Happy GIS Day!

Today is GIS Day, celebrated by users of the software around the world. At SEMCOG, we’ve been using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for about 26 years. GIS helps us collect, maintain, analyze, and visualize data.

SEMCOG relies on a foundation of solid data in all our work. Our goal is to provide the power of knowledge for informed decision making by our leaders.

Partnerships are key to creating authoritative data resources. We have worked with local governments and the State of Michigan to collect aerial imagery as well as local property data which is used in our regional forecast.

With advancements in available technology and parallel growth in staff skills, we have ramped up our efforts to visualize data in map format more than ever. We have a great group who have taken on the task of mapping the key elements of large data sets related to our region’s transportation, economic development, parks and recreation, and environmental assets. These maps can be found in our Map Gallery, and most of the data used to create these maps can be viewed and downloaded from our Open Data Portal.

What’s new in SEMCOG’s Map Gallery?

Two of our latest maps are part of a Site Explorer Map series, which was created to highlight potential areas of economic opportunity in Southeast Michigan. These maps provide economic developers and others with a starting point for finding property information by parameters typically related to decision-making.

The Employment Density map provides information on markets and potential markets based on employment industries data. Hot spots show where there’s a lot of business and perhaps a lot of potential. This interactive map can also be sorted by industry, which can help understand current economic conditions.

The Access to Transit map measures the ease of reaching transit services. Economic development has many ties to locations where transit accessibility is high. The map also helps identify gaps where transit accessibility needs improvement. Use this map to see the reach of our current fixed-route transit system as well as the walk access that people have within five, 15, and 30 minutes of a transit stop. This map is dynamic, which means that as you pan and zoom around the map, the household population recalculates to show the number and percentages of persons within your map view.

As you celebrate GIS Day, these are just a couple recent examples of our efforts to use GIS to visualize the assets and opportunities in our region. Stay tuned as we continue to work on new maps that show what our region is like now and what it could look like in the future!

For questions about SEMCOG’s GIS work, contact Ann. If you’d like to know more about SEMCOG’s work in economic development, contact Kevin Johnson.