Our partner would like a map of food access in Hartford, including grocery stores, convenience stores, farmers markets and community gardens. They would like us to indicate all the places that are WIC certified, as well as bus routes. The map would serve two purposes: (1) to give Hartford residents an easy way to find healthy, affordable food in their neighborhood, and (2) to highlight the serious issue of food insecurity in the poorest areas of the city. Using polygons, we will demonstrate the income disparities of the different census tracts.
So far, we have mapped all of the grocery stores, convenience stores, and farmers markets as points. We still need to need to map the farmers markets and all of the places that are WIC certified. Then, we will need to add the CTTransit bus routes and the polygon data on median household income.
I really like the visual effect of the map, especially the color contrast between the bright color points and the grey polygon background. It is really aesthetically pleasing and easy for audience to find out what they need by three colors. However, when I click on the points, some titles are not well edited yet. So the profile seems to be a little bit confusing even though the description explains. I believe importing the map into the fusion legend template soon would make audience easier to understand the color coding also. I am really excited to see how the final design would be like with the addition of bus routine and polygon data!
Mike and Kaitlyn, I like how you included convenience stores, grocery stores, and farmer’s markets because it would allow the audience to visually see the ratio of healthy food options to the amount of convenience stores in food desert areas. When I click on the points, a tab of information pops up and I like how you have also included the food class ranks, the address, and type of store. Visually, the colors of the points are distinguishable which makes it easier to see the comparisons.
Suggestions for Improvements: Add a legend on the map so the audience can tell what the color points stand for and add where you got the data from. Also, in the information tab, you can explain what the food class rank mean. In addition, a template for your map would be helpful. For instance, you can use Google Fusion to create a polygon map of Connecticut or use mapshaper.org to clip an area needed. With the polygon map, you can use shaded regions to show the income disparities as well as have your points of convenience stores, grocery stores, farmer’s market, and community gardens. In your vision statement, it was stated that you would like to indicate places that are WIC certified, this can be done by using mapshaper where you dissolve and join polygons. This can be found in the data visualization book. The dissolve and join polygon allows the audience to see one highlighted area which you can then plot points within the polygon to show WIC certified stores. For the bus routes, it was mentioned in class that you can use polygon lines to show the bus routes. You may be able to use MapMe for bus routes because I remember it being easy to plot points and the icons can be changed to different images which can help you show bus stops by having an image of a bus icon. Also, if you’d like to have an hover option for your maps, you can use the leaflet template to hover over regions for the information tab to pop up. Lastly, if you have additional information you would like to add but do not know how to portray it, the information box is always an option. Best of Luck!
Mike and Kaitlyn,
I feel like this map has potential to be very descriptive map. I like you guys have the main part down, which is the map and the three colors that has its own unique location. However, you should display what does each color represent in the legend- grocery store, convenience store, or farmers markets. Also, I feel like clicking each color is not that accurate because the dot is so small and it doesn’t respond that effectively. I suggest either making the dot bigger or you can use a leaflet. A leaflet is more interactive and it has better visual overall. From my experience with it, you can add your own icon to each landmark and it looks very nice. You should give it a try!