Conclusions

Project Purpose:	The purpose of this project was to develop a method for identifying key areas or neighborhoods that could be targeted for community change/development efforts.  The identification of these neighborhoods was to combine the polar approaches of needs-based and asset-based development.
Conclusions:	GIS does indeed provide a potentially new and useful way for making community development decisions based on community weaknesses and strengths. First, GIS can be used to identify clustering by traits through spatial auto correlation Second, data layers of differing types (points & polygons) can be assigned to a single map type (block groups) Third, asset and needs data can be looked at simultaneously Fourth, animation can show visual relationships between multiple variables Fifth, specific areas that meet certain thresholds on each variable can be extracted and viewed in isolation Sixth, characteristics of these unique areas can be analyzed and form the basis for discussion of appropriate development options.
More Information:	Marc Schlossberg Urban, Technological, & Environmental Planning (UTEP)