Urban Acres is a non-profit organization that promotes healthy growth (literally) in the Near north side of Peoria, Illinois. Their community garden is a place to meet and learn for people of all ethnicities and diversities.

Furthering this ideal, the organization has recently purchased a building in the neighborhood with hopes and dreams of converting it into a start-up incubator called Springboard Market.

In order to receive grant monies and achieve these dreams, a demographic study needed to definitively show the obvious income disparity and food desert of the area surrounding the new HQ building.

These reports divide the area within 10-20-30 minute walk to the building. More study to come on the accessibility of healthy food options for residents. It’s a great initiative to be associated with!

We also created a 34″ x 44″ wall map for our friends to look at when planning this grassroots revitalization project.

“As a favor to a friend” Isn’t that how all these things start out?
The Illinois State Board of Education has long since stopped making school districts maps for each district. So, when a retiring superintendent asked for an updated map for the new incoming administrator, there are not a lot of options. Definitely nothing that a struggling rural school district could actually pay for.

The request actually came by way of ILGISA, our state GIS association, of which I am on the board. I snatched it up as a first pass for this newly formed non profit organization, also, the Fieldcrest High School principal is a good friend of mine…kind of a ‘small world’ thing.

It looks a lot like the ISBE map from 2003, which should be taken as a cartographic compliment. In total, I probably spent 5 hours on it, but don’t exactly know. How refreshing.

Later, I made this Map. It is focused and zoomed in on just Fieldcrest:

If you look close on the PDF (linked from the image above) you can see the micro$oft building footprint layer.