This document summarizes a master's thesis that used GIS analysis to identify suitable locations for new community gardens in Syracuse, NY. The author reviewed the benefits of community gardens and Syracuse's existing gardens. She then described her methodology, which involved selecting vacant, city-owned parcels with slopes under 30% and bare earth or grass land cover. Her GIS analysis overlaid these criteria and identified several potential sites, particularly in underserved west Syracuse neighborhoods. The conclusions discussed how the spatial analysis could help organizations expand access to local foods and green space.

1. Spatial Evaluation for
Urban Agriculture Site
Selection in Syracuse, NY
By Bianca Dygert
In partial fulfillment of:
Master of Professional Studies
Graduate Program in Environmental Science
Environmental and Community Land Planning
State University of New York
College of Environmental Science
and Forestry
December, 10, 2013

2.  Introduction
 Benefits, Syracuse, and Planning Process
 Methodology
 Criteria selection, ArcGIS
 Results
 Discussion
 Conclusion

3. Introduction – Community Garden Benefits
 Strengthens local, sustainable food
production
 promotes education about the food
system
 reduces the “food miles” between
production and consumption
 enhances green space
 creates “green job” opportunities
 makes fresh, nutritious food
available
-(McClintock, 2010)
 Promotes local pride
 Promotes citizen participation
especially in poorer communities
that may be lacking in other public
amenities
 alternative to corporate
agriculture
-(Baker, 2005; Lawson, 2005).

4. Introduction – Community Garden Benefits
 Increased vegetable consumption,
decreased sweets consumption
 “Gardeners were more active than
non-gardeners in community projects,
and shared their vegetable wealth
with family, friends, passers-by, and
church food pantries, thereby
becoming nutrition change agents in
their own right”
-(Blair et al, 1991)
 Means for improving safety in higher
crime areas
 Solutions for criminal activity in teens
in inner-city schools
 Increased awareness of self and
community
 Decreased involvement in gangs and
crime in general
-(Fusco, 2001)

5. Introduction - Syracuse
 Syracuse Grows
 Mission:
“Syracuse Grows is a grassroots coalition of
individuals, gardens, and community collaborators
working to cultivate a just foodscape in the City of
Syracuse. We provide advocacy, programming,
education, and resources to support food justice and
community development through community
gardening and urban agriculture.”
-(Syracusegrows.org)
341 Midland Avenue Community Garden
Eastside P.E.A.C.E. Community Garden
Expeditionary Learning Middle School Garden
Hawley Green Vegetable Garden
Highland Park Children's Garden
Isabella Street Tapestry Community Garden
Karibu Community Garden
Lipe Art Park Community Garden
Rahma Clinic Edible Forest Snack Garden
Stone Soup Community Education Garden
Filtrexx Garden Soxx Community Garden
Southwest Community Farm
West Newell Street Community Garden
Westcott Community Garden

6. So why Syracuse?
 Still unclaimed vacant land with potential use for agriculture
 More gardens = more food
 Crime
 Fractured neighborhoods

7. Planning Process –Urban planning through spatial analysis
 Despite overwhelming support among researchers that community garden
programs lead to a variety of quality of life improvements, standard site
selection methodology for community gardens has been only incorporated in a
limited manner
 To do this it is first necessary to create an urban planning site selection data
set from which to work in order to save resources.

8. Methodology
 Goals stated in the City of Syracuse Sustainability Plan (suitability and
availability)
 Closely followed McClintock’s 2010 study “Cultivating the Commons”
 Developed a GIS suitability guide and inventory list
 Multi-criteria selection with overlay mapping

9. Methodology – City of Syracuse Sustainability Plan
 Chapter 3 – Food Systems
 Goal 3.2.2.2 - identify an area to develop a food
center where food-related businesses can cluster
 Goal 3.3.4.1 - to create an inventory of city land for
urban agriculture (availability and suitability)
 Food Deserts
Image credit: City of Syracuse Sustainability Plan, pg 44

10. Methodology - Criteria
 Suitability –
 slope – 30% or less
 land cover – bare earth or grass/shrup
 Availability –
 open space, vacant lots that are publicly owned by a government organization, tax
delinquent, and/or seizable by the city

11. Methodology - ArcGIS
 ArcGIS 10.1 and 10.2
 Simplified multi-criteria selection and overlay mapping
 Collected shapefile data for boundaries, instrastructure, zoning, and land cover
 Raster data for physical geography (DEM)
 Extent clipped to boundary of Syracuse

12. Methodology - Layers
 Tax parcels
 Tax delinquent, seizable property by government
 DEM
 Slope extracted from DEM
 Existing community gardens
 Roads
 Boundaries
 Land cover
Data obtained from NYS GIS clearinghouse, CUGIR, USGS.gov and Jonnell Robinson (Syracuse University)

13. Methodology – Parcels
 Tax parcel data was obtained
from Jonnell Robinson
(Syracuse University)
 Tax-delinquent, seizable and
vacant land was selected

14. Methodology - Slope
 Digital Elevation Model raster

15.  Slope derived from DEM
as a percent increase
 Color scale:
green = low, red = high
Methodology -Slope

16.  Classified into two classes:
30% or less OR greater than 30%
Methodology - Slope

17. Methodology – Land Cover

18.  Selected Bare Earth
or Grass/Shrub in
selection query from
land cover layer
 Created layer from
selection
Methodology – Land Cover selection

19. Methodology - Overlay

22. Results
 Large area of vacant land in the west side
 Could be broken up into several gardens, or a larger-scale urban farm
 Some smaller areas in the south-west side
 Potential for small scale, localized garden

23. Results

24. Results

25. Results

26. Discussion
 Utilizing remote-sensing tools such as ArcGIS can provide urban planners and
community gardeners with an opportunity to conduct necessary preliminary
research in a fairly inexpensive and timely manner.
 Free data
 Free trial software – Student year trial and free 60-day downloadable trial

27. Discussion
 Extensive background research was most time consuming, yet necessary
 Proficient knowledge and use of software made data analysis more efficient
and less time consuming
 Delays in project due to outside factors

28. Future Studies
 Site visits
 Light availability
 Allocation of water resources
 Updated food desert map
 Soil testing
 Survey local residents for opinion

29. Conclusion
 Community garden benefits
 Neighborhoods take initiative in food production
 Save money on store-bought produce
 Healthier options
 Social benefits
 Increased physical activity
 Self-awareness
 Reduced criminal activity

30. Conclusion
 Organizations such as Syracuse Grows are able to help groups select plots,
develop layouts, allocate funds and resources, and provide a community
outreach for other gardens.
 Spatial analysis allows groups like Syracuse Grows and the City of Syracuse by
having data on hand
 Inventory of vacant seizable land that fits the requirements for urban
agriculture allows them to simply select and analyze a plot of land that has
been pre-selected based on multi-criteria analysis

31. Conclusion
 Community gardens in Syracuse are currently very successful
 Additional gardens would provide the west side and lower west side of the
city with more food options for lower income neighborhoods
 More gardens = more food
 Large amount of vacant plots

32. Thank You!
 I would like to thank:
 Dr. Stewart Diemont
 Dr. Margaret Bryant
 Dr. Jonnell Robinson
 Dr. Evan Weissman

33. Bibliography
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GIS Data Sources: Jonnell Allen Robinson (Syracuse Univeristy), NYS GIS Clearinghouse (gis.ny.gov), CUGIR (cugir.mannlib.cornell.edu), US
Geographical Survey (USGS.gov)