Where Do Children Go?

Transcription

1 Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreatioal Space i Austi, TX Jeifer Todd The Uiversity of Texas 12/15/2008 Itroductio to Geographic Iformatio Systems

2 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report focuses o the lack of recreatioal space for childre i cetral Austi. While some areas of the city have a abudace of park space ad/or a high populatio of childre, may areas are the complete opposite. Most childre live east of I-35, with the highest populatio percetages of childre 5-12 foud outside the cetral city grid. Park space is distributed throughout the city, with gaps foud withi the dowtow grid as well as the orther portio of the study area. Ufortuately, othig seems to be occurrig to reverse the curret developmet treds toward families o the outer edges ad sigle youg professioals i the cetral city. New dowtow developmet iitiatives for high rise codos ad upscale retail seem focused o maitaiig the youg workig professioals demographic already preset i the area while families are pushed to the outskirts of tow. Data for this project was gathered from a variety of sources. Backgroud research o the topic of recreatio ad play space for childre i cities was procured from several academic jourals ad studies, which will be discussed i the itroductio. Demographic iformatio came from the U.S. Cesus/TIGER database, as did shapefiles for cesus block groups. The City of Austi s GIS database was used for road, school, park, ad facilities shapefiles. The shapefile for Travis Couty was obtaied from the Capital Area Coucil of Govermets (CAPCOG) database. Demographic iformatio from cesus block groups i the study area was used to costruct maps of populatio treds. My aalysis resulted i maps illustratig the total populatio, the populatio uder 20, the umber of childre ages 5-12, as well as the percetage of this age group as a fuctio of the total cesus block group populatio. Further mappig shows the locatio of parks as well as the types of facilities i these parks, a Childre s Museum, recreatio ceters, ad schools. The locatio of these childcetric facilities was the compared with the populatio desity of childre ad a suitability aalysis was coducted to determie future focus areas with regard to the developmet of recreatioal space for childre. These areas iclude the dowtow grid as well as areas alog I-35 orth of 38 th street. The areas highlighted i the fial suitability aalysis do ot curretly house large populatios of childre, but do have a small youth base. By focusig the developmet of play spaces i these areas, the populatio of childre ad families may grow rather tha relocatig to Austi s outer areas i search of a more child-friedly eviromet. 2

3 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX INTRODUCTION Major cities which are geerally viewed as desirable places to live such as Seattle, Portlad, Sa Fracisco, ad Bosto have experieced decreasig umbers of childre i recet years as a result of developmet patters which ted to drive families away. These developmet patters iclude escalatig housig costs, trasportatio issues, ad the icreased developmet of expesive vertical housig, retail, ad restaurats. Accordig to New York Times columist Timothy Ega, Portlad has bee udergoig targeted efforts to recruit families to the area i respose to a rapidly decliig populatio of childre- over the past decade more tha 10,000 childre have left the city. I the Pearl District, a area which has udergoe major revitalizatio, oly 3 school-age childre were added betwee 1990 ad I Sa Fracisco, the problem is eve worse- this city has the lowest percetage of people uder 18 at 14.5%, compared with the atioal average of 25.7%. The city has begu active measures to attract families, but a variety of circumstaces icludig exorbitatly priced housig have preveted may families from relocatig or stayig i the area. A decrease i the umber of childre withi a city creates a variety of problems. Fewer childre ca mea school closures, which impacts the fabric of a eighborhood. I additio, cities lose moey whe childre leave- accordig to Portlad Mayor Tom Potter, each child who leaves creates a loss of $5,000 for the school district (Eaga, 3/24/2005). The loss of childre also creates a less diverse populatio, less fudig for educatio, decreased park usage, ad ca eve lesse the leverage eeded for muicipal improvemets. Childre, therefore, are essetial to maitaiig the vitality of a city; ay city that iteds to keep its childre must provide a eviromet that is resposive to their eeds ad prefereces, which icludes offerig places for recreatio ad play. Ufortuately, however, may cities (icludig Austi) fail to provide adequate recreatioal space for youg people. The value of play for childre is firmly established. While play is good for the obvious reasos of exercise ad the developmet of motor skills, it is also beeficial for the developmet of uderstadig ad thikig abilities as well as social, moral, ad emotioal developmet (Hart 136). By iteractig with oe aother ad their eviromet i play, childre lear how to cope with, uderstad, ad be ivolved i the world aroud them. The curret tred i childre s play, however, has bee toward adult-cotrolled orgaized team play, especially i suburbs where kids are shuttled from oe evet to aother i a private vehicle. By takig childre off the streets ad ito cars, they become more isolated ad have fewer experieces withi their ow eviromet (Haider 84, Bartlett 4). While dedicated play spaces ad parks are good optios for childre, kids will play almost aywhere, ad very little effort is required to create a place that is coducive to play. Particular desig elemets which have bee cited as particularly useful iclude: safe ad graduated challeges, accessibility, diversity ad clarity, flexibility of physical elemets, sesory experieces, differet social experieces, ad differet spatial settigs. 3

