community assigment
Community Awareness Assignment
EVR 1001
Overview
This paper provides an analysis of land use policies for two different areas within Miami- Dade County. All information was found from a survey of the site and observation through Google Maps. As part of the requirements of the assignment, two distinct and diverse areas were chosen, one being an urban area and the other being a green space. The two areas that are covered in this analysis are a shopping plaza in a densely populated suburban area and a soccer park located in a nearby neighborhood.
Land Information
Area 1: Urban Area, Shoppes at 104.
Location: 14633 SW 104th St. Miami, FL 33186
Shoppes at 104 is a shopping plaza that contains grocery stores, convenience outlets, restaurants, and various small businesses. Most of the land in this area is occupied by buildings and an expansive parking lot made of asphalt. There are a few patches of grass that subdivide the
parking lot into different sections, but amount of grass is minimal compared to the amount of man-made structures present in this area. There is a surprisingly decent amount of flora present in this plaza; most of the trees, bushes, and flowers are planted in dividers with a width of about
ten feet in the parking lot and in front of some stores as well.
Using Google Maps, the area of the plaza was found using the measurement tool. Since the location was irregularly shaped, the area was divided into two portions to obtain the most
accurate value. The area of the each individual piece is shown here.
The total area of the plaza is approximately 457,500 square feet.
The area was then subdivided even further to calculate the area devoted to the buildings, green space, parking, and storage waste. The following picture shows the area of green space (which includes trees, grass, flowers, shrubbery, etc.) on the plaza. Boxed areas are the land taken into
account for calculations and are only an approximate value.
The approximate area devoted to green space is approximately 57,250 square feet, or roughly 10% of the plaza.
The area of dedicated to the buildings was found as well. The boxed portion of the map shows the buildings that were taken into account for calculating the area.
The approximate area occupied by the buildings is 158,770 square feet.
Finding the area of the parking lot requires some math and logic. To find this area, the following formula is used:
(𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 𝑍𝑍 − 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐵𝐵𝑜𝑜 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 𝑍𝑍 − 𝑏𝑏𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑔𝑔𝐴𝐴𝑔𝑔𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴) + 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 𝑌𝑌 = 𝑃𝑃𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑃𝑃𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑏𝑏𝐵𝐵𝑙𝑙 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴
The following formula can be used because the green space, some buildings, and the parking lot reside in the same area.
(𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 𝑍𝑍 − 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐵𝐵𝑜𝑜 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 𝑍𝑍 − 𝑏𝑏𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑔𝑔𝐴𝐴𝑔𝑔𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴) + 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 𝑌𝑌 = 𝑃𝑃𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑃𝑃𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑏𝑏𝐵𝐵𝑙𝑙 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴
(212505 − 22370 − 57250) + 10260 = 143145
Therefore, the area of the parking space is approximately 143,145 square feet
With so many stores, restaurants, and business, an impressive amount of waste is most likely generated by the members of this plaza. With this in mind, the businesses need a place to
temporarily dispose of their trash until the garbage trucks come pick up the waste. There is an area located behind the shops in the plaza away from public eye dedicated to waste storage.
Area dedicated to storing waste is shown the map.
Total area for waste storage is 16,320 square feet, or about 4% of the area of the plaza.
Undoubtedly, the almost half a million square foot plaza requires a large amount of electrical energy to power all the buildings. Electricity is needed to run air conditioning units, power the
lights, run all devices and machines, etc. Additionally, there are light in the parking lot that need electricity as well. In terms of land dedicated to energy management or generation, the plaza does not seem to feature any visible generators or power management devices outside of the
buildings. There are electrical wires and transformers present on this site, but the area that they take up is very small. Therefore, the area of energy use is roughly equal to the area of buildings.
Water is used for various reasons by the businesses in the plaza. All businesses in this plaza have common uses for water such as drinking, cleaning, and disposing waste in lavatories. On top of
these uses, all businesses have at least one primary or unique use for water. For instance, water is used primarily in Winn-Dixie for cleaning. The Pizza Hut in the plaza primarily use water for the
creation of food products. A pool store in the plaza uses water to dilute muriatic acid and run tests on pool water. A laundromat located on the site primarily uses water to wash clothes.
There are many storm water drains located in the parking lot space. There are about ten storm water drains in the plaza and each drain is approximately 25 square feet. These drains are the
only way the plaza disposes of storm water. Conclusively, there is about 250 square feet of storm water drains in the plaza.
Area 2: Green space, Wild Lime Park.
Location: Wild Lime Park, Miami, FL, 33196.
