Introduction
We are building an Iowa zoning guide.- New Hampshire’s atlas demonstrates what were building.
- We are collecting the data by looking at each city’s zoning ordinance, which provides a detailed breakdown of the zoning laws for the city.
- We are mapping the atlas in ArcGIS.
- Our process is not the same as the one used by New Hampshire, but the outcome will be similar.
Explaining districts
What is the point of a housing district?- It’s to maintain public safety; ideally, people won’t live right next to a chemical plant. Light quality, air quality, and access to green space are all affected by zoning regulations.
- Zoning code affects these by mandating population density, which dictates how many people can live in any given area, or how many stories a building is allowed to be.
Questions
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What is the relationship between housing density and housing costs?
- To answer this question, we will look at the housing density based on the zoning code of a given city. We would then combine that data with the data we have on the average price per house in those zones. Creating a graph where housing density is on the x-axis, housing prices are on the y-axis, and each city is a different color would result in a graph that conveys the relationship. We would likely need to only look at the cities that have more than 2 residential districts, as those district types likely wouldn’t provide a clear relationship, given the limited data they would provide.
- What is zoning’s effect on transportation times/costs?
- Does commute time affect purchase rate and/or price? If so, how?
- How does the cost of living in the suburbs with decreased land prices compare to the cost of commuting to work?
- How does the number of unsold homes relate to the zoning area? (Ex: On average, are there more unsold homes in Low Density Residential Zones?)
COGS
Iowa has Councils of Government (COGs) which contain different counties. Unfortunately, CIRTPA was somewhat recently dissolved, so we’re ignoring that change. 
Data Wrangling
Cities