Homework #6

MHC 250/Seminar 4:
Shaping the Future of New York City
Spring 2017

Topics: Choropleth maps; Zoning
Deadline: Wednesday, 22 March 2017, 11:59pm

Data

We will use two different data sets from OpenData NYC and one from the NYC DOE. The first two were used in Classwork #6. The third you will need to download:

• Open Data NYC Planning

  (scroll down to "School, Police, Health & Fire" and export as geoJSON, called schoolDistricts.json).

• NYC Department of Education Test Results (see Classwork #6 for filtering the data to a CSV file).
• NYC Library Locations (download as CSV file).

Assignment

• In the Hirt 2013 article, the author argues that American zoning differs from European zoning policies early on. She concludes with:

  One way or another, compared to Europe, today's America is not a "nation of homeowners," but, if I might end on a semi-serious note, it may well be a "nation of homezoners."

  Why does she mean by this? What is unique about US land-use regulation, compared to the practices of the countries she cites in comparison (Germany and England)? Your paragraph should be well-reasoned and include citations to the text.
  • #1: Submit your paragraph as a .pdf file.
  
  
• The NY Times upshot article analyzes the number of buildings in Manhattan that could not be built under current zoning regulations. Using the zoning map, can accessory apartments be built in your neighborhood? Why or why not? Your paragraph should support your answer with references to your neighborhood's zoning.
  • #2: Submit your paragraph as a .pdf file.
  
  
• Create a choropleth map using folium (see Classwork #6). Your map should shade the school district regions by the percentage of students reaching proficiency (a score of 3 or 4 and stored as a separate column in the spread sheet), across grades 3 to 8 (all grades), in mathematics.
  • #3: Submit your program as a .py file.
  • #4: Submit your map as either a zipped .html or as a screenshot (.png or .jpg) file.
  
  
• Make a map that shows the school district boundaries overlaid with markers for the public libraries. Note that there is no shading for the school districts regions (so no need to link a data file when creating the choropleth layer) and setting the opacity to a low number will make the background map features more easily visible. Each library marker should have a popup with its name.
  • #5: Submit your program as a .py file.
  • #6: Submit your map as either a zipped .html or as a screenshot (.png or .jpg) file.

Submitting Homework

To submit your homework, log on to the Blackboard system, and go to "Homework". For each part of the homework, there is a separate input box. You may submit the homework as many times as you would like before the deadline.