4 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX I additio, opportuities for risk takig, moveable parts, sad, water ad mud, as well as vegetatio, have bee metioed (Woolley 94). There is a extesive body of research o what makes play space effective, as well as how to ivolve the commuity i creatig recreatioal space for childre. As a relatively wealthy city with a geerally healthy dowtow, Austi is i a great positio to lure families ad childre to the city with facilities that are well thought out ad suitable to the eeds of a youger populatio. The lack of parks, schools, ad recreatioal ceters for childre dowtow helps perpetuate a cycle where, due to a lack of ameities families choose to locate elsewhere, ad due to a lack of childre, ameities are the located outside the city. Perhaps, if the city took o multi-faceted iitiatives similar to those i Dever, Austi would begi to see a movemet of childre ad families ito the dowtow area. 4

5 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX PROBLEM STATEMENT Austi is a rapidly growig city with a relatively low percetage of childre (as compared to the atioal average (Ega, 3/24/2005), ad a great deal of ew developmet withi the city seems to igore this demographic. Cotiuig to igore the eeds ad perspectives of childre i ew developmet will evetually lead to a declie i the umber of childre i Austi. I respose to this problem I would like to examie the curret populatio distributio of childre as well as the distributio of child-friedly play space i Austi. My aalysis will iclude demographic iformatio o where childre live, where their schools are, ad where publicly accessible park ad/or recreatioal space is located. I ve chose to limit my aalysis to Cetral Austi due to the populatio ad developmet patters i this area- this regio cotais a variety of schools ad most ew developmet ad redevelopmet is cocetrated here. My study area is defied by MOPAC o the west, 2222 to the orth, Airport to the east, ad Caesar Chaves to the south. RESEARCH QUESTIONS Whe examiig the relatioship betwee the locatio of curret child populatios, facilities, ad parks, I will be seekig to aswer a variety of specific questios listed below: What areas of the city have the greatest populatio of childre? What does the overall populatio distributio look like? Where are parks located? What types of facilities are at each park? Where are schools located? Where are child-cetered facilities located? What, if ay, is the relatioship betwee schools, parks, ad facilities? Where is the greatest eed for the developmet of ew recreatioal spaces for childre? Where are suitable locatios for the developmet of ew parks? 5