Ten years ago, Wild Lime Park used to be a large unkempt field with tall grass and weeds. The field was poorly maintained and rarely taken care of, but the county started to take care of the
field and soon the area was turned into a park. Today, Wild Lime Park is still a field of grass, but it now it is maintained very well and there is a new building for restrooms and visitor guidance, a
playground, and a parking lot. The field is primarily used to play soccer by the public and various soccer clubs. Entrance to the park is free, but taking care of the place is definitely not.
The park is irregularly shaped just like the shopping plaza from before. The same method of dividing the area into smaller pieces will be used to find the area of the park. Take note that not
all parts of the map are part of the park; only boxed areas are officially owned by the county.
The total approximate area of the park is 441,300 square feet which is somewhat smaller than urban area. From this view, it is apparent that the green space dominates in terms of land use
while the land dedicated to buildings and the parking lot is minimal. The parking lot at the top of the map is not part of the park as it is the parking space for the community pool next to the park.
The area dedicated to green space is obviously large since this is a park.
The total area of green space for this area is approximately 355,760 square feet. The green space for this park is six times as large compared to the green space in the plaza.
The area devoted to the buildings and playground is clearly not as much as the urban area.
The total area of all the buildings on the site is 8,770 square feet.
The area of the parking space is also smaller. The upper half of the park is cut out to save space.
The area of the parking lot is 36,110 square feet.
This park does not seem to generate as much waste as the urban area because there are not that many resources in this land. For waste disposal, there are trash cans and recycling bins spread throughout the park. There are about seven trash cans and five recycling bins spread evenly
throughout the park. For major waste disposal, there is a small waste disposal area located in the corner of the parking lot (a few waste disposal bins are located there).
The area allocated for waste disposal is very small; only the area of the waste disposal bin can be considered since the trash cans and the recycling bins are relatively small. The green dots
represent trash cans and the blue dots represent recycling bins. The green square in the corner is the waste disposal bin.
The area dedicated for waste disposal is 200 square feet.
When you go to Wild Lime, you are practically in nature and away from electronic equipment and modern technology… or are you? Surprisingly, even parks need electricity as well. The
biggest energy soaker in the park is the amazingly tall and powerful stadium lights that surround the first field.
These pictures do not do justice the lights justice; they are much taller than you would expect. The lights illuminate the field very well at night and are only on from sunset to around 10 pm. The voltage required to use these lights is so large that two transformers are needed to regulate
the voltage and current. I could not get to the transformers because a bunch of plants and a metallic cage blocked off the view.
There stadium lights are so powerful that the nearby parking lot is illuminated as well in the night time. There are lights located in the building on the site and around it as well. There are no
other uses of electricity for this green space other than lighting.
Water is extremely important for this area and it is primarily used to keep the lawn healthy and green. In the winter, when rainfall is not plentiful, the grass is watered by a sprinkler system that
envelopes the whole park. According to one of the workers on this site, the water is obtained from groundwater underneath the field. After winter, precipitation from frequent and heavy
storms provides the field with plenty of water. What is neat about this sprinkler system is that certain portions of the field can be watered as well as the whole field so only areas that need
moisture will get it. Here is a picture of the sprinkler system in action in the lower left hand side of the field.
As you can see, the grass gets pretty dry in the late winter and early spring so the sprinkler system is needed to water the field. The greener portion of the field (towards the front of the
picture) does not need water so the sprinklers are not activated in that location. Clearly, this is a very efficient and ingenious system.
Most of precipitation lands on the field, but the storm water that lands in the parking lot gets captured by storm drains. There are 4 storm drains in the parking space and each drain is 20
square feet. Therefore, the total area dedicated to drainage is 80 square feet.
Discussion Questions
• What are the differences in land cover for each site?
I was surprised when I realized that both the urban area and the green space use their land in similar ways, but their uses are in different proportions for each application. Both of these areas need space for buildings, green space, waste disposal, and water drainage. The main contrast between these two types of land is the amount of land needed for each application. For example, the land needed for parking in a plaza is much greater than the land needed for a parking lot in a green space. The following pie charts show the differences and similarities in land use for each application.
Buildings 2%
Greenspace 81%
Parking Area 8%
Waste Area 1%
Water Drainage and Electrical Equipment
1%
Estimation Error 7% Land Use For Wild Lime Park
Buildings 41%
Greenspace 15%
Parking Area 37%
Waste Area 4%
Water Drainage and Electrical Equipment
1%
Estimation Error of Area 2% Land Use For Shoppes at 104
Most of the area in the park is dominated by greenspace while the other small portion of land is dedicated to other uses. One would expect the urban area to be at the opposite extreme, having dedicated all its space to only buildings. In reality, there is somewhat of a balance between the area dedicated to buildings, parking, and greenspace in the shopping plaza. Overall, the park tends to have much more greenspace than the plaza, but the plaza devotes more land to buildings and parking than the park.
