– Kristen Woods

This Map shows nearly every job in Albuquerque mapped as a dot. It was developed by a Harvard Ph.D. students named Robert Manduca and is discussed in the Washington Post. The map is in an interactive format that spans the whole United States. It is based on Census Data.

The map is important because it shows us numerous ways that the location of job development can effect Albuquerque.

 Most of the jobs are placed along major transportation corridors and in the expected neighborhoods like Uptown, Downtown and the Journal Center. It is also obvious that Central Avenue is a major corridor for Retail/Hospitality and Healthcare/ Education employment. There is quite a lot of separation of job types, but there are some areas that are purple (Manufacturing/Trade mixed with Professional Services).

If we see where jobs are being established we can make informed development decisions. If we focus, for example, on the fact that Central Avenue is employing primarily Retail/Hospitality and Healthcare/ Education sector individuals we can plan for housing and transportation that will meet their needs. Those needs will be very different from the needs of the Journal Center, which works primarily in Professional Services and Manufacturing, because they work at different times of day and under different conditions.

We can also see how our work lives are being affected by development related decisions (like zoning codes). There is a lot of separation of uses in Albuquerque. There are also a lot of areas of Albuquerque where there are no jobs. This is economically isolating and doesn’t promote a lot of principles that are important to the vitality of cities, like walkability, bike-ability and neighborhood diversity. Neighborhoods with jobs and a mix of land uses have a larger diversity and more vitality in the economy.