Latest Contributions by RachelWeeden

Many communities have started to focus on the role that healthy food access plays in addressing chronic disease and overall public health. In the City of Philadelphia, a group under the Department of Public Health called Food Fit Philly is focused on just this; one of their goals is to make healthy foods affordable and readily available in neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia. An aspect of achieving this goal is to first understand where inequities may exist - it is important to ask questions like are there certain neighborhoods in Philadelphia where residents do not have access to healthy food sources? How should 'access' be defined? How does access vary over time and place?  To support the understanding of these topics and to spark conversations around solutions, the Department recently released a report titled "Neighborhood Food Retail in Philadelphia." This report maps and analyzes access to both healthy and unhealthy foods, which is a unique perspective. Amory Hillengas, MUSA, a GIS Analyst within the Department, spearheaded a data-centric approach to creating the report. Starting in 2017, Amory began testing various GIS methods, and worked with experts in the field to determine a methodology for analyzing and visualizing food access. Relying on spatial and nonspatial data as well as various analytical and visualization methods, she produced a rich set of GIS content that supported the report. By 2019, the report was in draft mode, and was recently released in September 2019. Behind the scenes, Amory used ArcGIS Pro and the ArcGIS Network Analyst extension, specifically the OD Cost Matrix solver. Many people use Network Analyst tools for basic routing, but might not be aware of the other solvers that are also available. In this case, Amory needed to measure distance between many different origins (block groups representing where people live) and destinations (food retailers), which this tool was designed to do: Note that the map shows straight line distance, but the underlying measure can be travel time or travel distance - in this case, 1/2 mile or 10 minutes was designated as "accessible." In addition to the PDF report, Amory also created several interactive information products that allow users to explore the maps and data, shown in this online resource gallery: By using ArcGIS Story Maps and Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS, she was able to bring life to the report, including a 3D scene that provides an effective method for visualizing the disparity of healthy food access across the City. Extruding features to 3D symbology in ArcGIS Pro is an easy way to change up what would traditionally be a thematic choropleth map; the 3D rendering adds a different dimension and really highlights the disparity in a way that is not as visible in 2D. This map shows the percentage of all stores within walking distance that are high-produce supply stores, with the tall/dark green areas having the highest percentage nearby: The process of mapping and analyzing the neighborhood food retail landscape in Philadelphia was not a simple undertaking. GIS enabled various aspects of this project (including data management, mapping & visualization, analytics, and constituent engagement) and presents this very relevant topic in a modern, data-driven way.    For more information, contact Amory at Amory.Hillengas@phila.gov. ... View more

Do you have point data that you want to map, but multiple features exist at the same location? As a former crime mapper, I ran into this problem a lot - one address might have multiple crime incidents, which was challenging for a number of reasons: The map shows just one feature at a location, potentially masking the actual data; If you want to style the data by an attribute (e.g. crime type), the stacked symbols will still display just one feature, obscuring the others;  If the data is to be used for editing, it can be difficult to select just the feature you'd like to edit from the stacked features. There are a variety of techniques that can address this - aggregating the data to a geography and mapping it thematically, using a density or heat map or using tools to count coincident features and then symbolize by the count of features at a location. However, these techniques don't display the individual features that you'd need to address the second and third bullet points, above. Using ArcGIS Pro, there is another method - the Disperse Markers tool. This tool finds overlapping points and spreads them apart based on a pattern and distance of your choosing. Note - this technique has been available in ArcMap for some time as a part of Cartographic Representations, which allowed you to customize the symbology of data and store these properties as a part of the feature class. Using Disperse Markers has since been simplified within ArcGIS Pro. Let me show you how I used the tool to transform a dataset for Boston street trees from this: To this: Since the Disperse Markers tool will actually edit the geometry of your features (meaning, they will not retain their original location) it's important to work from a copy of your data.  This tree data was geocoded to addresses - this resulted in multiple features at one location. The tool will help ensure I can see not just one, but all the features as individual points on the map. Before running the tool, you'll need to set a reference scale for your map. This means that as you zoom in and out on your map, the size of the symbols will be fixed. Since the Disperse Markers tool will use the reference scale you set to help determine the spacing, it's important to think about your desired end result. For example, in the map above, I was working on a project for an arborist who would be performing tree inspections, so I set the reference scale to be useful for his work (1:2,257, or Level 18 using the ArcGIS Online scales). To set the reference scale, right click on your map in the Contents pane and click Set Reference Scale - it will be set to your current map scale. You can view this in the Map Properties as well: Note: after you change the reference scale, you may need to alter the symbol size. Remember - you are selecting a symbol style and size that looks appropriate at this zoom level.  Next, browse for the Disperse Markers tool in the Geoprocessing pane. The parameters are pretty straightforward - you will select a dispersal pattern (described more in the tool help) and a spacing. Remember the minimum spacing takes into account your reference scale - so running the tool with the same parameters but different reference scales will yield different results. The parameters shown here are what I used on the Boston street trees: There will likely be some trial and error in running this tool - maybe the spacing was too far apart, or you didn't like the pattern you selected. Remember how you made a copy of your data, before getting started? You'll need to re-run the tool off of the non-dispersed data each time - which means, make another copy before running the tool! This will ensure you have your unaltered original data, and can try different scenarios.  Next, I published the result to ArcGIS Online - doing this preserved the new dispersed point locations, making my data useful across the entire ArcGIS platform. From ArcGIS Online, I build a Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS application that was used to demonstrate filtering, web editing and routing capabilities that could help the arborist be more efficient in his work. The dispersed points make it much easier for him to select the appropriate trees for viewing, editing and routing. I work primarily with local governments, and there are so many datasets that could be candidates for this tool; think of any observation data that you have, that is geocoded to an address - crimes, calls for service, inspections, etc. This is a simple technique to improve the utility of your data. ... View more