6 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX METHODOLOGY Data Acquisitio: To coduct my aalysis, data would be required from several sources icludig the U.S. Cesus, the City of Austi GIS database, as well as CAPCOG s GIS data files. Demographic iformatio would defiitely come from the cesus, ad eeded shapefiles icluded the Travis Couty boudary, cesus block groups, roads, schools, parks, facilities, park equipmet details, ad Austi city limits. Most of my data was obtaied from olie databases. From the U.S. Cesus/TIGER database I dowloaded a shapefile for Travis Couty cesus block groups as well as cesus 2000 populatio iformatio for the cesus block groups i my study area. After selectig the relevat block groups, I was able to dowload a relevat excel spreadsheet, o which I calculated the total umber ad percetage of childre ages 5-12, the group I felt was most likely to be users of a ew recreatioal space. The City of Austi s GIS database was a great resource. Here I dowloaded shapefiles for the City of Austi jurisdictioal boudary, parks, schools, roads, ad facilities. Each of these files came as a zip file cotaiig relevat shape, poit, ad lie files. The parks zip file cotaied a parks ivetory shapefile as well as poit files for the locatios of playscapes, swigs, various types of fields, ad recreatioal ceters. The facilities zip file cotaied iformatio for all city-owed facilities, icludig those relevat to my study such as museums, recreatioal ceters, ad libraries. The attribute table for the schools shapefile allowed me to select by school type, which was helpful sice I was mostly iterested i the locatio of elemetary ad middle schools. I utilized the Capital Area Coucil of Govermets GIS files to dowload a couty shapefile from which I was able to select the Travis couty boudary ad create a separate Travis couty layer. Aalysis: All of my iitial maps were created to show curret coditios. My first step ivolved creatig referece maps for the study area ad parks. The study area referece map shows where the study area is i relatio to the City of Austi as well as withi Travis Couty. The parks referece map shows the locatio of parks both withi the study area ad the city as a whole. After creatig these maps, I created the populatio maps for my study area. Usig cesus data, I created maps that would show total populatio, the total populatio uder 20, the total populatio of childre ages 5-12, ad the percetage of the populatio 5-12 for each cesus block group. These maps are iteded to show where overall populatio is cocetrated as well as where most childre live. 6

7 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX My ext step was to create more detailed maps of the parks. To do this I chose to divide the parks maps ito two categories: oe showig the locatio of playscapes ad swigs (areas of idepedet play targeted toward a youger audiece) ad oe showig the locatio of various team-related play areas ad fields. I ext created maps showig the locatio of child-cetric facilities ad schools i the study area. For the purposes of this study, child-cetric facilities are defied as those who are created for childre icludig the Austi Childre s Museum ad programmed recreatioal ceters. For the schools map, I chose to iclude oly elemetary ad middle schools, sice these are the target age groups for parks ad play spaces. Older childre, i my experiece, ted more toward idoor facilities ad are ot as frequet users of structured play spaces. After creatig all of the iitial maps, I created a map showig parks, facilities, ad schools i combiatio with childhood populatio treds. The purpose of this map was to illustrate the relatioship betwee the locatio of parks, facilities, ad cocetratios of childre. Oce the iitial maps were complete, I bega my suitability aalysis. I chose to do this i two parts. First, I coducted a suitability aalysis o the etire study area to determie the best locatios for ew facilities. I the secod suitability aalysis, I limited the aalysis to cesus block groups with 25 or fewer childre whose populatio of childre 5-12 represeted less tha 10% of the total populatio. The secod suitability aalysis, therefore, would show ivestmet areas to ecourage the locatio of families ad childre while the first would show areas of eed based o where childre live ow. 7

8 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX FINDINGS Map Directory: Study Area Itroductio Populatio Aalysis (2 maps) Park Area Itroductio Parks with Playscapes Parks with Team Play Space Child-Cetric Facilities Parks, Child-Cetric Facilities, ad Populatio Suitability Aalysis Steps Study Area Suitability Suitability Aalysis for areas with fewer tha 25 childre 5-12 at less tha 10% of the total populatio 8

9 45THST Austi City Limits Miles Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Cetral Austi Park Ivetory Study Area B MO-PAC LAMAR 38TH ST IH-35 AIRPORT MLK BLVD CESAR CHAVEZ Study Area Boudary Travis Couty Streets Miles Author: Jeifer Todd Date: 12/10/2008 Data Sources: CAPCOG, City of Austi, U.S. Cesus/TIGER Projectio: NAD 1983 State Plae Texas Cetral FIPS 4203 (feet)

10 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Populatio Aalysis 2222 Total Populatio MO-PAC AIRPORT CESAR CHAVEZ Study Area Boudary Cesus Block Groups Populatio uder MO-PAC AIRPORT CESAR CHAVEZ Miles Data Sources: CAPCOG, City of Austi, U.S Cesus Projectio: NAD 1983 State Plae Texas Cetral FIPS 4203 (feet) Author: Jeifer Todd Date: 12/05/

