The goal of this laboratory exercise was to apply the knowledge learned in our Geography 335 course to a real world situation. Throughout this lab we will demonstrate the skills we have learned thus far including digitizing features, manipulation of layers, as well as applying cartographic techniques. Also, the lab shows real world application of GIS in order to produce the necessary materials required for the legal acquisition of a property.
Background:
The objective of this assignment was to produce the necessary maps used in order to present a legal proposal for the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire confluence project. This project brings together UWEC and the Eau Claire community by creating an area downtown where art students and local businesses can come together. In order to acquire the necessary property there were many city-wide votes to approve or turn down this project. A part of this process includes the presentation of various materials which show the impact this new confluence project will have on the community. For our project we worked to create some of the maps which might be used to make such a decision.
Methods:
Top Left to Right: Fig.1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3
Bottom Left to Right: Fig. 4, Fig. 5, Fig. 6
As seen in Fig. 1-6, the following six maps were produced in
order to provide a thorough, real world proposal for the confluence project in
Eau Claire, WI. For all of the individual maps, a base map was added in order
to show an aerial image of the proposed site as well as the surrounding area.
After this was applied to all the maps, more specific data was added to each of
the six maps.
Fig. 1- First the civil division data, collected from Eau
Claire county was added in order to give a more detailed view of the area
surrounding the proposed site for the confluence project.
Fig. 2- In this map, the block groups were added and show
the population (as collected in 2007) of each section per square mile. Tracts
were also added into this map to better show the borders of the block groups.
Fig. 3- The map in Fig. 3 uses parcel data as well as water
and centerline data from the city database. This shows the various parcels
throughout the area, centerlines and water features.
Fig. 4- This particular map shows the Public Land Survey
System (PLSS) quarter quarter areas. This data was added from the Eau Claire
County database.
Fig. 5- In this map the zing data, collected from the Eau
Claire city database, is added in order to show the different zoning areas in
the surrounding area of the proposed site. Once this data was added it was
grouped based on like zoning codes: C (commercial), I (industrial), R
(residential), CBD (central business district), P (public properties) and T
(transportation).
Fig. 6- The map in Fig. 6 contains the Eau Claire voting
wards from the city of Eau Claire database which are also labeled by the voting
ward number assigned to them.
It is interesting how close the proposed site for the
confluence project is to the central business district as shown in Fig. 5. This
is something which was publicized when the proposal of the confluence project
was being voted on because it achieves the major point of the University which
is to incorporate more of the student body into the downtown area of Eau
Claire. In doing so not only does it
benefit students living there because they gain entertainment and other
opportunities to be more active in the community but the local businesses
receive more attention as well. One downfall of this proposed site though can
be seen in Fig. 3 through the centerlines. These centerlines show how accessible
the site is and based on the lines shown in this particular map, there is a
lack of “easy” routes from the UW-Eau Claire campus to the proposed site. Based
on the lack of accessibility there is a greater likelihood that there will be
traffic congestion in the area which could cause problems for locals as well as
commuting students.
Sources:
Eau Claire Regional Arts Center (n.d.).
Confluence Projected
Site Plan. Retreived from
http://www.uwec.edu/alumni/confluence/
City of Eau Claire
Eau Claire County