If you were able to attend the Esri FedGIS Conference in Washington DC earlier this month, you may have seen the GIS team from Loudon County, VA present. If not, I encourage you to watch this video - Susan Carlson provides an overview of the important GIS data her team manages and how it directly impacts citizens; Kristin Brown describes how purposeful web apps create a new model of engagement; and Phyllis Randall tells how the Board of Supervisors sees their strategic goals reflected in the new Loudon County GeoHub(built on ArcGIS Open Data). ... View more

If I weren't a GIS professional, I always thought a cool back-up job option would be to name paint colors. Of course, as a GIS professional, I get to play with color here and there - styling a map, designing a web app, etc. So, I knew it would be a fun assignment when, earlier this summer, the City of Boston's GIS team let me and LDafner-esristaff help with a redesign of their ArcGIS Online site, which they call BostonMaps. And even better - the redesign involved working with the City's new web color style, which included wonderfully-named hues like Charles Blue and Freedom Trail Red. Some background - several years ago, we worked with the City on their initial ArcGIS Online release. They wanted to make a big splash, and were very deliberate about designing their ArcGIS Online presence - creating a banner graphic, customizing the home page, creating new icons, etc. And the result was well-used for several years - but it was time for an update. One thing that spurred the update was that the City was developing a redesigned web site - pilot.boston.gov (now released). It would be a completely different look and feel - the City developed a new brand guideline, complete with new typefaces, logos (and, of course, colors). Design and branding (especially in digital media) is becoming increasingly important to local governments, and I'm increasingly hearing GIS professionals mention that they want to build maps and apps whose design is harmonious with branding standards. So, we had our marching orders - make the new BostonMaps design harmonious with the pilot.boston.gov site. I wanted to share details of the work we did, in the hopes that it might be useful for others going through a similar process. Here's the approach that we took, in three simple steps: 1. Banner graphic:  This is the attention-getter of an ArcGIS Online home page! I've seen many great examples of customers who make their own images using these guidelines. For BostonMaps, we incorporated a map screenshot and added a layer of Optimistic Blue on top. Using the B mark/logo (which we also repeated in thumbnails) and tagging to mark it as an official City website complete the look: 2. Flat Design: You may have noticed that the banner graphic and thumbnails look subtly different than usual - the City's web team requested that we use a flat design and eliminate rounded corners and drop shadows to eliminate the effects that give the page dimension in favor of a more minimalist look (this has been a popular web design trend for some time): To do this, we went to the Home Page settings and accessed the HTML source code view. Did you know that you can perform various style overrides to the ArcGIS Online home page by inserting HTML/CSS code into this section? For example, this CSS snippet removes the rounded corners & shadows from various home page elements: <style> /* remove rounded borders and box-shadow on: */ #matrixLayout, /* org banner */ #featuredMaps, /* featured items control */ #featuredMaps #fHeader,       /* featured items control header */ .galleryNode.small .galleryThumbnail, /* individual featured items */ #bottomContent { /* org description */   -webkit-border-radius: 0;   -moz-border-radius: 0;   -o-border-radius: 0;   border-radius: 0;   -webkit-box-shadow: none;   -moz-box-shadow: none;   -o-box-shadow: none;   box-shadow: none; } /* if you want to remove the bottom border color on featured items control and org description */ /* this is visible when the box-shadow is removed */ #featuredMaps, #bottomContent {   border-bottom: none; } </style> 3. Icons: Many people use the bottom half of the ArcGIS home page as a container for additional content - perhaps descriptive text, links to popular apps, or contact information. The City wanted to use this area to promote three collections of their GIS work: Story Maps, Open Ddata and Interactive Apps. To mirror the new Boston.gov site, we wanted to use icons for these three categories that matched the same minimal line drawing asthetic. I'm no artist, so I had to rely on icons that were available to use. Enter my new favorite web site - Noun Project. This web site is a great collection of icons that serve as a visual representation of our language - you can find a wide variety of images for anything from airplane to zebra. We found icons by the same artist for consistency, and made sure they were licensed for our intended use. To make them more 'mappy' I added a pushpin symbol in our favorite shade of red. The result: Together, these three techniques really had a transformational effect on the City's ArcGIS Online home page - now it blends pretty seamlessly with the City's other web properties, and has a fresh, modern look that the GIS staff is proud to showcase.  Check it out for yourself - you can visit the site here: http://boston.maps.arcgis.com ... View more

