August 4, 2008
Assessing quality of life, neighborhood walkability, and other population factors and statistics
There are a number of tools that have become available recently that overlay population features on top of geographic maps (thanks NumbersGuy). The data is from government surveys, crime logs, census logs, etc., and have been available for a very long time. However, by adding the geographic component and a web interface, the data is suddenly much more accessible and useful, especially to the individual.
For example, are you going to buy a new home and want to check out neighborhoods for various factors, such as crime, income, education opportunities, neighborhood walkability, etc.? Or are you interested in checking out your current neighborhood? Do you want to open a business and so want to target specific markets?
Below are a number of online tools that you may help you answer these questions:
- SpotCrime: shows crime statistics for a given address
- PolicyMap: shows census, real estate analysis, crime, mortgage origination, education, income, demographic, job, energy, and other statistics
- Walk Score: rates a given address on its walkability - a measure of the quality of life around a given address when walking
- Criminal Searches: search a given neighborhood or even people for crimes and offences.
As the first of several examples, here is an image of the distribution of household incomes around VCU in the year 2000, using the PolicyMap service. The free version unfortunately only gives access to old data (e.g., year 2000 for incomes), and the resolution is a little course (does not give block-by-block resolution), but you still can see overall trends. In the figure, the regions shaded with the darker colors indicate higher median household incomes.
The image below, from SpotCrime, shows the various crimes that were reported and logged by police from March 4, 2008 to May 4, 2008 around VCU. The different icons indicate different types of crimes, such as assaults, thefts, arson, arrests, robbery, burglary, vandalism, etc. While the number of crimes over just a two month period might seem high, VCU is an urban university in the middle of a low-income part of town (see previous median income image) with a dense population, so some amount of crime is unfortunately probably to be expected without better enforcement and more security.
Finally, on the bright side, VCU does appear to be a neighborhood that is quite walkable, as seen in the following graphic, where WalkScore gives VCU a walkability score of 88 out of 100, where 100 is the best walkability score you can get. Each icon represents a grocery store, restaurant, coffee shop, bar, movie theatre, school, park, library, bookstore, fitness center, drug store, etc., that are good to have within walking distance - the more of these establishments there are, the higher the walkability score.
Posted by keg at 5:20 PM
August 2, 2008
University degrees, where the jobs are, and where the jobs are not
You might be interested in checking out a post I made on my university blog, where I discuss a table showing numbers of degrees being produced versus projected job demand in several disciplines. The results may surprise you (and may give insight into why the U.S. keeps outsourcing high-tech jobs).
Hint: where are the students?
Posted by keg at 6:45 PM
July 22, 2008
Virginia Safari Park
If you want a fun day trip, don't mind being overwhelmed by cute, and want to get up close and personal with a camel or perhaps an ostrich, then you should consider a visit to the Virginia Safari Park, located off Interstate 81, just south of Lexington and northwest of Lynchburg --- right beside Natural Bridge.
They have a variety of land mammals and birds, such as llamas, giraffes, pot-bellied pigs, bison, emus, elk, zebras, camels, and some endangered African animals.
You can either drive through the three-mile trail or you can ride in a wagon, pulled by a tractor. As you drive along, the animals will come up to the car and you can feed them special food from plastic buckets. We bought four buckets of food for $10, and that was about the right amount for the three-mile trip.
Some of the critters will be happy to relieve you of your bucket if you aren't careful:
You also have to be careful that you don't get an additional passenger in your car:
In addition to the safari trail, they also have a giraffe feeding station, a kangaroo walk-about, a lorikeet landing, primates, tigers, warthogs, an aviary, and a petting area.
So it was a nice day trip up in the beautiful Virginia mountains, where the buffalo do roam and the antelope do play. Camels too.
Posted by keg at 9:52 AM
July 14, 2008
Setting up a home gym
Time has a way of warping when you are not looking. Blink, and you'll soon realize that years have gone by, as you struggle with work, paying bills, and just making ends meet. But as you get older, you need to be more careful about these large lapses in time. And without proper care, the body will quickly degrade if not kept in shape, as can be seen by America's expanding waistline and the fact that the U.S. Obesity Epidemic Continues to Grow.
We'll see if I caught mine in time, but for now at least I can begin the process of getting back in shape. Towards that goal, we recently completed setting up a home gym.
Why set up your own home gym? Why not just join a local fitness center? Well, for me, my biggest constraint is time, and so having a gym at home really pays for itself when you consider the overhead of travel to and from a fitness center. Also, as I learn more about what is involved in fitness and proper exercises, I have found that most local fitness centers just do not have the right types of equipment there to be worth my time and money. And I really shouldn't have to mention awful music, OPS (Other People's Sweat), and hefty fees commonly found at the local fitness centers.
A good guide on how to set up your own home gym, with pointers to proper equipment and possible vendors, can be found here in the September 1, 2002 issue of the CrossFit Journal. Our current home gym is a first-pass at their prescribed configuration, and includes a multi-station exercise center, plates and dumbbells (and a couple kettlebells), treadmill, striking dummies/bags, pullup station, and some tumbling matts. There are a few pieces of equipment I am lacking, such as a climbing rope, rings, and a rowing machine, but for the most part the current configuration allows for a reasonably effective and useful workout.
Note that the above-linked CrossFit Journal article also contains a list of things you can do to get kicked out of your local gym (I think they were being humorous) - maybe that's a way to get your gym to refund the remaining balance of your gym membership if you want out?
Day 1
Bring your own music - use a boom box - and turn it up to inspiration levels and start working out. ACDC's "Thunderstruck" should do the trick.
As for how to structure your exercise workouts, I can't think of a better program than CrossFit - there you'll find a WoD (workout of the day), videos on how to do each exercise, nutrition information, and lots more. They stress functional fitness, and their workouts will help you get into the best shape of your life.
If you want more of a tactical workout, then you might want to try The Pit Workout
Finally, if you need some motivation to get back in shape, whether you stick with your fitness center or build a home gym, and want examples of how effective the CrossFit program is, you may want to watch this video of one of the CrossFit workouts.
Note that setting up this gym completes one task of my 101 Goals in 1001 Days project.
Posted by keg at 5:40 PM
July 11, 2008
Review of I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
I Am Legend
The book focuses on Robert Neville as he tries to stay alive and sane in a world ruled by vampires. He researches the plague and tries to find a cure, and his strength and reason are put to the test in a life where his days are spent preparing for the vampire onslaughts at night, and his nights are spent struggling to live to just another day. Trying to stay alive while all alone, especially after one's family and friends are killed and the only purpose in living any longer is to avoid being ripped to shreds by vampires, can test anyone's sanity, and Robert has his share of mental, as well as physical, struggles.
I haven't yet seen Hollywood's remake of the book, the I Am Legend
Note that completing this book meets one of my 101 goals in 1001 days project goals.
Posted by keg at 1:05 PM
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