Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 6 shows where free ESL centers are located and where those
without English skills are concentrated at tract levels in Chicago. The figure
indicates that the far western and southeastern parts of Chicago do not have
enough ESL services for the high proportion of those who need such services
while other areas are relatively well-served by ESL centers.
Adequate access to child care can be greatly instrumental in supporting
workforce development.
Illinois Action for Children
used GIS to identify so-
called ―child care deserts‖ in Cook County to determine where the supply of
child care falls short of the likely demand using GIS (Stoll et al., 2009). For
this task, GIS students calculated the difference between children likely in
need of child care and the slots available in child care centers in each tract.
Figure 7 shows how a tract performs relative to other tracts in meeting child
care needs. In the map areas shaded brown or dark red represent child care
deserts where the demand far exceeds the supply of child care.
The child obesity rate is nearly three times the national average in
Humboldt Park, Chicago. In the wake of this significant community health
issue
, Puerto Rican Cultural Center
wanted to assess access to healthy food
and to inventory community assets that can be utilized to address this
community health issue. Students surveyed and mapped community assets and
the nutritional value of food venues. Figure 8 shows religious institutions,
community assets (community gardens, farmers markets, and health and
fitness programs), and grocers and restaurants categorized by nutritional value
(produce options, limited produce options, no produce options) in Humboldt
Park (Stutsman et al., 2010). Figure 9 shows what areas are within walking
distance (500 meters) of grocery stores with fresh produce options (Knight et
al., 2011). While there are various food venues in Humboldt Park, food venues
with high nutritional value are not widely accessible.
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) launched the Safe Haven, Safe Summer
program in partnership with faith-based communities. The program offers free
educational programs to help keep youth away from crime particularly in low-
income neighborhoods. GIS can be used to determine where the programs
might be needed.
Enlace Chicago
used GIS to assess violent crimes committed
near schools in connection with the area's youth population to determine
potential demand for the Safe Haven program in Little Village. The percent of
youth was mapped in Figure 10 to help identify potential demand, and the map
was compared to available crime data nearby (Luna et al., 2012).
The locations of emergency food providers (such as food pantries) were
mapped to assist Little Village and Pilsen residents who seek food assistance
(Robidoux et al., 2011). Figure 11 can help identify where underserved areas
