Friendly Acres in Dots

Saturday, January 19, 2013 0 Comments A+ a-

Probably one of the most interesting maps to come out in recent months is one created by Brandon Martin-Anderson who designed an interactive dot map plotting the 2010 census data for the United States.

His map consists of dots - each dot representing one person.  And they are mapped, based on the location address given for place of residence at the time of the census.  The dots are plotted at the lowest granular level of detail available publicly, which is at the block level, according to the census reports.

Scroll down to see what the S.F. Mid-Peninsula, Redwood City and Friendly Acres all look like.  Despite the tag labeling on Brandon's map, the black and white images can be difficult to work with and navigate, so for the Friendly Acres Map I juxtaposed the most detailed level of the map on top of a colored google map to make it easier to distinguish streets.

Friendly Acres Dot Map of Population Density based on U.S. 2010 Census data


Looking at the map you'll see that there seem to be people living in the salt marshes, or at Taft School or in the AT&T strip... well, ahem yes, we know these places aren't residential - but according to Brandon and the U.S. 2010 census, that's the address that someone clearly gave for themselves!

There is probably some cleanup required at the "block" level  of detail for coordinates in redwood city and the rest of the bay area - especially around the salt marshes - because its clear that people don't live in the bay.  Living in House boats is one thing.  But living in the salt marshes - I don't think so...

I won't point out the obvious by telling you where the high density living is.  That's self-evident.  Just check it out for yourselves.

Redwood City Dot Map of Population Density based on U.S. 2010 Census data

S.F. Mid Peninsula Dot Map of Population Density based on U.S. 2010 Census data

See Brandon's map for yourself and check out the different locations go to: http://bmander.com/dotmap/index.html.  Be warned the site is addictive and also includes 2011 data for Canada!

To read more of Brandon's very interesting location mapping projects go to: http://bmander.com/portfolio/

The United States Census Bureau also has a new and updated interactive map showing population at different granular location levels, and by demographic criteria like race, ethnicity, age/sex and housing status.  Their map is also really interesting.

Other References:
United States 2010 Census Bureau:  http://www.census.gov/2010census/data/

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