Monday, August 15, 2011

Lab 2 - Geocoding

According to the Institute for the Study of Homelessness and Poverty at the Weingart Center, an estimated 254,000 men, women and children experience homelessness in Los Angeles County during some part of the year and approximately 82,000 people are homeless on any given night. Unaccompanied youth, especially in the Hollywood area, are estimated to make up from 4,800 to 10,000 of these. For this week's lab I geocoded 60 homeless shelters within Los Angeles County. The shelters span in range from Ventura County through the San Fernando Valley all the way to Long Beach. The purpose of this was to see how many homeless shelters were available in close proximity from the Los Angeles city center (I have chosen the Convention Center to represent this), seeing that, although homeless people may be found throughout the county, the largest percentages are in South Los Angeles and Metro Los Angeles. Buffers have been added to visualize walkability to these shelters from the city center. With 15-17 shelters within the 5 mile radius of the city center, and 30-35 shelters within the 10 mile radius, it is safe to say there is a good supply. However many may not be very accessible to walk to, especially for potentially disabled veterans. Therefore further research will be needed to include public transportation stops/routes to these shelters from both the city center and a central location in South Los Angeles.

Provided is the table of names and addresses of the Homeless Shelters I geocoded:

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