11 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Populatio Aalysis 2222 Number of Childre ages 5-12 MO-PAC AIRPORT CESAR CHAVEZ Streets Study Area Boudary Percet ages 5-12 MO-PAC AIRPORT CESAR CHAVEZ Miles Data Sources: CAPCOG, City of Austi, U.S Cesus Projectio: NAD 1983 State Plae Texas Cetral FIPS 4203 (feet) Author: Jeifer Todd Date: 12/05/

12 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Cetral Austi Park Ivetory Major Study Area Parks 2222 All City Parks 12 MO-PAC Shipe Shoal Creek Adams- Hacock Hemphill Eastwoods Pease Ramsey Patterso AIRPORT Waller Creek Rosewood Kealig Boggy Creek Study Area Boudary Miles CESAR CHAVEZ Street Parks Travis Couty Data Sources: CAPCOG, City of Austi Projectio: NAD 1983 State Plae Texas Cetral FIPS 4203 (feet) Miles Author: Jeifer Todd Date: 12/08/2008

13 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Cetral Austi Park Ivetory Parks with Playscapes Miles Ê Northwest Recreatio Ceter FM 2222 MO-PAC Ramsey Ê 38TH Shipe Ê Bailey Ê Hacock ÊÊ Adams-Hemphill Ê Eastwoods Ê Patterso ÊÊ Clarksville ÊÊ WestÊ Austi Pease ÊÊ Alamo Ê Chestut Ê Symphoy Square Rosewood Ê Ê Ê Kealig AIRPORT Oak Sprigs Ê Palm Ê Comal ÊÊ ÊÊ Parque Pa-Am Zaragoza ÊÊ CESAR CHAVEZ _ Swigs _ Playscapes Streets Study Area Boudary Study Area Parks Data Sources: CAPCOG, City of Austi Projectio: NAD 1983 State Plae Texas Cetral FIPS 4203 (feet) Author: Jeifer Todd Date: 12/08/

14 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Cetral Austi Park Ivetory Parks with Team Play Space Miles #!. Northwest Recreatio Ceter FM 2222 MO-PAC "/ Ramsey #! "/ 38TH Shipe # Bailey "/!. # Hacock! # Adams-Hemphill!# Eastwoods # "/! Eastwoods Pease Clarksville!. Alamo!! #! # # Austi Recreatio Dows Mabso West Austi Ceter Fields "/ #! "/ X Rosewood Oak Sprigs Lamar Beach Kealig "/ #! # #! % Symphoy!"/ #!. X Square Boggy Creek Palm "/ # Comal #!! "/ Pa-Am X "/!!"/ #!. Patterso! CESAR CHAVEZ!. X Parque! Zaragoza AIRPORT X Baseball Fields! Basketball Goals # Multi-Purpose Fields % Soccer Fields "/ Teis Courts!. Volleyball Courts Streets Study Area Boudary Study Area Parks Data Sources: CAPCOG, City of Austi Projectio: NAD 1983 State Plae Texas Cetral FIPS 4203 (feet) Author: Jeifer Todd Date: 12/10/

15 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Cetral Austi Facilities Ivetory Child-Cetric Facilities Northwest Recreatio Ceter McCallum Rosedale Ridgetop Bryker Woods Robbis Lee Maplewood Mathews Pease Austi Childre's Museum Alamo Recreatio Campbell Ceter Garza Rosewood Oak Sprigs- Rec Ceter Kealig Rice Blackshear Alterative Learig Ceter Govalle Pa Am Rec Zaragoza Ceter Rec Ceter Zavala Alla Brooke Elemetary School Juior High High School Streets Study Area Boudary Child-Cetric Facilities Miles Data Sources: CAPCOG, City of Austi Projectio: NAD 1983 State Plae Texas Cetral FIPS 4203 (feet) Author: Jeifer Todd Date: 12/11/

16 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Facilities ad Number of Childre Number of Childre Elemetary ad Middle Schools Child-Cetric Facilities Study Area Boudary Parks Cesus Block Groups Percetage of Childre Miles Data Sources: CAPCOG, City of Austi, U.S Cesus Projectio: NAD 1983 State Plae Texas Cetral FIPS 4203 (feet) Author: Jeifer Todd Date: 12/11/

