• Chapter 2 of "New Community Design," pages 15-32
• Sample website illustrating neighborhood mapping: http://educonnect.org/potomac/natlharbor/
• Student Handout: Neighborhood Survey

A neighborhood can be defined in terms of an area, or in terms of a group of people who live in a particular area.

1. A district or area with distinctive characteristics: a neighborhood of fine homes; an ethnic neighborhood.

2. The people who live near one another or in a particular district or area: The noise upset the entire neighborhood.

Your neighborhood may be part of a town or a city (Anacostia); it may be a suburb (Capitol Heights). Neighborhoods are often self-defined by common residential characteristics, including race and ethnicity (Little Italy, Chinatown); the ages and types of buildings; and land use, whether residential, industrial, or commercial.

Boundaries define the limits of a neighborhood. These boundaries can be natural (rivers or mountains), man-made (freeways or areas of specific land use), or municipal (including street signs and other city signs).

• A group of people living in the same locality and under the same government.
• The district or locality in which such a group lives.
• A group of people having common interests: the scientific community; the international business community.
• A group viewed as forming a distinct segment of society: the gay community; the community of color.
• Similarity or identity: a community of interests.
• Sharing, participation, and fellowship.
• Society as a whole; the public.

1. Have students answer the following questions.

• How would you define your neighborhood?
• What are the boundaries of your neighborhood?
• Who lives in your neighborhood?
• What are its important places?
• How do outsiders perceive your neighborhood?
• What do you know about your neighborhood that outsiders would not know.

2. Have students read Chapter 2 of "New Community Design" and the definitions of Smart Growth and sprawl on page 6 of Picture Maryland.

3. Lead a discussion on the questions about neighborhoods, and then discuss how neighborhoods tie in with the concepts of Smart Growth.

• What is the relationship between strong, healthy neighborhoods and Smart Growth?
• Discuss the importance of the characteristics described in New Community Design to quality of life and Smart Growth.
• Think about your future and answer the following questions: Where do you want to live? How do you want to live? How do the characteristics described in New Community Design address how you want to live? Is there a disconnect between where you think you want to live and how you want to live?

Complete a walking survey of your neighborhood, taking notes on the Student Handout. Consider characteristics of communities that were raised in the "New Community Design" reading. For example, how far apart are the houses? Does your neighborhood include uses other than houses? Does your neighborhood include a range of housing types (i.e., multi-family and single-family)? Does your neighborhood have a lot of dead-end streets or a network of interconnected streets? (Note: Lesson 11 provides more activities on walking surveys and community design.)

Begin the mapping exercise, using either GIS or non-GIS.

Materials Needed:

1. 22 x 17 paper
2. Ruler
3. ADC/regional map
4. Color pencils

STEP 1

• Working in teams of 3 or 4, create a map of your neighborhood using an ADC map as your guide (choose one neighborhood).
• Include on your map all those items you think are important in defining your neighborhood (e.g. roads, buildings, parks, stores, etc.).
• Make sure your map has the key cartographic elements:

• Map Title (neighborhood name)
• Legend/Map Key (defining what is on your map)
• Neat Line (border of the map)
• Scale (size of the area you are mapping)
• North Arrow
• Map picture

STEP TWO: Draw your map to show the boundaries of your neighborhood.

STEP THREE: Map the key elements that define your neighborhood, using the questions from the walking tour as a guide.

STEP FOUR: Then describe your neighborhood using the information you found by studying your map.

STEP FIVE: Add "local knowledge", i.e. information that only you would know as a resident of the neighborhood.

Use the following GIS tools:
Query
Select

Materials Needed:
Student disks

STEP ONE: Working in teams of 3 or 4, create a map of your neighborhood (choose one persons neighborhood out of the group) in ArcView GIS. Include on your map all those items you think are important in defining your neighborhood (e.g. roads, buildings, etc.).

• Make sure your map has the key cartographic elements:

• Map Title (neighborhood name)
• Legend/Map Key (defining what is on your map)
• Neat Line (border of the map)
• Scale (size of the area you are mapping)
• North Arrow
• Map picture

STEP TWO: Digitize your map to show the boundaries of your neighborhood.

STEP THREE: Query the table of attributes for your map to find out additional information about your neighborhood.

STEP FOUR: Then describe your neighborhood using the information you found by studying your map.

STEP FIVE: Add "local knowledge," i.e. information that only you would know as a resident of the neighborhood.

Create a shapefile of your neighborhood.
Go to: View
New Theme
Polygon
Outline your neighborhood.  Click each time you need to change direction.  When you are back at the start point, double click. The area you have outlined should change color. (Will not work with aerial photos. You can outline with aerial photos, but then de-select those themes to view area.)
Label any features that are within the neighborhood that are not labeled.
Give your neighborhood a name, if possible.

1. Pull up your map of your neighborhood.
2. View Layout
3. Click on landscape
4. Double click on View 1
5. Change the name of the map from "View 1" to "My Neighborhood" and hit OK.
6. Center the title
7. Double click on legend.

• Does your neighborhood fit the criteria of Smart Growth, as defined in New Community Design, or on page 6 of Picture Maryland? Why or why not?
• If not, suggest ways in which your community can be adapted to be more consistent with Smart Growth.