Update README.md

README.md

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-# vacant-lots-proj
-Gun crime x vacant lots mapping tool layer
+# Clean & Green Philly
+Philadelphia has a gun violence problem. This dashboard aims to help solve it by empowering community groups to carry out cleaning and greening interventions in the vacant properties where they can have the biggest impact.
+
+# Motivation
+Philadelphia has a gun violence problem. Homicides have been on the rise since 2013. The past three years—2020, 2021, and 2022—have been the deadliest on record, with a high of 562 homicides in 2021. Community members need solutions, but many city-run initiatives are frustratingly slow or inadequate. Nearly 80% of the city’s anti-violence spending focuses on long-term violence reduction without any clear, immediate impact.
+
+Research shows that greening and cleaning vacant and abandoned parcels is one of the most impactful, cost-effective interventions available to reduce gun violence in a neighborhood. Drs. Eugenia South and Charles Branas have led several studies that [demonstrate that greening vacant lots in Philadelphia reduced gun violence by as much as 29% in the surrounding area](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1718503115). Similarly, cleaning and lightly repairing vacant houses led a 13% drop in gun assaults compared to nearby blocks. These “greening and cleaning” interventions not only reduce gun violence but also provide other benefits, such as reducing the urban heat island effect, lowering residents’ stress levels, and contributing to lower levels of depression among residents.
+
+There are roughly 40,000 vaccant properties in Philadelphia. Identifying the highest-priority vacant properties will allow community groups to invest their limited resources where they will have the biggest impact. Combining various public data, this dashboard helps users identify the properties that are ideal for them to intervene in. It also offers additional information about each property to facilitate interventions and indicates the best possible route to cleaning up the property.
+
+# Current Draft
+You can view the [most recent prototype of the website and dashboard](https://nlebovits.github.io/dashboard_demo_website/more_info.html), which was created in Quarto.
+
+Currently we are in the process of user testing a newer prototype, which looks like this:
+
+![User prototype landing page](https://github.com/CodeForPhilly/vacant-lots-proj/assets/111617674/0776acde-9fe0-42a5-b8ab-6680525a31d7)
+
+![User prototype map](https://github.com/CodeForPhilly/vacant-lots-proj/assets/111617674/8cbf0b06-b299-49cd-8f9f-bbb714e55b44)
+
+# Current Tasks
+At the moment, we are working on:
+- User testing with the prototype
+- Finishing the Python script that creates the underlying dataset
+Current tasks for the Python script are visible under the Issues section.
+
+In September, we hope to begin turning our attention to building the dashboard and website, which will be built in React JS.
 
 # Setup Instructions
 1. Install [pyenv](https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv) (or [pyenv-win](https://github.com/pyenv-win/pyenv-win) for Windows) for Python version management