Hudson River Valley Habitat Vulnerability Assessment Project

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Hudson River Valley Habitat Vulnerability
Assessment Project
Stephen D. Smith, Warren A. Brown, and Charles R.
Smith Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
GAP Analysis Annual Meeting July 31 August 4,
2002 Shepherdstown, West Virginia
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Splash Screen
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Acknowledgements

• Hudson River Estuary Project
• NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
• Cornell Institute for Resource Information
  Systems
• Cornell Institute for Social and Economic
  Research
• New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research
  Unit
• NYS Gap Analysis Project, Department of Natural
  Resources, Cornell University
• National Gap Analysis Project, USGS
• Hudson River Foundation

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Vulnerability Index by Town
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Goals
Habitat Vulnerability Assessment

• develop techniques for analyzing socioeconomic
  data to quantify an index of potential human
  impacts on biodiversity
• utilize developed techniques to assign a habitat
  vulnerability index to significant biodiversity
  areas

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Habitat Vulnerability Index
High
Vulnerability Index
Low
Proximity to Potential Growth Areas
Far
Near
Quantifies the vulnerability of biodiversity
areas to potential development impacts
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The Study Area
Habitat Vulnerability Assessment in the Hudson
River Valley
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Neighborhood Growth Allocation Model Development
Physical Attributes of the Region
Stages of Residential Growth
Social Composition of Neighborhoods
Neighborhood Growth Allocation Model
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Housing Development 1985 - 1990

• 2,332 Census Block Groups
• 2.3 million population in 1990
• 77,683 housing units built during 85 - 90

Housing Units Built 1985-1990
0 - 25 26 - 74 75 - 161 162 - 306 307 - 820
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Stages of Residential Growth
Stage 1 Rural -- low population density
Stage 2 First wave of development -- high rates
of new construction
Stage 3 Fully developed -- maximum property
values
Stage 4 Packing -- overcrowding
Stage 5 Thinning -- population decline
Stage 6 Recapture -- property is rehabilitated
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Defining Neighborhood Growth Stages Step 1
Computing raw stage intensity scores for each
block group using census variables of
population and housing. Step 2 Scaling the raw
stage intensity scores to yield comparable scores
across the study region Step 3 Normalizing
the scaled stage intensity scores to yield the
probability density function and Step 4
Weighting the number of stage by normalized score
to yield the weighted average stage.
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Neighborhood Growth Stage (1990)
Legend
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Neighborhood Growth Stage (1990) Albany and
Rensselaer
Legend
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Housing Unit Growth
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Initial Housing Market Areas
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Neighborhood Growth Allocation Model Development
Physical Attributes of the Region
Stages of Residential Growth
Social Composition of Neighborhoods
Neighborhood Growth Allocation Model
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Social Composition of NeighborhoodsFactorial
Ecology
Socio-Economic Status
Family Life Cycle
Mobility
Black-White
Urban-Rural
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Factor 1 SocioEconomic Status
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Factor 2 Urban - Rural
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Factor 3 Lifecycle
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Factor 4 Race
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Factor 5 Mobility
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Socioeconomic
Urbanized
Lifecycle
Race
Mobility
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Neighborhood Growth Allocation Model Development
Physical Attributes of the Region
Stages of Residential Growth
Social Composition of Neighborhoods
Neighborhood Growth Allocation Model
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Physical Attributes of the Region
Urban Centers and Transportation Network
Major highways with limited access
Major highways without limited access
Local roads
Limited-access interchanges
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Physical Attributes of the Region
Development Constraints
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Distance From Urban Area
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Public Lands
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NYS DEC Wetlands
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Model Development Implementation
Stages of Residential Growth Rural, First Wave of
Development, Fully Developed, Packing,
Thinning, Recapture
Physical Attributes of the Region Roads,
Interchanges, Metropolitan Areas, Open Water,
Wetlands, Steep Slopes, Agricultural Districts,
Stewardship Status
Social Ecology of Neighborhoods Socioeconomic,
Urbanized, Lifecycle, Race, Mobility
Neighborhood Growth Allocation Model
Neighborhood Growth Potential
Significant Biodiversity Areas Historic
Sites Public Lands Rare and Endangered Species
Locations
Vulnerability Index
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Vulnerability Index Based on Housing Stage
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Contributors

• Stephen D. Smith
• Cornell Institute for Resource Information
  Systems
• Warren A. Brown
• Cornell Institute for Social and Economic
  Research
• Yizhao Yang
• Cornell University, College of Architecture, Art,
  and Planning, Department of City and Regional
  Planning
• Charles R. Smith
• Cornell University, College of Agriculture and
  Life Sciences, Department of Natural Resources
• Milo E. Richmond
• New York Cooperative Fish Wildlife Research
  Unit
• Stephen D. DeGloria
• Cornell Institute for Resource Information
  Systems

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