A Geospatial Analysis of Income Level, Food Deserts and

Urban Agriculture Hot Spots

by

Hildemar Cruz

A Thesis Presented to the

Faculty of the USC Graduate School

University of Southern California

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree

Master of Science

(Geographic Information Science and Technology)

May 2016

Copyright ® 2015 by Hildemar Cruz

To those individuals that dare to challenge the collective way of life in an effort to live true to

their beliefs.

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Table of Contents

List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... vii

List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. ix

Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................... x

Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... xi

Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Food Environment ............................................................................................................ 1

1.2 Food Deserts ..................................................................................................................... 2

1.3 Urban Agriculture (UA) as an Alternative ........................................................................ 3

1.4 Objective of this study ...................................................................................................... 4

Chapter 2: Background and Literature Review .............................................................................. 6

2.1 Urban Agriculture ............................................................................................................. 6

2.1.1 Defining UA........................................................................................................... 7

2.1.2 Perspectives on UA ................................................................................................ 8

2.1.3 GIS Prior Study Shortcomings and Current Study Implications ......................... 10

2.2 Food Deserts ................................................................................................................... 13

2.2.1 Accessibility ......................................................................................................... 13

2.2.2 Travel Time and Access to Transportation .......................................................... 14

2.2.3 Criteria of Income Level ...................................................................................... 15

2.3 Food Justice .................................................................................................................... 15

2.3.1 Issues with Discrimination ................................................................................... 16

2.4 UA and Food Desert Research in Los Angeles County .................................................. 18

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Chapter 3: Methodology ............................................................................................................... 21

3.1 Study Area and Scale of Analysis ................................................................................... 21

3.2 Data and Sources............................................................................................................. 23

3.3 Methodology ................................................................................................................... 27

3.3.1 Spatial Autocorrelation and Hot Spot Analysis ................................................... 27

3.3.2 Buffers & Directional Distribution Analysis ....................................................... 30

3.4 Regression Modeling ...................................................................................................... 30

Chapter 4: Results ......................................................................................................................... 33

4.1 Hot Spot Analysis Urban Agriculture and Poverty ......................................................... 33

4.2 Hot Spot Analysis Food Deserts and Poverty ................................................................. 39

4.3 Buffer and Directional Distribution ................................................................................ 46

4.4 Regression Modeling ...................................................................................................... 52

4.4.1 Outcome of Exploratory Regression Model ........................................................ 52

4.4.2 OLS Regression Model ........................................................................................ 55

4.5 Review of Findings ......................................................................................................... 58

4.5.1 Overlap in Hottest Spots for UA and Food Deserts ............................................. 60

Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusion ......................................................................................... 63

5.1 Summary of Findings ...................................................................................................... 63

5.2 Significance of Findings ................................................................................................. 64

5.3 Study Limitations and Future Research .......................................................................... 66

5.3.1 Limitations ........................................................................................................... 66

5.3.2 Future Research ................................................................................................... 67

Appendix A: Maps of Demographic Data Utilized in Analysis ................................................... 73

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Appendix B: Exploratory Regression Models – Raw Results ...................................................... 76

Appendix C: Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Results ................................................................... 83

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List of Figures

Figure 1 Map of UA Sites Courtesy of CultivateLA .................................................................... 10

Figure 2 CLF Infographic Detailing the Growing Green Report for Boston ............................... 11

Figure 3 Map of Study Area: Los Angeles County ...................................................................... 22

Figure 4 Map with Consolidated Point Features of UA Sites: Los Angeles County .................... 26

Figure 5 Summary of Workflow ................................................................................................... 27

Figure 6 Hot Spot Analysis of UA Sites ....................................................................................... 35

Figure 7 Population Density for LA County................................................................................. 36

Figure 8 Comparison of UA Site Hot Spots & Percentage of Poverty for LA County ................ 37

Figure 9 Antelope Valley Region Comparison of UA Site Hot Spots & Percentage of Poverty . 38

Figure 10 Low Income & Low Access to Food Source 1-10 Miles ............................................. 40

Figure 11 Low Income & Low Access to Food Source 0.5-10 Miles .......................................... 41

Figure 12 Food Desert Hot Spot Analysis .................................................................................... 43

Figure 13 Low Income & Low Access to Food Source & Percentage Below Poverty ................ 45

Figure 14 Antelope Valley Region Comparison of Food Desert & Percentage Below Poverty .. 46

Figure 15 Buffer of Hottest Sites in Antelope Valley Region Based on Food Desert Hot Spots . 47

Figure 16 Buffer of UA Sites in Antelope Valley Region Based on Food Desert Hot Spots ...... 48

Figure 17 Directional Distribution of UA Hot Spots .................................................................... 50

Figure 18 Directional Distribution of Food Deserts Hot Spots .................................................... 51

Figure 19 Map of OLS Residuals of Selected Variable from Exploratory Regression Model ..... 57

Figure 20 Combined Hot Spots for UA site & Food Deserts ....................................................... 59

Figure 21 Northern County Hottest UA Sites in Relationship to Food Desert Hot Spots ............ 60

Figure 22 Southern County Hottest UA Sites in Relationship to Food Desert Hot Spots ............ 61

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Figure 23 Northern County UA Hot Spots in Relationship to Food Desert Locations ................ 62

Figures 24 & 25 Census Block Group Demographic Data for Employment & Inco