Mapping a Declining Quality of Life in Parkland

For our final project, we are working on a cartographic representation of a diachronically deteriorating quality of life in the Parkland neighborhood. A key conceptual assumption behind our project is that a decline in the number of business and food sources translates into a suffering standard of living, which I believe to be true. The primary question that we seek to answer, or aid in answering, is IF the economic decline caused by the 1968 riot had long-term ramifications for the area’s business landscape. The other piece of the puzzle is white flight, which is a less sudden process than the uprising and developed over time. The tracking of number of businesses, number of food retailers, and the ethnic make-up of the community over three or four census years should yield a definite answer to the question of economic decline. The spatial expression of deteriorating or stagnating conditions should also be reflected in the maps we will produce. The inclusion of exclusive food-related business as a mapping category serves to reinforce the notion that a declining retail sector impinges on standards of living, as nobody can argue that food is not a primary material need but a consumerist penchant.