WOODY SHAUFLER GIS PORTFOLIO

Least Cost Path 

Connecting Urban Youth and City Parks

 

 

The goal of this project was to evaluate the most efficient path between high concentrations of urban youth and large city parks. Using a variety of methods and raster calculations this "least cost path" was selected as the most cost effective route between the highest pocket of kids in the Tacoma area and the nearest park, Snake Lake. The selection process involved ranking local streets by traffic volume, euclidean distance, and slope to determine the cost distance. 

 

 

ArcGIS Tools + Methods

• ArcGIS Spatial Analyst Extension

• Feature aggregation and the Near tool

• Euclidean distance vs. Cost distance

• Least cost path

• Raster Calculator

• Map Algebra