by Ralston Raphael & Ethan Roush
Last updated on 12/3/24
for Data Visualization for Allwith Prof. Jack DoughertyTrinity College, Hartford CT, USA
Our collaboration with the Center for Leadership & Justice (CLJ) has been instrumental in understanding community-driven approaches to social change. CLJ's strategic focus on developing neighborhood and multi-faith leadership represents a powerful model for collective action, aiming to dismantle systemic barriers to social, racial, and economic justice in Hartford and the surrounding region. Their grassroots organizing methodology empowers local communities to address complex societal challenges through collaborative, bottom-up strategies.
The Here’s the HTML code for the hyperlink: html Copy code Greater Hartford Interfaith Action Alliance (GHIAA) addresses Connecticut's complex housing crisis through targeted initiatives addressing homelessness, housing reform, and economic justice. The state faces significant challenges, including racial and economic segregation, high housing costs, and limited affordable housing opportunities. GHIAA is advocating for transformative solutions like Fair Share Planning & Zoning, a comprehensive strategy designed to create approximately 300,000 housing units over 10 years. This approach aims to break decades of discriminatory housing policies by empowering local communities to plan strategic housing development. The Fair Share model would allocate housing needs across towns, considering factors like median income, existing housing stock, and poverty rates, with a cap of 20% new housing per community. By implementing this approach, GHIAA seeks to not only provide immediate housing relief but also drive economic growth, reduce segregation, and create more integrated, environmentally sustainable communities. The initiative addresses critical issues such as Connecticut's low GDP growth, high housing wages, and the economic barriers faced by working families struggling to secure affordable housing.
As part of our partnership with the Center for Leadership & Justice (CLJ) and the Greater Hartford Interfaith Action Alliance (GHIAA), we are helping them better understand the neighborhoods in certain areas. By examining census tract data, this research seeks to uncover where homes are concentrated, how ownership patterns differ, and which neighborhoods experience the most significant housing instability. This data will help CLJ and GHIAA evaluate homes more effectively and address housing needs in a more targeted way. By examining census tract data, this research seeks to uncover where homes are concentrated, how ownership patterns differ, and which neighborhoods experience the most significant housing instability.Applying this to our specific 5 town area, including Hartford, West Hartford, East Hartford, Bloomfield, and Winsdor, the goal is to provide policymakers and community advocates with actionable insights that can guide targeted interventions and resource allocation, ultimately creating more equitable and sustainable housing opportunities for vulnerable populations.
Geographic Resident Stability Analysis (Overall) - 5 Town Area, Connecticut:
Figure 1 visualizes the rate of residential stability using two statistics sourced from the Census data: total population within each census tract, and the number of residents who have lived in the same house for at least one year. With these stats, we can calculate an overall stability rate that measures the percentage of residents within each census tract who have remained in the same house over the past year.
This data, especially when considered alongside the visualization below, is useful in demonstrating the need for the USA homes program within the regions they operate. Our analysis of the Census tract data reveals significant variations in residential stability across Connecticut, with some areas experiencing notably low stability rates. For instance, Census Tract 9801 shows an alarming overall stability rate of just 33.8%, while several other tracts fall below 80% stability. These statistics may convincingly argue for the expansion of the USA Homes program, which seeks to make home ownership a possibility for individuals and families facing residential instability. The program administrators may find particular interest in targeting areas with the lowest stability rates, such as Census Tract 5021 (54.7% stability) or Census Tract 5005 (67.3% stability), where residents appear to be experiencing the most significant challenges in maintaining stable housing.
Geographic Resident Stability Analysis (Renters)- 5 Town Area, Connecticut:
Figure 2 highlights renter stability across Windsor, Bloomfield, Hartford, West Hartford, and East Hartford in the Capitol Planning Region of Connecticut, using a light green-to-dark blue gradient to represent the percentage of renters remaining in the same house over a year. Darker blue areas, such as Census Tract 504000 (97.8%), signify highly stable neighborhoods with longstanding renters, while lighter shades, like Tracts 980100 (33.8%) and 502100 (54.7%), indicate zones with higher population turnover, potentially influenced by rental markets, student populations, or economic transitions. Urban areas such as Hartford display notable variability, with pockets of lower stability compared to the more settled suburban tracts of West Hartford and Windsor. The majority of Census tracts show strong renter stability, with rates above 80%, reflecting established communities. However, areas with lower stability highlight potential socioeconomic challenges or housing dynamics encouraging mobility, offering valuable insights for urban planning and community development efforts.
Renter stability is a housing metric that measures the percentage of tenants who remain in their current rental home after one year, revealing patterns of residential continuity. Renter stability is crucial to CLJ's mission of addressing systemic inequalities in housing and community development. Given Connecticut's high levels of racial, ethnic, and economic segregation, tracking renter stability helps CLJ identify and target areas most impacted by discriminatory housing policies. By understanding how families remain in or are displaced from their homes, CLJ can develop strategic interventions to fight housing injustice, support vulnerable populations, and work towards creating more stable, integrated communities. This metric directly aligns with CLJ's long-standing commitment to challenging exclusionary zoning practices, advocating for affordable housing, and promoting racial and economic justice in housing. It is also crucial for community planning and resource allocation. High-stability areas often indicate established neighborhoods with strong community ties, potentially higher property values, and long-term investment in local institutions. Areas with lower stability may signal neighborhoods in transition, potentially requiring different types of community services, housing policies, or economic development initiatives.
