Overview

Recently, Axis Group team members participated in Data for Hope 2021: Affordable Housing in Atlanta, run by ATLytiCS, a non-profit organization based in Atlanta, that uses analytics to benefit local communities.

Comprising the Axis Group team, Ryan Carson, Solutions Consultant, Kim Li, Senior Solutions Consultant, and Tim Wright PhD, Data Science Architect identified this opportunity to serve the Atlanta community and leveraged their combined data and analytics skills and expertise to create a positive impact.

The Challenge

ATLytiCS presented the hackathon challenge to use existing data to explore affordable housing options in Atlanta. Underscoring the importance of these initiatives, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said, “As our population and economy have continued to grow, housing prices and rents have also risen, creating challenges for many of our residents. Indeed, across the nation, housing affordability is among the most difficult challenges facing cities today. Atlanta is no exception to this trend. One of my top priorities as Mayor is ensuring that Atlanta is affordable for all who desire to call our city home and especially for long-time residents.”

Teams were given several questions to consider, such as: who can and who cannot afford to live in specific Atlanta neighborhoods? Is there a correlation between the affordability of housing and other societal issues? Where is affordable housing occurring naturally versus where is affordable housing dedicated by policy? What is the trend over time? What can you predict about the future?

The Axis team explored several datasets surrounding affordable housing in the Atlanta metro area in order to develop actionable insights. With a focus on racial and socioeconomic data, the goal was to identify which census tract in the area had gentrified over a twenty-year timeframe. Gentrification, which leads to demographic displacement and exclusion of low-income individuals in the affected area, has been documented in Atlanta and other major metropolitan areas across the country since the 1970’s.

Using both historical and current data, gentrified areas in Atlanta were identified through a methodology developed by a Columbia University study. Combining the resulting dataset with racial data, the Axis team uncovered the housing disparity and its effects. The findings showed a correlation between an increase in white versus minority populations in areas that were identified as gentrified with a concentration near the center of the city. The team then created a clustering algorithm to pinpoint key variables that contributed the most to signs of gentrification.

“This project was eye-opening. So many talented individuals came together to help. Throughout the week of the Hackathon, we were exposed to an incredible number of resources provided by the city of Atlanta and other organizations in order to address affordable housing. It was a privilege to contribute our analytical skills towards addressing this important issue.” – Ryan Carson, Solutions Consultant

About Axis Group

With nearly 25 years of experience, Axis Group delivers data and analytics consulting services and innovative solutions to enterprises and government organizations. Axis Group meets companies where they are on their digital transformation journeys in order to help them achieve their data and analytics goals. Focusing on each company’s unique culture and digital maturity, Axis Group delivers data visualization, greater data literacy, and drives analytics adoption to enable self-sufficiency resulting in smarter teams and better business outcomes. Axis Group combines business acumen, leadership, and industry-specific experience with technical expertise to tackle the toughest data problems. Axis Group is the Enablement® company.

About ATLytiCS

ATLytiCS was founded in 2017 by three PhD’s: Beverly Wright, Andreea Popescu and Khalifeh Al Jadda. The vision of ATLytiCS is a connected analytics community, conscientious of its role in society and aware that humanity’s well-being should be at the core of technological progress. They strive to leverage analytics expertise to solve the most critical problems of our environment and move towards a more human and supportive society. ATLytiCS aspires to help build a world powered by data and analytics to enable and provide access to basic human rights.