Lab 1 Report
Goal: To prepare base maps for the Confluence Project in a way that integrates land management, land use, and general administration so the project is clear and manageable from start to finish.
The purpose of this lab was to
analyze and map the different kinds of data that will affect the decisions made
regarding the Confluence Project here in Eau Claire. Specifically, this lab was
focused on the two lots of land that are being considered for the location of
the new fine arts building and student housing. The overall goal in the lab was
to explore and become familiar with different data sets that are involved in
the project and created maps illustrating those data sets.
Methods: I started out by exploring different
types of data sets and answering questions about them. I explored the zoning
feature, political features, transportation features, and many others that are
related to the Confluence Project. Next, digitized the site for the Confluence
Project. I started with a base map of Eau Claire and added the parcel feature
class or the different chunks of land that Eau Claire is split into. I then
activated the editing tool, used the snapping feature, and this allowed me to
trace the two parcels (128 Graham Ave and Haymarket Landing), and then added a
fill color to help distinguish them from other parcels in downtown Eau Claire. Next, I learned about the Public Land Survey
system. In other words, it is a way of categorizing each individual parcel of
land into categories like township, county or city. Next, I made a legal
description of the of the two parcels of land being considered for the project.
This included information like the parcel number, street number, street name,
owner's name and what the land is used for, industrial, commercial,
residential, etc. All these steps were necessary to learn how to display the
following 6 maps below.
Map 1, or Civil Divisions is
displaying the areas of cities, towns, and villages in Eau Claire County. I did
this by adding the county boundary and then adding the civil divisions data.
Then I changed the civil division properties so that cities, towns and villages
would be different colors to help distinguish the divisions in this particular
map. Lastly, I added a callout label to
label the proposed site in the confluence project area.
Map 2, Census Boundaries was simply
showing the boundaries of census areas and I have changed the properties so
that the boundaries are different shade of green based on the population
density in them. I left the projected
site parcels red, and changed the transparency on the block groups so that the
projected site could be easily seen.
Map 3, or City of EC Parcel Data is
displaying all the individual lad parcel contained in the city of Eau Claire. I
did this by adding the parcel, centerline or street data, and water data. Then
I highlighted just the outside of the parcels so the map is still visible under
them. The centerline data highlights the roads in Eau Claire and the water data
shows the river.
Map 4, or Zoning shows the
different zones of Eau Claire and which zones are used for what, like
commercial, industrial, residential, or transportation use. I changed the
colors in the symbology tab for each zone to easily distinguish the
differences,
Map 5, or Voting districts shows
the different voting districts by their ward number. I added the voting
districts data and went into the properties and edited the symbols using the
halo tool, and made the actual district numbers bigger so they can be displayed
accordingly.
Map 6 or PLSS data just shows the
quarters and sections that Eau Claire is split into from the survey service. I
put in the Quarter data and I also included the proposed site so you can see
what quarter it lies in. I also really enjoyed the lecture about quarters
and land surveys given by Professor Strand’s colleague. It helped me understand the purpose of this
map more.
For lab 1, this was a challenged assignment but very
rewarding and I enjoyed piecing everything together.
Sources: City of Eau Claire and Eau Claire County 2013
