New York precinct map (new uses for Dave's redistricting app)

[Linus Van Pelt]

What are the uber-democratic white areas like?

Victorian rowhouses ("brownstones") or low-rise apartment blocks, middle-class, and (in the American sense) very, very liberal. Parts of them somewhat younger and "hipper" than Manhattan. Given that it's New York, a lot of secular Jews along with the generic Anglos, but not a separate community at all.

Basically, think anywhere in Ontario that votes NDP but has no manufacturing or mining.

[bgwah]

Brooklyn is so much fun, I had to go look at Census data and label which areas have certain ethnic concentrations. No particular group stood out in the Midwood area (which is white and Republican), but I think it must still have a lot of Jews despite being pretty mixed. Hungarian probably had the most correlation with the Jewish neighborhoods---also to some extent with just plain old answers like "European" and "Eastern European," as well as (unsurprisingly) Israeli. Italians were in a lot of white neighborhoods, but I only noted the areas where they're really dominant. German/English is of course going to be the generic white American neighborhoods that we would associate with white liberals and hipsters. The Arabs appeared to be mostly Syrian, Lebanese, and Egyptian. The Lebanese were more concentrated in the west. Here is the map:

[Verily]

What are the uber-democratic white areas like?

Hipsters (Williamsburg), blue-bloods (Brooklyn Heights) or yuppies (the rest).

[patrick1]

I used Lewis's maps and the ethnic map linked from the first page to create two directly comparable maps for BK:

You sure the areas around Marine Park/Floyd Bennett should be Blue? Wouldnt that be  Gerritsen and Marine Park +golf clubs and bird sanctuary?

[bgwah]

^ The Census claims one person (who happens to be black) lives in the tract, in the portion in the SW (south of Belt Parkway). Don't ask me where specifically.

[patrick1]

^ The Census claims one person (who happens to be black) lives in the tract, in the portion in the SW (south of Belt Parkway). Don't ask me where specifically.

Ha, thanks. It stood out to me because the areas around that are heavily white neighborhoods.

[Lunar]

I used Lewis's maps and the ethnic map linked from the first page to create two directly comparable maps for BK:

You sure the areas around Marine Park/Floyd Bennett should be Blue? Wouldnt that be  Gerritsen and Marine Park +golf clubs and bird sanctuary?

I know your question has been answered, but it appears my ethnic map has a hole in its South-West Corner in Bay Ridge, do you know why that would be?  Some park there or an error on the part of the mapmaker?

I've highlighted it yellow (stupid .gif image wouldn't let me use new RGB colors or whatever):



And is that a precinct similar to those around it and a similar shade of Green?  I spent like 40 minutes today tracing that ethnic Brooklyn map with a 1 pixel width black line, so I'm taking this project srsly

[Lunar]

Brooklyn is so much fun, I had to go look at Census data and label which areas have certain ethnic concentrations. No particular group stood out in the Midwood area (which is white and Republican), but I think it must still have a lot of Jews despite being pretty mixed. Hungarian probably had the most correlation with the Jewish neighborhoods---also to some extent with just plain old answers like "European" and "Eastern European," as well as (unsurprisingly) Israeli. Italians were in a lot of white neighborhoods, but I only noted the areas where they're really dominant. German/English is of course going to be the generic white American neighborhoods that we would associate with white liberals and hipsters. The Arabs appeared to be mostly Syrian, Lebanese, and Egyptian. The Lebanese were more concentrated in the west. Here is the map:

Cool!  I'm taking a crash course in Brooklyn at the moment.  This would explain why I'm pretty sure there was a low-end Italian [possible mobster] hangout on 3rd. ave just an avenue West from where I was at when I lived in Park Slope for a couple months.  They didn't seem to do anything at that "club" except stand in front of it in the middle of the day.

[bgwah]

It appears to be Fort Hamilton, and is only 40% white.

[Lunar]

So, if I was trying to create a better ethnic map here, I should empty out that dark blue track there [1 person, while scientifically accurate, does not warrant shifting a huge track of land for map that aims to be illustrative of Brooklyn demographics] and color Fort Hamilton the lightest shade of green?  Anything else?

The ethnic map is also missing that peninsula-hook sticking out from Red Hook on its west-central shore.  Does anyone know the merits there?  The pixels in the original map seem the oddest overall in that whole area between Governors Island (New York County) and that Red Hook area.

original map:

[patrick1]

That hook there in Red Hook is really uninhabited- just a cargo terminal IIRC. Right inland is the IKEA development- where you can get a water taxi to/from Lower Manhattan.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

New Paltz is a college town and Woodstock is considered an "artists' colony", and, well, there aren't any Republican areas to even things out. The largest settlement, Kingston, is not nearly as Democratic.

Kingston was still 67% for Obama, more than the county at large.

[Lunar]

That hook there in Red Hook is really uninhabited- just a cargo terminal IIRC. Right inland is the IKEA development- where you can get a water taxi to/from Lower Manhattan.

Word, I've walked to that IKEA...twice.   I'm just aiming for completeness in my thinkin' and had never thought about whether that hook is actually populated

bgwah, I just realized you may have created the original ethnic map?  If so, I didn't mean to be abstractly issuing complaints when you're posting in the thread haha, it's seriously one of the coolest maps ever

[bgwah]

That hook there in Red Hook is really uninhabited- just a cargo terminal IIRC. Right inland is the IKEA development- where you can get a water taxi to/from Lower Manhattan.

Word, I've walked to that IKEA...twice.   I'm just aiming for completeness in my thinkin' and had never thought about whether that hook is actually populated

bgwah, I just realized you may have created the original ethnic map?  If so, I didn't mean to be abstractly issuing complaints when you're posting in the thread haha, it's seriously one of the coolest maps ever

I created it using the Census' thematic map feature (though I had to combine multiple maps in Photoshop so it was more complicated than it sounds!)

Anyway, the link included a key. The light shade means >50% of that race, the mid-shade >75%, and the dark shade >90% IIRC. The blank/white tracts have no racial majority. I don't know why Fort Hamilton appears as water, though. But I made these maps a while ago.

But yeah, the 1 person tract is deceiving. You'll notice the Census also claims that Central Park has residents (who are also majority black).

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Yeah I've noticed that for awhile. How does the Census count homeless?

[minionofmidas]

New Paltz is a college town and Woodstock is considered an "artists' colony", and, well, there aren't any Republican areas to even things out. The largest settlement, Kingston, is not nearly as Democratic.

Kingston was still 67% for Obama, more than the county at large.

Yeah, the other two areas are in the >85 bracket though.

Yeah I've noticed that for awhile. How does the Census count homeless?

Usually at shelters.

[Brittain33]

Hungarian, I guess, = Satmar Hasidim (named for formerly Hungarian city currently known as Satu Mare in Romania.)

[Linus Van Pelt]

Hey Lewis - I'd totally understand if you want to keep this private for any reason whatsoever since you've done a lot of work that others would just be piggybacking on, but if not, what district numbers are you using in the App here for the colours? It would be cool if we could work on some of the other states with partisan data using the same scale.

[minionofmidas]

Hey Lewis - I'd totally understand if you want to keep this private for any reason whatsoever since you've done a lot of work that others would just be piggybacking on, but if not, what district numbers are you using in the App here for the colours? It would be cool if we could work on some of the other states with partisan data using the same scale.

Ever notice the "change colors" button?

[Linus Van Pelt]

No, hehe, but I have now