WEAVE (beta): Foreclosures

Neighborhood Nexus is a founding member of a consortium to develop a new way to visualize and map data. The software system is called WEAVE (Web-based Analysis and Visualization Environment). WEAVE analyzes and visualizes economic, social, and environmental indicators at the neighborhood, municipal, county and regional levels. The interface will integrate maps, charts, and tables on one website, transforming the way that users interact with data. The software is still in "test mode", and since it is state-of-the-art, it is somewhat complicated to use at first. So, please look at the images below first to learn the easiest way to use WEAVE, then WEAVE away! Also, let us know what you think of it.

Basic instructions for using WEAVE
WEAVE is unique in that a user can look at several data points at the same time, with two data points on the right (the scatterplot) linked to a distinct place (census tract) on the left, which is mapping a third variable. You can change all variables by simply clicking the headers outlined in red.
Because the data on the right is linked to the map on the left, you can simply highlight the data and see where that particular phenomenon is occuring in the region. In the above example, we selected those areas (in the red rectangle) that, 1) had a high percentage of home loans originated for investment purposes and, 2) had very little population change (or loss).

 WEAVE: The Real Thing!

One of the most powerful features of WEAVE (click to go full screen) is that it allows you to test hypotheses - to explore your environment in entirely new ways over the Web. In the above example, you can test the very reasonable hypothesis that real estate investors (vertical axis - % of investor loans originated) would choose areas that added the most people (horizontal axis - Population Change, 2000-2009).

What we see, in fact, are the areas where more than 50 percent of all loans originated were made for investment purposes were in areas that had little to no population gains this decade. What you can then do is highlight those data points and see where these areas are. Surprise! These are the areas that had the highest concentrations of subprime loans (the dark orange and brown areas on the map), which are leading indicators for foreclosures.

Develop some of your own stories with Neighborhood Nexus data. But, remember, WEAVE is still in beta form, so there will be some bugs that need to be ironed out. The full release of WEAVE is scheduled for the end of 2010, so hopefully we'll be able to address some of these bugs at that time. In the meantime, happy WEAVING!