17 Miles Author: Jeifer Todd Date: 12/12/2008 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Suitability Aalysis Distace from Elemetary ad Middle Schools Distace from Child-Cetric Facilities Distace from Parks 17 Rak Study Area Boudary Parks Cesus Block Groups 10 Data Sources: CAPCOG, City of Austi, U.S Cesus/TIGER. Projectio: NAD 1983 State Plae Texas Cetral FIPS 4203 (feet)

18 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Suitability Aalysis Etire Study Area Miles Rak Elemetary ad Middle Schools Child-Cetric Facilities Study Area Boudary Parks Cesus Block Groups Data Sources: CAPCOG, City of Austi, U.S. Cesus/TIGER Projectio: NAD 1983 State Plae Texas Cetral FIPS 4203 (feet) Author: Jeifer Todd Date: 12/12/

19 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Suitability Aalysis Focus Areas: Parcels with less tha 25 childre Miles ages 5-12 represetig uder 10% of total populatio Parcel Rakig Streets Study Area Boudary Parks Child-Cetric Facilities Elemetary ad Middle Schools Cesus Block Groups Data Sources: CAPCOG, City of Austi, U.S. Cesus/TIGER Projectio: NAD 1983 State Plae Texas Cetral FIPS 4203 (feet) Author: Jeifer Todd Date: 12/12/

20 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX ANALYSIS Populatio Aalysis: Accordig to the Total Populatio map, the greatest cocetratio of people ca be foud i cetral Austi just orth of dowtow. Other areas with a large umber of people iclude cesus block groups east of I-35 as well as those alog MOPAC ear The greatest cocetratio of people uder 20 follows a similar patter as this group ca be foud i the largest umbers just orth of dowtow as well as east of I-35. The populatio distributio of childre is somewhat differet, however. With regard to both total umber ad percetage of the populatio, dowtow is i the lowest category for childre ages The greatest cocetratios of childre are located east of I-35, south of Marti Luther Kig Blvd. The cesus block groups located at the itersectio of MOPAC ad 2222 also have a high cocetratio of childre as a percetage of the populatio. These maps clearly illustrate the differece betwee total populatio ad the populatio of childre. While the total populatio is spread throughout the city, childre are foud i mostly outlyig areas. The dowtow grid area is light i both types of populatio, but this is expected to chage as a icreasig umber of high-rise codomiiums are built. City Parks: Park space is foud throughout all areas of the city, but is cocetrated mostly i the west ad south-easter portios of the study area. The orth-easter study area is the oly space which stads out as particularly devoid of park space. Most of the study area s smaller parks feature playscapes ad/or swigs, but oly oe space dowtow has either of these ameities. May of the larger gree spaces such as that alog Lady Bird Lake ad Shoal creek also lack ay structured play space. Team Play space is differetiated from playscapes ad swigs sice it is see as appealig to a older audiece of childre, ad for a differet purpose. Childre come here to iteract with oe aother, ad may be less likely to egage i idepedet play. A aalysis of parks with team play space reveals that a variety of optios are available i study area parks. The heaviest cocetratio of team play space is foud east of I-35. Child-Cetric Facilities: The study area cotais just oe juior high school, three high schools, ad 14 elemetary schools. Most of the schools are located i the area betwee Airport ad Caesar Chavez with a oticeable absece of schools from the dowtow grid as well as sparse distributio i the orther ad cetral portios of the study area. 20

