This project analyzes food deserts and supermarket accessibility in Wake County, NC. The goals are to identify areas underserved by supermarkets, evaluate the demographics of residents in these areas, and recommend an optimal location for a new USDA-funded supermarket.

• Shapefiles:

  • orange_durham_wake_block_groups.shp – Original block group boundaries
  • wake_county.shp – Wake County selection
  • wake_county_NC_83.shp – Wake County projected shapefile
  • one_mile_buffer_intersection_NC_83.shp – Areas within 1 mile of supermarkets
  • food_deserts_wake_county.shp – Areas outside 1-mile buffer
  • 2_mile_buffer_intersection.shp – Areas within 2 miles of supermarkets
  • new_food_deserts.shp – Areas outside 2-mile buffer

• Census Data: triangle_census.csv – Population, household income, and vehicle ownership

1. Food Desert Identification (1-mile criterion)

   • Selected Wake County from the block group shapefile (COUNTYFP = 183).
   • Created a 1-mile buffer around supermarkets to define non-food desert areas.
   • Used intersection and symmetrical difference tools to isolate food desert areas.
   • Joined census data to calculate population and household characteristics.

2. Demographic Analysis

   • Population in 1-mile food deserts: 906,882 / 1,069,079 ≈ 84.83% of residents.

   • Household characteristics:

     Metric	Food Deserts	Wake County Overall
     Zero-vehicle households	3.40%	3.97%
     Income < $35k households	17.64%	18.80%

   • Conclusion: Residents in food deserts are not more likely to be poor or lack vehicles than county-wide residents.

3. Supermarket Placement Recommendation 🛒

   • Added fields: zero_vehicles_percentage and less_than_35k_percentage.
   • Created choropleth maps to visualize high-need areas.
   • Recommended location chosen where both percentages are high to maximize accessibility.

4. Two-Mile Criterion Analysis

   • Created 2-mile buffer and derived new food desert areas.

   • Population in 2-mile food deserts: 400,285 / 1,069,079 ≈ 37.44%.

   • Household characteristics:

     Metric	New Food Deserts	Wake County Overall
     Zero-vehicle households	2.29%	3.97%
     Income < $35k households	15.95%	18.80%

   • Conclusion: A 2-mile criterion reduces the identified food desert population. The 1-mile criterion better targets underserved residents.

5. Supermarket Placement (2-mile analysis)

   • Same methodology as 1-mile analysis.
   • Optimal location remains consistent with 1-mile analysis, prioritizing high-need households.

• 1-mile and 2-mile food desert areas

• Choropleth maps:

  • Zero-vehicles percentage
  • Less than $35k income percentage

• Comparison map of 1-mile vs. 2-mile food deserts

• QGIS – Buffer, Intersection, Symmetrical Difference
• Vector Analysis – Population, household income, vehicle ownership
• Choropleth mapping with Equal Count (quantile) classification

• 1-mile food deserts cover 84.83% of the population; 2-mile food deserts cover 37.44%
• Residents in food deserts are slightly better off than county average in income and vehicle access
• Recommended supermarket location targets households with high need for access
• 1-mile criterion more effective at identifying underserved populations