Tag Archives: Walkshed

Walkshed NYC Enters NYC Big Apps Contest

We’ve been wrapped up in walkability to bring you Walkshed NYC. Using 10 data collections drawn from the NYC.gov Data Mine, we’ve entered Walkshed into the NYC BigApps competition to provide custom walkability mapping to NYC residents.

Just how much customization?   Sixty billion custom walkability maps for each NYC resident — yes, we said each resident.    Walkshed NYC contains 17 preferences each of which can be set to 11 values—that’s 505,447,028,499,293,771 possible maps that you can select from. Plenty of possibilities for all 8,363,710 NYC residents.

The complexity only begins there. Each of the 17 walkability preferences are made up of 157,715,256 values arranged in a grid to cover the city. The values in your selected preferences need to be combined on the fly to generate your distinct map.    Thank goodness we have DecisionTree to power this immense calculation.

But measuring a city’s walkability is just the beginning.  Planning water resources, land use, better sidewalk networks and bike lanes, and distane from diverse habitats are just a few of the ways that geographic technology can help make our towns and citoes operate in a more sustainable manner.  Also have an obsession with walkability or sustainability?  We need your support and votes.  Voting runs from December 15th – January 7th.

On
December 15th , vote to put walkability on the map.

Explore Walkshed New York

Walkshed.org is Live — Walkability Calculations for the Public

We just wanted to share a quick note with our blog readers about today’s launch of Walkshed.org.

Walkshed provides the public with the ability to define what walkability means to them.   By generating a custom heatmap, they can explore Philadelphia and see what neighborhoods best match their factors.   For example, one person might define walkability based on living close to a library, coffee shops, and a shopping center while another person might define it as being close to public transit, carshare locations and a grocery store.   Thanks to DecisionTree, Walkshed enables each person to calculate the locations that best meet their weighted criteria and returns a map that reflects these scenarios “on the fly”.

We’re thrilled that you are finding the application of interest and sharing your feedback with us.  Check it out at walkshed.org.

Walkshed.org Screenshot