21 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Recreatio facilities programmed year-roud for childre are also icluded o this map. Three are foud east of I-35 while just oe is located elsewhere alog 2222 ear MOPAC. The Austi Childre s Museum was also icluded i the facilities category, ad is the oly represetative of ay child-cetric facilities withi the dowtow area. Schools are a particularly tellig idicator of where childre are located, as schools are costructed based o demad. Eve without populatio iformatio, the cocetratio of childre i the souther area east of I-35 is obvious, while the absece of child-cetric facilities both dowtow ad orth of this area is equally apparet. Whe the various facilities ad parks are placed over a map showig the populatio of childre by cesus block group, the correlatio betwee a high cocetratio of childre ad facilities attemptig to serve that eed is see i the area east of I-35. Areas with high populatio proportios of childre alog MOPAC ad 2222 appear to have far fewer facilities. Suitability Aalysis: Whe coductig the suitability aalysis, the followig three criteria used accordig to the followig weights: distace from schools (40%), distace from child-cetric facilities (40%), ad distace from parks (20%). Distace from schools ad child-cetric facilities were both calculated with positive correlatios- sites closer to these variables were more favorable that sites far away. The distace from parks variable, however, was calculated usig a egative correlatio- sites farther away are preferable to those earby. A suitability aalysis of the etire study area reveals a strog preferece for developmet of ew sites i the area east of I-35 betwee Caesar Chavez ad Airport. Other highly raked sites iclude the area aroud Rosedale Elemetary i the ortheast as well as ear Pease Elemetary ad the Austi Childre s Museum to the south. This map is a good idicator of suitable sites to place ew facilities based upo curret eeds ad facilities. What I wated to discover, however, is how the locatio of families ad childre could be iflueced by the locatio of recreatioal space i areas that curretly have low populatios of childre. The secod suitability aalysis map shows suitable locatios that are withi particular focus areas. To be icluded i the focus area, a parcel eeded to have fewer tha 25 childre ages 5-12 ad that same age group must represet less tha 10% of the total populatio. This aalysis revealed a eed for ew recreatioal space alog I-35 just south of 38 th street as well as from dowtow to Duca Park o the west. By creatig a more child-friedly eviromet i these areas with the developmet of recreatioal space i cojuctio with other policy iitiatives, more families may be ecouraged to move to the dowtow area. 21

22 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATION/RAMIFICATIONS May of our atio s leadig cities, icludig Seattle, Portlad, Sa Fracisco, ad Dever, have already begu iitiatives to ecourage families ad childre to live i their dowtows. I 2006, Dever lauched the Childre/Youth-Friedly City iitiative as a part of their goal to become the atio s most child-friedly city. Various idicators of such a city iclude: a physical eviromet that respods to the specific eeds ad cocers of childre, methods to ivolve childre i assessig ad improvig their ow eighborhoods ad givig them a voice i the local decisio-makig process, istitutig laws, rules, regulatios, ad plaig orms that take childre ito accout, ad developig idicators to evaluate the impact of decisios upo childre (Kigsto et al 98). With regard to play spaces, Dever s effort to become a more child-friedly city icludes a program called the Learig Ladscapes Iitiative, which is a partership betwee the Ladscape Architecture departmet at the Uiversity of Colorado ad local commuities. Whe workig o projects, Uiversity studets work with school officials, teachers, studets, ad commuity members to desig a space resposive to cultural ad aesthetic tastes of eighborhood residets ad developmetal eeds of childre i a particular area (Kigsto et al 100). I additio to efforts withi America, other coutries have also developed child-friedly iitiatives. I the Uited Kigdom, home zoes have bee created i some areas which close streets to cars (full or part time) ad try to make existig streets more pedestriafriedly (Woolley 92). Withi the city of Austi, efforts could be made to improve the quality ad quatity of play space for childre. As see i the earlier aalysis, the city lacks space created particularly for childre both orth of ad withi the dowtow area. Oe effective way to create better space for childre might be to ask them what they wat. Sice Austi is already a very participatory city with regard to visioig for the future ad creatig a developmet pla for the dowtow, a atural extesio of these efforts would be to iclude childre. These efforts could reveal what spaces childre prefer as well as why those spaces are viewed favorably ad how this could be traslated to the creatio of ew recreatioal space that would be frequetly utilized. Dedicated park ad play space is defiitely valuable to the developmet of childre ad their play experiece. Childre, however, will play aywhere ad ofte choose those spaces most coveiet to home. Therefore, while structured play spaces ad areas are importat, it is equally vital that cities are made safe for childre who do ot have easy access to parks. Withi dowtow Austi, for example, efforts are eeded to icrease the mobility of ot just childre, but all people so that they are less depedet o cars. Alterate trasportatio should be made safer- bike laes could be improved, ad bus service made more efficiet. 22

