Introduction

New York City is incredibly diverse and full of different cultures, which is why I decided to create a visual map showcasing the different racial demographic that make up this amazing city. I used QGIS to make the map, and it was really interesting to see the different neighborhoods and how they vary in terms of the populations they attract. 

Materials

For my lab, I utilized various sources of information, including the American Community Survey, NYC Boroughs, NYC Hydrography, and QGIS. The United States Census data provided the main data set, while the NYC Boroughs data was used for the .shp file. In total, I downloaded approximately 6 different sets of data to ensure I had enough information to complete the project. It was definitely a bit overwhelming at first, but I’m glad I was able to gather all the necessary data to create a comprehensive map.

Methodology 

First, I downloaded the data sets from the United States Census and imported them into QGIS. I searched for a SHP file for NY State and discovered several options. I experimented with a few different ones to determine which one fit my dataset the best. To ensure that the program could read the census data correctly and link it to .SHP file, I needed to re-format the tables. I did this in two steps and this involved formatting the tables in Excel and creating a new “cleaned” .csv files that provided QGIS with the precise format for each field in the tables. Finally, I spent a considerable amount of time editing the color palette to make sure it looked good.

Result

The final map shows the racial composition of New York City using data from the US Census rendered in QGIS. The pink areas represent counties where the majority of the population is white and the areas shaded in magenta, light green, and teal show the percentage of residents who identify as Hispanic, African American, and Asian, respectively. The other category represents mixed or other races which is shown by the color emerald green. By looking at the map, we can see that certain areas of New York City have higher concentrations of certain racial and ethnic groups. The map provides a visual representation of how race is distributed across the state, and I feel this can be useful for analyzing patterns and trends.

Reflection

Throughout this lab, I found the QGIS software to be quite challenging to use, making it the toughest Lab so far. However, by working through the steps and getting more familiar with the software, I was able to better understand how to bring in census data and join it to the .SHP file. and I felt quite nice once I was able to create the final map. During the lab critic my partner suggested I play with the colors a bit more. Overall, this lab pushed me out of my comfort zone and taught me new skills in data analysis and visualization using QGIS.

References

2017 Tiger/Line® shapefiles: American+indian+area+geography. United States Census Bureau. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2023, from https://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/geo/shapefiles/index.php?year=2017&layergroup=American%2BIndian%2BArea%2BGeography 

Bureau, U. S. C. (n.d.). Explore census data. Retrieved April 9, 2023, from https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03002%2B&tid=ACSDT1Y2021.B03002 

Hydrography. NYC Open Data. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2023, from https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Environment/Hydrography/drh3-e2fd 

Ivanova, L. (n.d.). Diverse population group . photograph. 

Political and administrative districts – download and metadata. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2023, from https://www.nyc.gov/site/planning/data-maps/open-data/districts-download-metadata.page