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Walkability Analysis of Harris County Parks

Measuring Access to Harris County ParksPa r ks ar e a highly visible e le m e nt of county gove r nm e nt. The a bility of citize ns to acce ss the par ksis of obvious im por tance . W alking d istance to par ks is pe r haps the be st m e thod to d e te r m ine par k acce ssibility. This a nalysis d e te r m ine s ar e a s within one m ile of a pa r k. One m ile r e pr e se nts the m a xim um d istance a pe r son would consid e r wa lking to a par k. Of cour se , any d istance can r e pr e se ntthe m axim um lim it of walka bility a nd the a nalysis ad juste d .

Simple One-Mile BufferIt is sim ple e nough to d e fine one m ile d istance fr om a par k bycr e ating buffe r s of e ithe r the par k ar e a or par k ce ntr oid . Howe ve r, a sim ple one m ile buf fe r d oe s not consid e r m od e s of tr ave l. W alking to a par k r e quir e s pe d e str ian a cce ss along r oa d ways. Im age 1 on the le ft visualize s a sim ple , one m ile buffe r of par k ce ntr oid s.

Travel-Distance Cost Analysis

Im age 2 a t r ight shows the cost sur face use d to m e asur e pa r kacce ss. Only the top five value s a r e sym bolize d .

The fir st ste p in cr e ating a tr ave l-d istance cost analysis is tod e ve lop a cost sur face fr om pe d e str ian f r ie nd ly r oa d s. Cost sur fa ce

r oa d s ar e a subse t of the Har r is County r oa d ne twor k whichinclud e s m inor and ar te r ial r oa d s with all non-walka ble r oa d s:

inte r sta te s, f r e e ways, highways, a nd toll ways r e m ove d . A tr ave lcost r a ste r sur face , cr e ate d using the Euclid e a n Distance tool and

the r oa d d ata , contains d istance value s fr om e a ch ce ll to thene a r e st r oa d . To cr e a te the final cost sur fa ce , the Re cla ssify tool is

use d to cla ssify ce ll value s onto a scale of 1 to 6 base d on pr e -e te r m ine d d istance value s of 100’, 500’, 1320’, 2640, 5280’, and

>5280’ with 1 be ing the close st (e asie st to tr ave l).

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Preparing the ParksEm ploying the Fe a tur e Ve r tice s to Point tool allows for the cr e ation of points whe r e par k polygons inte r se ct sur r ound ing pa r ce ls.Im age 3 be low visualize s this.

Calculate Cost-DistanceThe Cost Distance tool applie d to par k-par ce l inte r se ct points

cr e ate s a r aste r sur face whe r e ce lls contain d istance va lue sbe twe e n the ce ll a nd the ne a r e st inte r se ct point.

Im age 4 a bove shows the cost sur face r e classifie d tospe cifie d d istance s of 100', 500', 1320', 2640', & 5280'.

Visualizing the ResultsW alka bility analysis pr ovid e s a m uch be tte r pictur e of und e r se r ve d acce ss to pa r ks. Som e ar e a s that buffe r s show as be ing within a m ile of the par k a r e n't within a m ile wa lking and vice ve r sa. The char t d e m onstr a te s tha t 22.61% of par ce ls within Har r is County have walka bility to a pa r k. The char t a lso pr ovid e s num be r s of par ce ls within the spe cifie d d istance s of the stud y.

Date: 11/11/2014

Ana lysis a nd m a pping: JC Br own

Ha r r is County ITC | Fr ont Of fice App. - GIS Gr oup1310 Pr a ir ie , Suite 1501 | Houston, TX 77002 0 5 10 15 202.5 M ile s

´Cost Distance Surface

1 Mile100'500'

1/4 Mile1/2 Mile

ParcelsHarris County BoundaryPark Centroids

ParksPark Centroid 1-mile Buffer

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