23 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX REFERENCES Capital Area Coucil of Govermets [computer file.] Austi, TX. Available FTP: City of Austi GIS Data Sets [computer file]. Austi, TX. Available FTP: ftp://coageoid01.ci.austi.tx.us/gis-data/regioal/coa_gis.html. Bartlett, Sherida. Buildig Better Cities with Childre ad Youth. Eviromet ad Urbaizatio (3). Ega, Timothy. Vibrat Cities Fid Oe Thig Missig: Childre. The New York Times. 24 March Haider, J. Iclusive Desig: plaig public urba spaces for childre. Proceedigs of the Istitute of Civil Egieers: Muicipal Egieer. Jue (ME2). Hart, Roger. Cotaiig childre: some lessos o plaig for play from New York City. Eviromet ad Urbaizatio (135). Kigsto, B., Wridt, P., Chawla, L., va Vliet, W., Brik, L. Creatig child friedly cities: the case of Dever, USA. Proceedigs of the Istitute of Civil Egieers: Muicipal Egieer. Jue (ME2) TIGER/Lie Shapefiles [computer file]. U.S. Cesus Bureau. Available FTP: Woolley, H. Where do the childre play? How policies ca ifluece practice. Proceedigs of the Istitute of Civil Egieers: Muicipal Egieer. Jue (ME2). 23

24 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX APPENDIX 24

25 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Data: Iitial data for demographics as well as Travis Couty cesus block groups was obtaied from the 2008 TIGER/Lie Shapefiles database created by the U.S. Cesus Bureau. The applicable website is: Data for Austi jurisdictioal limits, parks, roads, schools, ad facilities was obtaied from the City of Austi GIS Data Sets webpage, foud here: ftp://coageoid01.ci.austi.tx.us/gis-data/regioal/coa_gis.html. The City of Austi is the author of these data sets. The Travis Couty shapefile was obtaied from the Capital Area Coucil of Govermets webpage, foud here: Data was origially obtaied from the Texas Natural Resources Iformatio System. Aalysis: A How-To Guide Study Area File: Ope ArcGIS, obtai Travis Couty Idex graphic from previous assigmet, isert ito map Add CAPCOG couty boudaries file, select by attribute: Couty=Travis Create ew layer from selectio. Name the ew layer Travis_Couty Add the City of Austi jurisdictio file. Clip to Travis_Couty, ame ew layer City_Limits Add roads file clip to Travis Couty Clip to City_Limits Maually select study area roads Create ew layer from selectio. Re-ame Study_Area Create oe data frame with Travis Couty, City Limits, ad Study Area with a extet rectagle referecig a close-up of the study area i a separate data frame Populatio Aalysis: Cesus 2000 Data: Ope ArcGIS, ope Travis Couty Cesus Block Groups shapefile Maually select Travis Couty Cesus Block Groups i study area. Export data, add to map as ew layer. Re-ame Cesus_Block_Groups Go to dowload data for total populatio ad populatio uder 20, selectig by cesus block groups i study area Dowload selected cesus iformatio as a excel table Total Populatio: Add Cesus Block Group, Streets, ad Study Area Layers Add Excel Table of Cesus 2000 populatio data Joi Cesus Table to Travis Couty Cesus Block Group attribute table. Joi based o GEO_ID2 (Cesus) ad STFID (Cesus Block Group). Export data 25

