CHANGES IN ETHNIC GEOGRAPHY IN WATERBURY AS A RESULT OF NATURAL DISASTERS AND URBAN RENEWAL

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1 G-1302: GIS and Environmental Modeling Final Project Report December 4, 2012 Student: David Perrier Instructor: Tatiana Serebriakova, Ph.D. CHANGES IN ETHNIC GEOGRAPHY IN WATERBURY AS A RESULT OF NATURAL DISASTERS AND URBAN RENEWAL SCENARIO The South End of Waterbury has been considered a French and French-Canadian community since After the 1955 flood and the resulting urban renewal the ethnic geography of the area changed from one that was considered predominately French to one that is today mostly Latino. The flood and urban renewal are considered the reason for this change in the ethnic geography of the area. The French area of the city suffered extensive damage to both residences owned by the French as well as commercial and industrial businesses that were French owned and located in the area. Certain areas were seized by the city government of Waterbury through eminent domain for a highway project through the city. These two events caused a massive loss of French population in the Waterbury area. OBJECTIVE - To assist Dr. Ruth Glasser in her research of the South End of Waterbury by mapping the ethnic geography of the area by using GIS software. To see how the area has changed over the past eighty years and to determine whether or not the area was, in fact, predominantly French and French-Canadian before the flood and urban renewal occurred. HYPOTHESIS The history of the area generally states that it was a majority French community but that the flood of 1955 and the urban renewal that followed caused a shift in population from one that was French to one that is today mostly Latino. I should be able to show whether or not it is true that the area was as ethnically heterogeneous as is commonly stated and whether a population shift was already underway before the natural disaster and highway building took place from the flood into the 1970s. By the end of the project we should be able to present evidence of ethnic change through the use of maps and census data in order to get the most accurate view possible of how the area has changed over the last nine decades at twenty year increments.

2 GOAL 1 CREATE DIGITAL MAP OF WATERBURY IN EARLY 1920S - The Sanborn map above was hand drawn and therefore is not as accurate as we would have liked. However, since this is a preliminary project it is sufficient for our project. GOAL 1 Create an accurate map of the South End of Waterbury in 1922 Problem: We needed to create a map of Waterbury during periods before the flood of 1955 in order to be able to visualize the ethnic and physical geography of the area prior to the natural disaster and building of the highway system through Waterbury. Solution: Our Solution to this problem was to use Fire Insurance Maps (Sanborn Maps) that mapped the area during the time period that we are looking at. These maps had to be cropped and fit together over modern (2010) parcel data that we obtained through MAGIC at the UCONN Storrs Campus. The maps are not perfect and do not fit perfectly due to the fact that these maps do not take into account such things as the curvature of the earth. Final Result: A relatively complete map of the area was made that can be imported into GIS software in order to create a digital map of the South End of Waterbury.

3 - Modern parcel data layered with the 1922 Sanborn maps we created. GOAL 2 UPLOAD MODERN PARCEL DATA IN ORDER TO VISUALIZE DESTROYED AREAS.

4 GOAL 2 IMPORT MODERN PARCEL IN ORDER TO SEE GEOGRAPHICAL CHANGES TO THE AREA Problem: With the Sanborn maps completed we have our first step done. However, we have no way of knowing which areas of the Sanborn maps have been altered due to the flood or the resulting urban renewal. We don t have any idea of any changes that have taken place since the early 1920 s. Even though we were able to import the Sanborn maps into the GIS software it is not possible to determine which areas we will need to focus on unless we are able to compare a modern day map with the Sanborn map. Solution: Our solution to this problem was to import a modern (2010) parcel map of the city. We layered the new 2010 parcel data underneath the Sanborn map that we just created and imported into the system. It was necessary to geo-referenced the Sanborn Map onto the 2010 parcel data by lining up unique features of the parcels that have not changed since the early 1920 s. This process gave us information on which areas of the city were affected by the flooding and urban renewal from 1955 until the modern day. After completing the georeferencing of the Sanborn maps we swapped layers so that the 2010 parcel data would be on top of the Sanborn maps in the layers so that we could see both maps simultaneously. Final Result: The final result of the geo-referencing was that we had a completed map of the South End of Waterbury layered to accurately identify the areas that have changed since the 1920 s. Those areas that we can see in the map that are not covered by the green parcel outlines are the areas that were completely changed in order to build the highway system through Waterbury.