Geographic Home Concentration - 5 Town Area, Connecticut:
Figure 3 depicts the concentration of homes across five towns in Connecticut: Bloomfield, East Hartford, Hartford, West Hartford, and Windsor. Each triangle on the map represents a single home and is color-coded according to the town it belongs to. The visualization shows clusters of homes, with Hartford having the highest density of CLT properties, as indicated by the large grouping of dark blue triangles. Bloomfield and East Hartford have smaller, distinct clusters of red and yellow triangles, respectively, while West Hartford and Windsor show more dispersed placements of teal and green triangles. This map effectively illustrates the distribution and density of CLT homes in these towns.
When Figure 3 is compared to Figure 1, the two images provide complementary insights into the overall stability and housing concentration in the 5-town region of Connecticut. The Home Concentration Across a 5-Town Region in Connecticut map visualizes the density of homes across the towns, showing Bloomfield and Hartford have the highest concentration, while Windsor has a relatively lower concentration. The Overall Stability in a 5-Town Community Land Trust choropleth map illustrates the renter stability rate, with darker blue indicating higher stability and lighter green/yellow indicating lower stability. By examining these maps together, we can observe that the towns with higher home concentration, like Bloomfield and Hartford, appear to have lower renter stability rates compared to towns with lower home concentration, like Windsor. This suggests that factors like affordability, tenant protections, community engagement, and access to resources within the Community Land Trust may be influencing the differences in renter stability across the region. The maps highlight opportunities for targeted interventions to improve housing security and stability for residents in the towns with lower renter stability.
5 Town Summary Chart: USA Homes Property Count, Overall and Renter Stability Rates
Lastly, in Figure 4 we are able to summarize the information contained in the maps above, showing each town within our study in terms of their total count of USA Homes properties, as well as their overall and renter specific residential stability rates. From this, it is evident that generally renters experience lower residential stability than the overall rate, with the notable exception of Hartford, which accounts for the most USA Homes properties of any single town, and according to our research, is nearly identical in terms of overall and renter stability rates.
Our collaboration with the Center for Leadership & Justice (CLJ) and the Greater Hartford Interfaith Action Alliance (GHIAA) has been instrumental in understanding community-driven approaches to social change and addressing Connecticut's housing crisis. CLJ’s focus on grassroots organizing and multi-faith leadership empowers communities to tackle systemic barriers to racial, social, and economic justice, while GHIAA's targeted initiatives address homelessness, housing reform, and economic disparities. A key aspect of GHIAA's work is advocating for Fair Share Planning & Zoning, a strategy designed to create 40,000 new affordable housing units statewide over the next decade. This comprehensive plan seeks to dismantle decades of discriminatory housing practices by allocating housing needs across towns, taking into account factors like income, housing stock, and poverty rates.
In partnership with CLJ and GHIAA, our research focuses on analyzing census tract data across Hartford, West Hartford, East Hartford, Bloomfield, and Windsor to uncover patterns in housing concentration, ownership dynamics, and residential stability. These findings aim to provide actionable insights for policymakers and community advocates, enabling targeted interventions to combat housing instability and foster equitable development. By aligning data-driven strategies with the goals of Fair Share Planning & Zoning, this initiative supports a more inclusive vision for Connecticut's future, ensuring vulnerable populations have access to stable and affordable housing while promoting integrated and sustainable communities.
Errors and Issues
There were issues with missing data in the dataset, specifically the total number of renters or renters after one year for certain areas. Additionally, the Census tract IDs were not in the proper format for the data visualization tool, Datawrapper, to correctly correlate the data with geographic locations. To address this, I identified that the Census tract IDs were missing a "003" prefix. I updated the IDs in the spreadsheet to include the missing prefix, which allowed the data to be properly imported and mapped in Datawrapper. The corrected data can now be used to create an accurate choropleth map visualizing residential stability patterns across the region. In order to find our specific 86 census tracts of relevance, we were able to identify the specific tract codes for each of the five municipalities, and command F search for all relevant results within the overall data set including all connecticut tracts. Then, in order for these tract codes to be readable by DataWrapper, we used a sheets formula to add 003 to the start of each code, allowing for DataWrapper to match each code to a polygon within its census tract map.
Data Cleanup
in order to find our specific 86 census tracts of relevance, we were able to identify the specific tract codes for each of the five municipalities, and command F search for all relevant results within the overall data set including all connecticut tracts. Then, in order for these tract codes to be readable by DataWrapper, we used a sheets formula to add 003 to the start of each code, allowing for DataWrapper to match each code to a polygon within its census tract map.
“Social Explorer.” Socialexplorer.com, 2019, www.socialexplorer.com/explore-maps.