 

​​

The data is sourced from SimplyAnalytics, whose parent company Easy Analytic Software, Inc. (EASI) compiles data from the most recent US Census, American Community Survey, and ACS Public Use Microdata Sample to create year-by-year estimates.

​

Why this Map Matters 

​​

The asthma count for Downtown is an important indicator of air quality exposure. Health and environmental factors are often related, as “researchers have found an association between increased hospital admissions for asthma and particulate matter, an outdoor air pollutant.” In 2017, there were 663,053 adults in Georgia with asthma, and 108 of these cases resulted in death. The data are from national and state surveillance systems administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, available at CDC.gov. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, ten people die every day from asthma. Most of these deaths are preventable with proper management, access to adequate medical care, housing improvements and better air quality. Yet, asthma still remains one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in our nation. It is also one of the most costly diseases – with an estimated annual cost to society of $82 billion.

Description

This layer shows the number of cases of asthma in each census tract, as reported by the MRI Consumer Survey.

Where did we get the data? 

​​

The data is sourced from SimplyAnalytics, whose parent company Easy Analytic Software, Inc. (EASI) compiles data from the most recent US Census, American Community Survey, and ACS Public Use Microdata Sample to create year-by-year estimates.

​

Why this Map Matters 

​​

The asthma count for Downtown is an important indicator of air quality exposure. Health and environmental factors are often related, as “researchers have found an association between increased hospital admissions for asthma and particulate matter, an outdoor air pollutant.” In 2017, there were 663,053 adults in Georgia with asthma, and 108 of these cases resulted in death. The data are from national and state surveillance systems administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, available at CDC.gov. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, ten people die every day from asthma. Most of these deaths are preventable with proper management, access to adequate medical care, housing improvements and better air quality. Yet, asthma still remains one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in our nation. It is also one of the most costly diseases – with an estimated annual cost to society of $82 billion.

Downtown Flood Map

Water flow accumulation, U.S. Geological Survey, 2011, USGS NED 1/9 arc-second 2011 (approx. 3m/pixel)

Map Description

Darker blue areas indicate more water accumulation from precipitation. 

Source Data

This map was created using a DEM (digital elevation model) of downtown Atlanta with a resolution of 1/9 arc-seconds per pixel (approximately 3m/pixel at this latitude) from USGS. The DEM was produced in 2011. It is from a larger program called USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP). The DEM looks at the bare ground topography so does not include buildings in the analysis, only “what’s on the ground” (such as roads). 

Creating the Map

We recreated the CAP downtown master plan map because we only received an image of the map that they already have. Now we can overlay this map onto our other maps to detect vulnerable areas since the “Parcel” flooding map will mostly be helpful to inform businesses where on their property they need to focus their efforts. 

CAP Downtown Masterplan Map