5 GOAL 3 EDIT PARCEL LAYER FOR 1922 SANBORN MAPS - This map shows the edited parcel data in red over the Sanborn maps.

6 GOAL 3 Edit parcel data to in order to geo-reference the census data in the 1922 map Problem: we now have a clear view of what areas of the city were affected the urban renewal in the city that occurred after the flood of Despite this, it is still not possible for us to import any data into the map in order to map the ethnic geography of the area which is the long term goal of this project. We need to edit the 2010 parcel individually so that the areas that we want to have data on exist in digital form. Solution: This process of editing parcels involves assigning a specific and unique geographical address to it. While editing the parcels I was required to individually map more than 1,700 commercial, residential and industrial areas. These areas were given the actual address of the building as it existed in 1922 since the addresses were attached to the Sanborn maps. The parcels were either mapped for individual living areas within the parcel or for the entire parcel itself. In some instances it was necessary to do both. Final Result: The result of this editing is that we now have a parcel layer that is accurate for the early 1920 s. The parcels are organized into different types of areas depending on what their primary use was during this time period. The areas are either industrial, commercial, empty space, private property, other or they are parcels in which we have census data on and will be used for the mapping of the ethnic geography of the area. The edited parcels that were mapped both according to individual houses and whole parcels serve multiple purposes. In the case that the people that live in the particular parcel become difficult to accurately portray then the information can be put at the individual home level rather than limit ourselves to mapping only the parcels themselves. The map layers now contain information from the Sanborn maps, 2010 road system in Waterbury, 2010 parcel data and the new edited 1922 parcel data.

7 - This map shows the difference between the 2010 parcel data and the 1922 parcel data that was edited in by hand. GOAL 4 SHOW WHERE URBAN RENEWAL CHANGED THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE AREA

8 GOAL 4 Show which areas of the city were affected by the urban renewal Problem: We have completed the parcel data editing of the Sanborn maps. In order to understand which areas are gone we need information on where the modern roadway goes through the city compared to what the geography of the area was previously. Although we can see this in the earlier map that shows the road system from 2010 over the Sanborn map, this will allow us to see in more clarity which areas were affected and to what degree. Solution: I turned on the road data layer for the roads in Waterbury from We layered that on top of the completed parcel data for the early 1920 s and turned off the Sanborn map layer along with the 2010 parcel data layer. This map allows me to see whether or not the aras affected were commercial, industrial, residential or a combination of the three. Zooming in allows us to see individual homes that were where the modern highway system is today in more clarity than the road data layered on top of the Sanborn maps which were more inaccurate. Final Result: A map of the region which shows where the modern highway system cuts through the 1920 s parcel data. On the map above we can see the in the parcel layers where the highway system cuts through the area of red parcels. This map has XY coordinates attached to each individual parcel that will allow us to geo-code and join information from an excel spreadsheet that contains individual information on over 7,000 people who lived within the South End of Waterbury in 1920.

9 GOAL 5 HIGHLITE THE INDIVIDUAL AREAS OF THE CITY BY PARCEL

10 GOAL 6 HIGHLITE THE INDIVIDUAL AREAS BY PARCEL Problem: We need to be able to see which areas we have mapped and ensure that we have all areas of the city edited. These areas of the city will have parcel data joined to them in the next step. Right now all of the property s are blank and ready for us to join data to. When the census data is geocoded we will have information for the blank cells on the map above. Solution: I kept the Sanborn maps and the 1922 parcel layer and color coded the every individual parcel within the area that we are studying. This visualization makes it easier to ensure that we have all areas correctly geo-coded for future importing of the excel spreadsheet with the census information on the area. Final Result: A map that shows every parcel colored to show which parcels in the 1922 parcel data we have XY coordinates for. This map was used as a test run to make sure that when we join the excel spreadsheet to the parcel layer the addresses will match up with the addresses that are attached to the individual parcels already in the parcel layer. This map will not actually be able to take in the excel spreadsheet however. We need the GIS software to recognize the XY coordinates. Our next task will be to assign centroids the centers of each parcel within the 1922 parcel layer.

