I saw some of Eric Fischer’s maps linked to on Gizmodo and I found them incredibly fascinating. By in large it shows that our living habits are (still) strongly segregated.
It’s neat to see it in dots like that, but I can’t say that it’s terribly surprising. I used to live in Chicago, and while the North Side is fairly well-integrated between whites and Latinos (you have some neighborhoods that are more white and some that are more Latino, but overall there isn’t a great deal of segregation), and then there are some neighborhoods that have large Asian populations, much of the South Side is nearly entirely black. The sharp line is really startling and obvious. I don’t know a whole lot about the history involved in creating this, but as I understand it, it’s the result of many years of redlining. It’s been like this for such a long time that I have a hard time envisioning how Chicago could ever achieve anything close to integration.
Yep, I’m in the little rainbow of the North Side on the map that inspired this project. We’re about as integrated as it’s possible to be, but the rest of the city, not so much. Time may take care of that, or it may not.
It’s interesting that he cites the companion choropleth map from the Encyclopedia of Chicago as an example of the kind of map that can be misleading about racial patterns, but doesn’t mention the map I worked very hard to include (on the very next page) in the book as a counterbalance.
Is that the same map I linked to in the post above yours? I think it is, albeit a different webpage than that you linked to. If so, he does mention it; I got the link from it from his website:
Anyhow, great work! Thank you for starting the ball rolling.
These are fascinating! I look forward to an update because my neighborhood in Nashville was just beginning to change then.
Newark really got my attention! I realize that had to do with the density of the population making the colors so bright. But it is almost as if there are barriers between the races.
California cities seem to be doing very well on their integration. But Northern cities are still as segregated as the South – moreso in many cases.
I was inspired by this thread to draw a similar map for Cape Town (South Africa), where I live. The effects of the Group Areas policy are still very visible, seven years after the end of apartheid (the map being based on data from 2001).
I’m probably not alone here, but in Milwaukee the maps would be pretty similar. As soon as the newscaster says “There was a triple shooting today…” It almost always ends with “…On the North Side” whereas if it’s about gangs or graffiti it’s on the South Side. The burbs tend to be pretty tame, at least compared to what happens in the city.
Now, it should be noted that this crime map is just a random map I found on the internet, I have no idea of it’s accuracy. Also, it just populates the data from the City of Milwaukee and not the entire Milwaukee County, but you still get the idea.
If you look above the big blue section on the segregation map, you’ll see a smaller blue area…that’s reflected on the crime map as well. Also, I know this comes off as racist, but, most people around Milwaukee will tell you, given the choice they’d rather drive through the Mexican part of town then the black part of town, and you can see why based on the crime map. I’m not sure how dangerous the North side of Milwaukee is compared to other cities, but every morning when you turn on the news, you always here stories about the overnight activities in that area.