Solving the Mystery of Geographies
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ZIP Codes? Census tracts? Service Planning Area? What do all of these geographies mean? More importantly, which one should I use for my map?! This webinar answers all these questions and more. Learn how geographic boundaries are determined, how to choose geographies and how this basic step in map-making will affect the interpretation of your map. Ultimately, you will learn how to make the best map possible to support your case.
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Solving the Mystery of Geographies
- 1. Solving the Mystery of January 23, 2013 Geographies Presenters Caitlin Flint Join in on Twitter Design Analyst @HealthyCityCA cflint@advanceproj.org #geoMystery JuHyun Yoo General questions Research Analyst info@healthycity.org jyoo@advanceproj.org
- 2. Healthy City is a program of Advancement Project is a multi-racial civil rights organization using innovative tools and strategies to strengthen social movements and impact policy change. Offices in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Wash. D.C
- 3. Purpose Communities of every race and class have the opportunities and resources they need to thrive Mission Healthy City transforms how decisions are made by creating innovative tools and methods that expose and resolve structural inequities
- 4. …is about finding strategic solutions to support your work ONLINE MAPPING TECHNOLOGY DIRECT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE: www.HealthyCity.org Work ON-THE-GROUND to develop targeted research/policy strategies and web tools. COMMUNITY RESEARCH LAB Engages, trains, and provides tools for community groups to lead and sustain action-oriented research
- 6. Agenda Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org Knowledge in Basic Census Geographies How to choose geographies for your map
- 7. Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org • Map Geography • Data Geography • Area Boundary
- 8. Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org 1 3 2
- 9. 1 Map Geography Select the geographic area you want to map. 3 Area Boundary Select the area boundary you want to overlay on top of your map. 2 Data Geography Select the geographic unit of data you want to map. Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org
- 10. 1 Map Geography Select the geographic area you want to map. Change the geographic area by Change selecting from the list. Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org
- 11. 1 Map Geography Select the geographic area you want to map. Compar Add another geographic area to e compare two geographic areas. Draw your own boundary using Draw existing boundaries or by drawing from scratch. Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org
- 12. 1 Map Geography Select the geographic area you want to map. Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org
- 13. 2 Data Geography Select the geographic unit of data you want to map. Check which geographic units are available for the data you are Check mapping. Select the geographic unit of data you want to map. Select Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org
- 14. 2 Data Geography Select the geographic unit of data you want to map. Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org
- 15. 2 Data Geography Select the geographic unit of data you want to map. Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org
- 16. 2 Data Geography Select the geographic unit of data you want to map. Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org
- 17. 3 Area Boundary Select the area boundary you want to overlay on top of your map. Match Match the overlay boundary to data geography. Orient Orient yourself within the mapped area. Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org
- 18. 3 Area Boundary Select the area boundary you want to overlay on top of your map. Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org
- 19. 3 Area Boundary Select the area boundary you want to overlay on top of your map. Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org
- 20. 3 Area Boundary Select the area boundary you want to overlay on top of your map. Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org
- 21. Knowledge in Basic Census Geographies • Census Geographies – Political Areas and Statistical Areas • Hierarchy of Basic Census Geographies • ZIP Codes? ZCTA? Knowledge in Basic Census Geographies
- 22. Political Areas and Statistical Areas Political Areas Statistical Areas • For administrative purposes • For statistical and data-reporting • Identified by public easily purposes • Can be complicated for data- • Artificially Created reporting and analysis • Harder to be recognized by public Knowledge in Basic Census Geographies
- 23. Hierarchy of Basic Census Statistical Geography Diagram adopted and edited from Urban Policy and the Census (2011) by H. MacDonald and A. Peters • The basis of most Census Boundaries. Block • Boundaries are drawn based on city blocks. • In average, 39 blocks make up a block Block Group group. • 600~3,000 people per block group. (Optimum size=1,500 people) • 1,500 ~ 8,000 people (Optimum size = 4,000 people) Tract • Smaller area size of tracts = higher population density • Designed to represent homogeneous population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions. Knowledge in Basic Census Geographies
- 24. Smaller area size of tracts = higher population density Knowledge in Basic Census Geographies
- 25. Hierarchy of Basic Census Statistical Geography Example: Advancement Project (1910 W. Sunset Blvd. Suite 500 Los Angeles, CA 90020) Knowledge in Basic Census Geographies
- 26. ZIP Code? ZCTA? • ZIP = Zone Improvement Plan • Created by United States Postal Service (USPS) to make mail ZIP Code sorting and delivery more efficient. • Updated as needed, which is more frequent than the update cycle of Census geographies. • ZCTA = ZIP Code Tabulation Area • Created by the U.S. Census Bureau ZCTA • Generalized the ZIP Code boundaries to summarize data by more recognizable geographic units. • Updated every ten years. Knowledge in Basic Census Geographies
- 27. Questions?
