Subway Impact study

This study was designed to assess the impact of the NYC subway system on the social demographics of New York City. The study assumes that access to the subway is not evenly distributed across the city and uses a 1/2 mile walking distance buffer to represent a service area of access.

For the full project methodology, data sources, results, and maps, see the full paper.

Population Density and the subway

Looking to find trends in population density around the subway, this analysis seeds census block group polygons with an even distribution of points, each representing 10 people. Using a rendering technique, overlapping dots become brighter and whiter, indicating denser areas. Overlaying the calculated 1/2 mile walking distance subway service area, it becomes clear that higher density areas, especially outside of Manhattan, are clustered near the subway.

Home ownership

Using a similar technique to the population density map, this analysis seeds census block groups polygons with points representing 10 households each and colored depending on whether each dot represents a rental or owned housing unit. The subway service area is overlaid. This helps locate trends of home ownership and shows that most rentals are concentrated around the subway. Rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent, 72.5% of households near the subway rent, while only 51.2% rent outside of the 1/2 mile walking distance from the subway.

Household income

To begin to understand the relationship between the subway and household income, a machine learning technique, K-means clustering, was used to find areas with similar household incomes. In South Brooklyn and Eastern Queens, a clear delineation can be seen between income and the subway service area. The inclusion of the Bronx and Manhattan skews calculations for citywide household incomes both within and outside the subway service area. A more accurate examination would examine each borough separately.