UP 503: Site and Physical Planning

Assignment 6a: Socio-Economic Context

This is a short exercise that will begin with an in-class discussion Oct 9 and end with a report to be submitted October 25. This exercise is intended as a transition from the very environment-centered analyses of the past several weeks to a broader assessment of the area you are reviewing. This week, you will look at the socio-economic context of the development.

The fundamental question to be addressed is this: What is the socio-economic context in which the development will take place? To answer this question, you will focus on a limited set of socio-economic characteristics, examine them at the level of the neighborhoods as well as the Metropolitan Statistical Area, and see how they have changed. Given the time at hand, you may not be able to arrive at a definitive answer but the intent is to do what the time allows.

You will collect data in three ways:

• Compile for the different neighborhoods/areas within the city (take this to mean the smallest Census spatial unit in which the variables of interest are reported), and for the MSA as a whole, information about household size, household income, home ownership, housing value, vacancy. Do this for the last 2 decennial Census years (2000 and 2010). How are these different between the local area and the MSA, and how have they changed over time?


• Visit Zillow.com and look at local housing values (under the "local info" tab). How have they changed over time and how has this change compared with other municipalities?


• You have visited many sites around the city for the Understanding Density assignments. How does the socio-economic context manifest itself physically around the city. You may want to refer back to your assignment for this section.

Explain how any differences within the region, and any changes over time, might have a bearing on the way the area is developed.

Finally, identify population projections in your report using data from the CUUATS Long Range Transportation Plan and from LEAM. Estimate land-use area requirements for this growth using the Neighborhood Prototypes table. These estimates can then be used to determine how much of the projected growth could be accomodated by your development site, under different scenarios of development density.

Synthesize your findings in a report (two pages of text maximum; graphs and tables as needed will be extra) on the socio-economic context of the region.

For the report, use the same memo format you used in previous assignments. This document named by 6a_[Last Name]_[NetID].pdf is to be uploaded to the Assignment Dropbox folder before start of class on Thur Oct 25.

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