It all started with a Tweet: A GIS call-to-action! I was curious how I could help, so I quickly Googled 412 Food Rescue (hint: they partner with food retailers, wholesalers, restaurants, etc. and redirect perfectly good food that would otherwise go to waste to community members in need) to learn a little more, and then responded to the Tweet. A few days later, I had a phone call with Jennifer England, Director of Operations at 412 Food Rescue; she explained to me that they had spreadsheets listing their donors and recipients and had dabbled with mapping those datasets before, but wanted to further explore how GIS could help her organization. As Jennifer and I were talking, it wasn't hard to come up with ideas of how GIS could provide new insights. We agreed that she would send me data on their food donors and recipients, and I'd spend a little time working on some ideas that we could review together. Based on what Jennifer wanted to achieve and the fact that they were new to GIS, I wanted to do this work in ArcGIS Online. I had a few reasons why ArcGIS Online was a great fit for this project: Ease of working with tabular data: Jennifer's donor and recipient lists were simple Excel spreadsheets with address information. Publishing a CSV file as a hosted feature layer provides geocoding and address review capabilities , which meant I could very quickly and easily covert her tabular data into accurate points on the map in a web-friendly format. Also, using this method means that I only need to geocode/upload the data once, and then it's available for re-use for other maps and  projects. As an aside - I find that many people are not aware of the ability to review/match addresses when batch geocoding in ArcGIS Online - the interface shows candidates and match types, making it easy to select the right location: Tools for simple spatial analysis: Getting the points on the map was just the first step - but we needed to go further in order to answer questions like how is the data distributed, or what gaps in coverage exist. A first step was a spatial join - aggregating the donors and recipients to a common geography (ZIP codes, in this case). That's a standard operation for those who know their way around GIS software - but again Jennifer's organization was new to GIS and doesn't have access to ArcGIS Desktop or other tools. One of the great things about ArcGIS Online is that it takes some of the most common GIS operations and makes them accessible to anyone. From the ArcGIS Online web map, I used the Summarize Data: Aggregate Points tool to create a new layer of ZIP codes with donor and recipient counts - now, Jennifer and her staff have a clearer view of the spatial distribution of their data: Smart Mapping: Prior to us working together, Jennifer had seen her data as points on a map - but she had not been able to style the data in ways that allow for further exploration of the relationships in the data. Once the spatial joins were done, we could really dive in and see what the data was telling us. A simple way to do this is with symoblogy. Smart Mapping  make it easy for those like Jennifer who are new to GIS apply fairly sophisticated cartographic techniques that can tell you so much about your data. For example, by selecting two variables and the 'Compare A to B' option, we could easily see ZIP codes where there was not a balanced number of recipients and donors: Ability to add external data to your map: There are some great web maps that show food access and scarcity (like this example from Jim Herries), and a lot of work went into collecting and creating data that show poverty rates, distance to supermarkets and food spending. Jennifer asked was if we could add some of these already-existing layers to provide additional context that would help drive more informed decision-making in her organization. One data source that Jennifer wanted to use was the USDA Food Environment Atlas - they have dozens of map services pulled into a web app that gives a spatial overview of many food environment factors. These map services can easily be added into any ArcGIS Online map using the Add Layers from Web tool (which supports WMS, KML, GeoRSS and other common formats). One of the first layers I added was census tracts that have low income and low access to food - overlaying this with their donors and recipients will help Jennifer determine where areas of need are that they could expand into: Using these techniques, I was able to create a web map that 412 Food Rescue can start to use to explore the spatial relationships of their data - as they do, I'm sure more questions will come up, and it will be fun to continue working with them to refine the project. Some ideas I already have are incorporating Living Atlas content and exploring some additional analysis tools. ... View more