about the maps
cityLAB has created Tracking Tools for the 6% Place using Google’s Fusion Tables API, which generates maps from an easy-to-update database. These maps will let the community easily track changes over time.
To find out more about a parcel, Census tract, or block, click on it. If you want to view a map in Google Street View, select the “Satellite” button in the upper-right hand corner of the map, drag the orange man icon from the left-hand side, and drop it on the point you want to view in the map. Click on a photo to see it in greater detail.
If you see inconsistencies, or something that needs to be added or deleted, please let us know at maps@citylabpgh.org.
number of
creative workers
Tracking the number of creative workers in the 6% Place will be the primary indicator used to measure its success. As described on page 39 of the 6% Place report, the existing metrics (the Census and the American Community Survey) don’t measure the number of creative workers accurately on a tract-by-tract level.
Consequently, we are implementing the Garfield Creative Census in the 6% Place, similar to the creative census previously implemented in Lowell, Masachusetts. A detailed description of the 6% Place creative census can be found in the Implementation and tracking section of the 6% Place book on page 92. A rise in the number of creative workers along with an improvement in other economic indicators will strengthen our hypothesis that 6% may be an economic tipping point. Once the first census is completed in late 2012, that data will be posted with the other tracking tools on this page.
vacant land &
vacant buildings
The number of vacant or unused properties is a basic indicator of a neighborhood’s economic health. As the neighborhood becomes economically stronger, the number of vacant properties should decrease. We will track vacancies in the 6% Place through periodic visual surveys and other published data.
market value,
block by block
The value of entire city blocks is another pragmatic and easy-to-understand indicator of change over time. Our Tracking Tool will be updated to reflect updates in property value values gathered by Allegheny County and available on their website. We have aggregated these parcel-by-parcel values into one numeric indicator by block. Over time we anticipate that this numeric indicator will increase in value.
penn avenue
building conditions
Another important metric of a neighborhood’s economic development is the condition of its buildings. cityLAB conducted a visual and photographic survey of Penn Avenue between Matilda Street and Negley Avenue in July 2011 to serve as a baseline for tracking building conditions in the future. In our building condition index, a zero corresponds to a vacant lot; one, a building in bad condition; two, a building in average condition; and three, a building in good condition.
Our data updates the 2008 data found in the in the Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation’s Garfield’s 2030 Plan, and our ratings include the option of a zero to represent a vacant lot while the 2030 Plan’s focuses only on vacant buildings. Periodic visual surveys of the area will be used to update this Tracking Tool in the future.
penn avenue
creative conditions
We also want to track the conditions that creative workers need to thrive. The trackable creative conditions along Penn Avenue will include the number of third places and places to assemble, creative workplaces, and places where creative work is displayed. In the future we’d like to include creative signage on this Tracking Tool. These indicators will be updated by periodic visual surveys of the neighborhood, resulting in updates to our tracking tools.
Why these indicators? Third places are anchors of community life outside home and work. Examples of third places include coffee shops, book stores, churches and social clubs. Tracking places where creative workers meet, work, and show their work will indicate how Penn Avenue is developing. If you have a suggestion for a place to meet, work, or show along Penn Avenue, let us know at maps@citylabpgh.org.
age distribution
Another goal of our experiment is to draw twenty-five- to forty-year-olds to the 6% Place. Our final tracking tool is more static and will only be updated with the next Decennial Census, in 2020.
In the Census data, the closest cohort to twenty-five- to forty-year-olds is twenty-two- to thirty-nine-year-olds. The data, organized by Census tract in both Garfield and Friendship, for the 2000 and 2010 Census years are below.
where are we?
If you need to orient yourself, here’s a map of Garfield and Friendship.