Walkshed NY: Set your preferences and get a heat map of the most walkable areas in New York City that match your priorities.

Azavea has promoted open data initiatives by government for many years. We saw NYC BigApps as a great opportunity for us to demonstrate our commitment to building web-based applications that can both promote transparency and help our cities and communities operate in a more sustainable manner. In early October we held an internal competition to generate a series of ideas that would leverage the mountain of newly available NYC Data Mine data sets. Aaron Ogle’s proposal to extend his personal R&D project to NYC prevailed, and we set out to make it happen. Walkshed NYC is an expansion of our prototype walkability calculation and mapping web application, Walkshed Philadelphia.  The Walkshed New York app uses the following data layers from the NYC Data Mine:

• Restaurants
• Farmers Markets
• Coffee Shops
• PATH stops
• Parks and Recreation locations

• Playgrounds
• Cultural Centers
• WiFi Hotspots
• Libraries
• Post Offices

Aaron Ogle, the lead developer for Walkshed writes, “Walkshed enables users to make very precise and personal walkability calculations. Every distance we measure is an actual walking distance, rather than a distance calculated ‘as the crow flies’.  We give you enough data to make intelligent choices.  Walkability is not only proximity to basic amenities but also considers crime density, tree cover, and more.  Since Walkshed is built on DecisionTree, Azavea’s planning and geographic prioritization tool, users have the ability to set their priorities and create a walkshed that is tailored to their preferences.”

But measuring a city’s walkability is just the beginning.  Planning water sources, land use, optimal public transit routes, better sidewalk networks and bike lanes, traffic light timing, and distance from diverse habitats are just a few of the ways that geographic technology can help us promote more sustainable economies and environment.

Click this button to vote (short login will be required)

So, here’s where you come in.  The BigApps competition is awarding prizes based on two rounds of voting. The Popular Choice Award is based on votes received from public users of the competition site (here).  If you dig what we’re doing, please support us by visiting the site and voting for Walkshed New York! Voting opens on December 15 and closes January 7, 2010.  The second series of prizes will be determined by a panel of judges.

Thank you for your support!  If you’d like to give us feedback on Walkshed NY please contact Aaron Ogle at aogle@azavea.com.