Analysis of Housing in St. Louis by Race, Income, and Parcel Vacancy Rates
The number of vacant properties in a community can be a measure of that community’s overall vitality. Properties that are vacant for an extended period of time decrease the value of the surrounding properties, send a discouraging message to community members about the support for their community, and can harbor crime. However, some individuals are at a greater risk of being impacted by long-term vacancy of surrounding properties and the negative consequences thereof. Working with the St. Louis Regional Data Alliance and their Vacancy Portal initiative to identify communities which may be in need of support, we used machine learning techniques to identify and characterize census tracts in St. Louis in terms of their racial, economic, and parcel vacancy rates and compared this to emerging trends in crime statistics in those areas. Read the full report here.