26 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Chage symbology to show atural breaks, o decimals, thousads separators show if ecessary Use blue color ramp for populatio maps Add Travis Couty referece map Percet Uder 20 Copy first three steps from above I symbology, choose uder 20 value ormalized as percet of total Use blue color ramp Add Travis Couty referece map Percet ad Number of Childre 5-12 Add Travis Couty Cesus Block Group, Streets, ad Study Area Layers Ope excel spreadsheet of Cesus 2000 populatio data. Add colums for total umber ad percetage of childre ages 5-12, eterig appropriate formulas. Joi edited Cesus Table to Travis Couty Cesus Block Group attribute table. Joi based o GEO_ID2 (Cesus) ad STFID (Cesus Block Group) Chage symbology to show atural breaks, o decimals, thousads separators show if ecessary, use blue color ramp Parks: Cetral Austi Park Ivetory Referece Map: Create idex map of Travis Couty (use Travis Couty ad City of Austi shapefiles), make light grey. Create park ivetory data frame: o Add Travis Couty layer, park ivetory, streets shapefiles. o Clip park ivetory to City of Austi jurisdictioal limits o Adjust colors accordig to map template. Add extet rectagle to above idex map. Create study area parks data frame: o Add Travis Couty layer, park ivetory, streets, ad study area streets shapefiles o Maually select parks withi study area. Create ew layer from selectio o Delete origial park ivetory file, ame ew layer Study Area Parks o Add labels to major parks (by size ad/or otoriety) as referece o Add extet rectagle to park ivetory map. Parks with playscapes: Add Travis Couty idex map (couty boudary ad park ivetory shapefiles) Add Travis Couty boudary, streets, study area, ad study area parks shape files Add poit file for playscapes, clip to study area parks Add poit file for swigs, clip to study area parks Adjust symbology to orage ad purple stars Add labels for parks withi study area, chage to aotatio for deletio of all ames ot associated with parks that have playscapes. Move ames as ecessary Parks with Team Play Space: Add Travis Couty idex map (couty boudary ad park ivetory shapefiles) Add Travis Couty layer, streets, study area streets, study area parks 26

27 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Add poit files for ball fields, basketball goals, multi-purpose fields, soccer fields, teis courts, ad volleyball courts Clip all files to study area Adjust symbology to shapes of differet colors by use Add labels for parks withi study area, chage to aotatio for deletio of all ames ot associated with parks that have team play space. Move ames as ecessary Facilities Ivetory: Add Travis Couty Idex map (couty boudary, Austi city limits, study area boudary) with extet rectagle Add Travis Couty, study area, ad streets shapefiles Add facilities shapefile. Select by attribute: maually select recreatio ceters with programmig as well as Austi Childre s Museum Chage symbology for schools: flags of differet colors for elemetary, juior high, ad high schools; recreatio ceters ad the museum will be a purple dot Add labels for all elemets, chage to aotatio for deletio of all ames ot associated with facilities featured i the map Facilities ad Number of Childre: Add Travis Couty Idex map (couty boudary, Austi city limits, study area boudary) with extet rectagle Add populatio distributio files from earlier populatio maps for total umber ad percetage of childre 5-12 Add park ad facilities files from earlier maps Suitability Aalysis: Idividual Elemets: Add Travis Couty Idex map (couty boudary, Austi city limits, study area boudary) with extet rectagle Add study area ad cesus block group files Activate Spatial Aalyst, set aalysis extet to same as layer I spatial aalyst, select distace straight lie, select schools, save as sch_dist Reclassify so that method is set to equal iterval ad classes to 10 Ivert ew values to reflect preferece of viciity to schools, delete last row that says o data Save files as sch_dist_re Repeat process for child-cetric facilities, savig files as fac_dist ad fac_dist_re as eeded I spatial aalyst, select distace straight lie, select schools, save as park_dist Reclassify so that method is set to equal iterval ad classes to 10 Save file as park_dist_re Show each elemet as separate data frame i map: schools, facilities, ad parks Etire Study Area: 27

28 Jeifer Todd Where Do Childre Go? A Aalysis of Recreaioal Space i Austi, TX Add study area ad cesus block group files. Clip cesus block groups to study area. Add parks, facilities, ad schools shape files Select Raster Calculator i Spatial Aalyst toolbar, weights variables accordigly: o sch_dist_re:.4 o fac_dist_re:.4 o park_dist_re:.2 Click evaluate ad make permaet, save. Chage ame of calculatio layer to weights Go to spatial aalyst reclssify. Specify weights i iput raster widow, click classify ad make sure method is set to equal iterval ad classes is set to 10. Click ok Delete last row that says o data Go to spatial aalyst covert raster to features. Save file as rak Focus Areas: Cotiue from last step i above map Add ew data frame with study area ad cesus block groups Withi cesus block groups, select by attribute: uder 25 for ages 5-12 ad uer 10%. Export data ad save as ew layer focus_area Navigate to aalysis tools overlay itersect Iput fields: rak ad focus_area Save ew file as focus_area_raked 28

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