- 28. How to choose geographies for your map Consider your data Consider your audience Use local knowledge Explore How To Choose A Boundary
- 29. Consider your data What kind of data are you mapping? Example: First 5 LA Best Start Communities How To Choose A Boundary: Consider your data
- 30. How To Choose A Boundary: Consider your data
- 31. Aggregation Combining data from smaller geographies to create a larger geography How To Choose A Boundary: Consider your data
- 32. How To Choose A Boundary: Consider your data
- 33. How To Choose A Boundary: Consider your data
- 34. Consider your audience What geographies are they familiar with? What geographies are they concerned with? Example: SaveMySeatLA.org How To Choose A Boundary: Consider your audience
- 35. How To Choose A Boundary: Consider your audience
- 36. How To Choose A Boundary: Consider your audience
- 37. How To Choose A Boundary: Consider your audience
- 38. How To Choose A Boundary: Consider your audience
- 39. Use local knowledge Don’t discount personal experience Rural areas—don’t want to use city/place (insert screenshot with area city place actually covers) Is there a park or industrial area nearby—might account for large gaps How To Choose A Boundary: Use local knowledge
- 40. All 1523 city/place boundaries Data at City/place level geography does not cover the entire state. How To Choose A Boundary: Consider your audience
- 41. How To Choose A Boundary: Use local knowledge
- 42. How To Choose A Boundary: Use local knowledge
- 43. How To Choose A Boundary: Use local knowledge
- 44. Explore What is most effective for your story? What has the most meat? Ex: if I want to understand what's happening in my city, city level data won’t tell the whole story. How To Choose A Boundary
- 45. How To Choose A Boundary: Explore
- 46. How To Choose A Boundary: Explore
- 47. How To Choose A Boundary: Explore
- 48. How To Choose A Boundary
- 49. Remember… Consider your data Consider your audience Use local knowledge Explore How To Choose A Boundary
- 50. Questions? How To Choose A Boundary
- 51. What we learned Three Ways to Use Geographies on HC.org Knowledge in Basic Census Geographies How to choose geographies for your map The End.
- 52. Help is Available: Click on • Healthy City User Guide or •FAQs
- 56. Thank You!
Editor's Notes
- Innovation, multi-racial, integrated approach
- First 5 created Best Start community boundaries to Ex: Healthy City worked with First 5 to create custom boundaries—new geographies—tailored to the regions where they wanted to focus their efforts. The data they planned to explore in these areas was available at Census Blockgroup. As a result, in order to aggregate the data and map it to their new geographies, we helped First 5 construct their new geographies from Census Blockgroups.
- Definition of AggregationThe gray blocks on the left could be census blockgroups that are combined to find the total for a Congressional District, or ZIP Codes that are combined to find the total for the County.
- In this First 5 example, these Census Block Groups have been aggregated to create the new Broadway Manchester Boundary.Judging by the size of the blocks groups within their boundary, this is a good level of specificity for them to use as a tool in understanding their community.
- In this First 5 example, these Census Block Groups have been aggregated to create the new Broadway Manchester Boundary.
- Started with ZIP Code data because it is most recognizable to parent advocates or community members who want to generate support for early education.
- We also included maps of the data at district-level, because this is what is most important to elected officials.
- We also included maps of the data at district-level, because this is what is most important to elected officials.
- One problem with this plan is that even though our more general audience of parents and community members may not know their district, they will need to know it if they want to influence elected officials. To bridge this gap, we included a list of related geographies—so if someone viewing the map chooses a ZIP Code as the geography she wants to focus on, she gets district numbers as well by default.
- If you know you are interestedin a rural area, explore other options.
- Another example of when local knowledge and geographies go hand-in-hand is when you are interpreting and refining your map. Here, it looks like there is a shockingly low percentage of youth in my ZIP Code.
- CountyYou can adjust the data level to see varying levels of detail.
- Census Tract
- Census Block