11 GOAL 6 ASSIGN GEOGRAPHICAL COORDINATES TO PARCEL DATA AND JOIN WITH PARCEL DATA

12 GOAL 6 Assign a geographical area to the census data. Problem: The addresses do not line up completely accurately with the census information that we have in the excel spreadsheet. Solution: Each parcel is assigned a Centroid to show where the data that corresponds to that specific address and coordinate system will be located. We also added in the river system of Waterbury so that the accuracy of the map could be checked and to make the map easier to read. Final Result: A map which shows the geographical center of each parcel in the 1922 parcels. GOAL 7 JOIN EXCEL SPREADSHEET TO THE 1922 PARCEL LAYER - The map above shows the resulting areas that we have information on the South End of Waterbury. Yellow Industrial, Blue Commercial, Green Empty Lots, Other colors represent the amount of information we have available.

13 GOAL 7 Geo-code census data into new 1920 parcel data of the South End. Problem: We need to import the information from the census data into the software to get the ethnic distribution in the area that we are studying. Solution: Now that we have information geo-referenced into the GIS software and we have assigned a centroid to each individual parcel, we are able to use geo-coding to join the census information with the edited 1922 parcel layer. The census information contains over 7,000 individual data points that needed to be transferred. Despite the large number of people this only represented 14 out of a total of around 30 streets in the area that were affected by the flood and urban renewal. The process of geo-coding the information required us to copy the 1920 census data into excel where it could be joined to the layers already in place. The information contained within 1922 parcel layer and the new excel layer addresses needed to match perfectly for the information to join and create the map shown above. Final Result: The map above does not show the ethnic geography of the area effectively because of the missing information from the 1920 census data. The map will have to be updated in the future with the missing information from the 1920 census.

14 GOAL 8 WE USED AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY TO CHECK ACCURACY OF PARCEL DATA

15 GOAL 8 Insert aerial photography in order to ensure data is accurate in 1922 Problem: Ensuring that the information we have is accurate for the time period. We imported aerial photographic data in order to check the accuracy. Solution: Importing the aerial photography from 1922 will enable us to determine how accurate the edited Sanborn maps parcel data was. The accuracy of the data is close enough to give us an accurate idea of the distribution of industrial, commercial and residential areas in the South End of Waterbury. Final Result: The final result of this mapping with the Aerial photography was a map that shows the parcel data, along with the aerial photography matched with the geo-coded census information that we do have. The map is off by a considerable amount since the images don t take into account the curvature of the earth.

16 GOAL 9 MAP DISTRIBUTION OF RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIA AND INDUSTRIAL AREAS (RCI)

17 GOAL 9 Map the areas by Commercial, Industrial, Commercial, Empty Lots and Public buildings in order to get an idea of the distribution of the area. Problem: We have most of the information that we need to put into the map geo-coded. However, due to the fact that we are missing information on certain sections of the city we cannot get an accurate portrayal of the area. To create a map that will give us a somewhat accurate idea of the distribution of population during this time period we will need to create a map that shows the residential, commercial and industrial areas of the city. Solution: The solution to making this map was to assign a numerical value to different addresses depending upon what was located in that area during this time period. The area was determined to have five general land uses. These uses were either residential, commercial, industrial, public buildings or empty space which is in the map above. FUTURE STUDIES The conclusions from this project cannot be determined due to the absence of the information for the other time periods that would be necessary to make a comparison to. In the future it will be possible to complete the information required to make a judgment as to the ethnic geography of Waterbury during this time period and determine whether or not the research supports our hypothesis. It will also be possible to make accurate and similar maps for every twenty year period from 1920 until the modern day so that we can visually understand the changes that have taken place in the South End of Waterbury and see how the flood and urban renewal has affected the ethnic distribution of the area of the South End. Doing these projects would make it easier to visualize the changes that can occur within a city when it is subject to the twin forces of natural disaster as well as rebuilding of the area.