Use of GIS for Locating

Potential Skate-Park Sites in

Dubuque, Iowa

Eric Schmit and Zachary Jacobs

Potential Skate-Park Sites in Dubuque, Iowa

Legend
Population
Age10_19 / Shape_Area
0.00004682 - 0.00004907
0.00004908 - 0.00009903
0.00009904 - 0.0002154
0.0002155 - 0.0003621
0.0003622 - 0.0007221

Flora Park

Allison-Henderson

Park

Hilltop Park

0 0.5 1

4
Miles

Dubuque City Limits

Hillcrest

0 0.2 0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6
Miles

High Youth-Density

Dubuque Senior High School

Alternative Learning Center

Allison-Henderson Park
Flora Park

University of Dubuque

0 305610 1,220 1,8302,440 University of Dubuque

Yards

Flora Park

Data provided by the City of Dubuque

Hilltop Park

0 355710 1,420 2,130 2,840

Yards

Allision-Henderson Park

Eric Schmit
Zachary Jacobs
14 May, 2014

Introduction
In an ever increasing technologic world, youths are less focused on recreational activities
and more concerned with TV and other electronics. As a result, the overuse of these can lead to
increased prevalence of obesity and overweightness (Kautiainen et al.) With technology on ever
changing it seems that a trend will continue among youths in that more time will be spent with
technology than recreational activities. The problems associated with increased use of digital
technologies are not only limited to physical issues. Excessive use of digital technologies has
shown to lead to psychological problems as well (King, Delfabbro and Griffiths). Some of these
psychological problems may include psychopathy, social anxiety, or cognitive developmental
problems. The use of recreation may provide some relief from these issues.
Recreation may encourage better development for youth in several different areas of
adolescence. Establishment of identity, establishment of autonomy, need for achievement,
development of a moral compass, and intimate relationships can each be aided by recreational
activities (Witt and Caldwell). A better way to mature and develop into an adult would be
engaging in activities with real people face to face rather than sitting behind a digital screen and
communicating with virtual figures. Thus, the youth are the future of the world. People ought to
encourage healthy lifestyles and ensure that they are developing and engaging in social
interaction properly. Recreational environments provide positive outlets and solutions to this ever
prevalent problem.
Dubuque, a city located on the eastern border of Iowa, promotes the health of its youths
by providing two skate parks, McAleece and Comiske. McAleece is a well-equipped park
located on the riverfront in a safe location. However, the majority of its users are youths who
cannot yet drive, and must rely on public transportation. Unfortunately, transportation routes do
not run past the park after afternoon hours, and running later transportation would interfere with
other routes and be costly. Comiske Park is located north of the downtown areas of Dubuque.
The equipment found in this park is poorly maintained and the overall park is small. In addition,
the neighborhood in which the park is located in not suited for youths.
The city of Dubuque is aware of these problems, and recently a group of patrons of the
skate parks and youths of Dubuque approached the board inquiring about possible solutions. The
city planning committee issued permission to build a new skate park. City console has been
holding open meetings regarding the design and location of the new park. Using GIS software, a
location was able to be selected based on information provided by the city of Dubuque, such as
census tracks, transport routes, recreation trails, parks, schools, and more. The location of the
park would most likely be inside of an existing city park in order to save the cost of buying new
land. Any money saved in the progress is potentially more money for equipment.