• How is storm water drainage handled at each location?
In the shopping plaza there are multiple storm water drains dispersed throughout the parking lot. The drains are placed in low lying areas in the lot so that water travels downward towards the drains. When a storm comes, the precipitation travels towards the drains and is eliminated from the lot. When I visited the plaza, the parking lot was very clean and practically immaculate but on other days there may be some liter present. Therefore, storm water pollution does not seem to be a problem in this area. The park also handles storm water in the same manner as the shopping plaza; the parking lot in Wild Lime also contains quite a few storm water drains. The main difference here is that the park has much more greenspace than the plaza so most of the precipitation ends up being absorbed by the ground. On days where is heavy amounts of precipitation, the field does have a tendency to flood and the water ends up traveling towards the parking lot since the lot is slightly lower in elevation than the field is. I have played on the field many times and I have never seen any liter on the field at all.
• How is energy used at each location?
The shopping plaza has many different kinds of businesses that require electricity for various unique reasons. For example, the restaurants use most of their electricity to power stoves and ovens while the laundromat uses the electricity to run the washing machines and dryers. All the business have a few uses in common; power is needed for lights, appliances, security systems, air conditioning, and computers. In the park, the only use for electricity is the illumination of the field by the stadium lights.
• What are the sources for storm water runoff contamination?
As I have stated before, the areas that I have visited are very clean and free of liter most of the time. Sometimes there can be liter; I ended up finding some rubbish when I visited the park a few weeks ago.
What happens to liter like this on the field? Logically, this water bottle would be swept away by the rain and it would end up in the parking lot. Large objects such as this bottle do not fall through the drains but smaller objects can contribute to storm water pollution. With these facts in mind, the field is almost always very clean and liter free thanks to the copious amount of trash and recycle bins present throughout the area.
As for the plaza, a Winn-Dixie employee that works the night shift told me that a private company cleans up the plaza every night. This is the best way to mitigate storm water runoff. In both areas, the main source of this kind of pollution is littering. There are other minor contributors such as oil or fluid leaking from cars that may enter the storm water drain.
Summary
Shoppes at 104 and Wild Lime Park are two very important areas in my community and I am not sure what we would do without them. Though they are practically seem like opposites of each other, the shopping plaza and the park tend to use the land for the same reasons but in different proportions. For Wild Lime, most of the land is used for greenspace with some land dedicated to parking and buildings. Area needed for waste disposal in the greenspace is much less than you would expect and reasonable amount of trash bins are enough to handle the waste generated by the use of this land. For Shoppes at 104, much of the land is used for buildings and parking while the rest is allocated towards establishing scenic and attractive greenspaces and waste disposal. For both areas, the area require for electrical management or water management is minimal as most of the equipment needed for these resources is either underneath or even outside of the area.
When thinking about land use practices, one has to consider the following question: What is the purpose of the area and why was it built? When we take a look at a park like Wild Lime, the answer points to recreational purposes. As I mentioned in this report before, Wild Lime used to be a huge field that was never maintained or taken care of. The land happened to be extra space that local home developer did not use. The county eventually realized that a growing neighborhood such as mine required a recreational area so the field was purchased from the developer by the county and was subsequently transformed into a park. Today, numerous people use the field for primarily for playing soccer. Answering the question that was previously stated allows us to realize that parks require large amounts of greenspace for people to play in. Moreover, a parking lot is needed if people need to drive to the field so one had to be established. On top of this, the county realized that people might need to use the bathroom so a restroom was installed as well. Trash and recycling bins were installed to reduce the amount of pollution on the field.
Using the same paradigm, we can also deduce that Shoppes at 104 was established due to the increasing population of homes in the area at the time. Growing neighborhoods also require more supermarkets and stores to acquire resources so the plaza was created in light of this need. The businesses were established, but the patrons needed a place to leave their vehicles so a large parking lot was created. The construction managers behind the creation of the plaza realized that the large amount of business needed some place to put their waste so an alley behind the stores was dedicated to managing inventory and storing trash. Finally the plaza needed some greenspace to look presentable and nice so the dividers in the parking lot were filled with grass and tall sturdy trees. The needs of the people will always dictate the use of the land.