In the class Regional Economics, students mapped four area counties to study the relationships between living and working patterns, the environment, and community change. Extracting layers of information about occupation and housing values, social services, natural resources, income distribution, transit systems and commuting patterns, and population characteristics, they've analyzed economic change, and proposed strategies for future community development. Economists can take this information to town meetings and planning boards to help envision development alternatives, says Jon Erickson, assistant professor of economics, who teaches the class with John Gowdy, professor of economics. Suburban sprawl, traffic congestion, and environmental protection are topics in many communities.
People can utilize current information to help understand tradeoffs and policy options.
MapInfo has provided our students with the tools to analyze complex community dynamics. Gowdy and Erickson purchased demographic and socioeconomic data, and tailor-made the GIS database used in class. A discipline that is responsive to the needs of communities, with a broader view of standard of living.