Latest data shows 8% of residential properties in Baltimore are vacant. Most of the current efforts trying to address the vacancy problem in the city are looking to fill residential properties with people.
However, reducing vacancy does not necessarily improve a community’s quality of life. More people means less services available. Overpopulation is, per se, a problem. This project aims to shift the focus to see vacant land as an area of opportunity for increasing the quality of life of the people who are already there.
This project utilizes data from the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance. By analyzing the different datasets they provide and using OECD's Quality of Life Index as a framework for selecting the relevant variables, I tackled the assignment of finding and telling a data story around Baltimore's vacancy crisis.