Authors

Haoyi Liu, Haozheng Liu, ChenyuSong

Research Question

How can grocery access, transit efficiency and the added costs of living in a food desert be quantified for individual rental properties in New York City? The project develops a food desert assessment framework and an API that shows renters the "true cost" of living somewhere.

Background

Access to fresh food is crucial to healthy living and an efficient lifestyle. People who live farther from fresh food sources must spend extra time commuting to reach them, and that time or transportation cost should factor into where someone chooses to live. Bodegas are a backbone of feeding residents across NYC, but not all of them carry fresh food. Houstory wants users comparing properties on its app to see this information.

Methodology

The project involves:

• Acquiring and harmonizing public datasets on food retail, socioeconomics, transit, street infrastructure, health outcomes and land use, documenting each one's provider, access point, key variables and geographic granularity.
• Cleaning, geocoding and harmonizing data to consistent geographies such as census tracts, NTAs or Community Districts.
• Building a composite food-access score that incorporates transit and network-distance travel time to the nearest qualifying grocery retailer.
• Analyzing access gaps and policy considerations at the city and federal level.
• Exploring the added costs and fees of living in a food desert in NYC.

Deliverables

• GitHub repository with documentation
• Technical report
• Policy recommendations

Data Sources

• USDA Food Access Research Atlas (FARA) and Food Environment Atlas
• NYC Supermarket Needs Index, FRESH sites, retail food store licenses and Green Carts
• Socioeconomic data
• Transit infrastructure (MTA stops / GTFS)
• Street infrastructure
• Health outcomes
• Land use (PLUTO)