Methods
The GIS inquiry was used to evaluate the issue of a skate park location in Dubuque. The
first step was asking what the problem was. Once it was established that a suitable recreational
area is needed and that Dubuque has been currently discussing the topic of a possible skate park
location, data acquisition was the second step. A map needed to be created that would illustrate
the city of Dubuque and the most important features that would be relevant to deciding on an
area for the park. The City of Dubuque had over 600 different layer files to choose from. The
final layers selected included a map of Dubuque with census data, all parks in the city, schools,
and transportation/recreational routes/trails. Once raw data was obtained it needed to be analyzed
and manipulated.
Analyzing the data was broken into steps. The first step was to figure out the youth
density in Dubuque. In order to do this, youths were first defined as those in the age range of 1019 and a table was made that combined the 10-14 census age and the 15-19 columns in the
attribute table. Youth density was then calculated in a second new column, taking the number of
youths in each census area and dividing that by the acreage. We used arcmap to report statistics
for this column and found the mean to be 8.9 youths per acre. The second step was to then use
only the higher-than-average youth population densities to locate the densest areas. We ran a
selection query by attribute to only select areas with a youth population greater than 8.9 youthsper-acre, and created a new layer from the selected data. This layer would ideally house the new
skate-park within its borders.
We followed up by figuring out an appropriate size space needed for a skate park. Based
on other skate parks in surrounding areas it was concluded that an area of at least one acre would
need to be set aside in order to have adequate room for a skate park, and for the existing park to
still have non-skating space. Therefore, all parks smaller than one acre were eliminated. Our next
step was to assess which parks were located in, or touching areas of higher density. We ran a
select by location query to select for parks only with-in or touching the layer of higher
population density. From the selected parks, we created a new layer.
The next factor considered was the distance of each possible park to schools. Schools
were identified by type so we ran a selection by attribute query to select all middle schools, high
schools, and colleges. We used only these schools due to the ages commonly found at skate parks
would most likely be attending one of these schools. We found which schools were within or up
to a quarter mile from the areas of high density by using a selection by location query, and
created a new layer using this selection. We used schools outside of this area because the district
ranges still placed children from the high density areas we had selected into schools lying outside
of those boundaries. A max distance of .33 miles was the furthest a school could away from a
park. We ran a selection by location query and found which of the remaining parks were within
one third of a mile to a school. We were then left with three parks, Flora, Allison-Henderson, and
Hilltop Park.

The final step was done to show parks and their proximity to transit routes and
recreational trails. A reasonable buffer distance of .15 miles was added to all transit routes. We
assessed visually which parks were near any transit routes. Our final options for parks which
could house a skate park were as follows:

Flora Park

34 Acres

Restrooms

Nearby pool

One Transit Route (no nights)

Allison-Henderson Park

5.1 Acres

Restrooms

Two Transit Routes (night bus available)

Hilltop Park

1 Acre

No Restrooms

One Transit Route

Discussion:
Based on the data provided, the best possible park locations include Flora Park and
Allison-Henderson Park. Flora Park is a good option for its size and amenities, however, it lies
outside of the high density area and only contains on transit route which does not operate during
night hours. Allison-Henderson is completely within the higher youth-density area and has two
transit routes within 0.15 miles, one of them running night hours. Both parks are considered safe
areas. Further data should be gathered pertaining to the topography of each park. This would also
lead to a discussion of the economic and environmental side of the issue. An important question
pertaining to this should ask which park would require the least amount of excavation and be the
cheapest to build the park. On the environmental side, the different plants and trees ought to be
evaluated at each site. The discussion of whether or not some plants or trees can be sacrificed
should be had.

The problem this exploration sought to solve was why a skate park should be built and
possible locations one may be built at. An argument was laid out in defense of building another
recreational area given the benefits such an area provides for youth. Two possible locations were
also determined in safe, family-friendly, and accessible locations. Recommendations were given
for learning more about each of the areas. It is desired that this study be taken into consideration
and used for the betterment of the Dubuque area.

Works cited
Kautiainen, Susanna et al. 'Use Of Information And Communication Technology And Prevalence
Of Overweight And Obesity Among Adolescents'. International Journal of Obesity 29.8 (2005):
925--933. Print.
King, Daniel L, Paul H Delfabbro, and Mark D Griffiths. 'Clinical Interventions For TechnologyBased Problems: Excessive Internet And Video Game Use'. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy
26.1 (2012): 43--56. Print.
Witt, Peter, and Linda Caldwell. The Rationale For Recreation Services For Youth: An Evidence
Based Approach. 1st ed. National Recreation and Park Association, 2010. Web. 13 May. 2014.