#metrocosm

3-D ELECTION MAPS:  Showing magnitude and location of votes! 

Max Galka, creator of Metrocosm, has created some awesome data representations. I like his three-dimensional map of the popular vote in the recent presidential election. As he explains in the commentary, the typical red/blue election map is in some ways deceiving. The one below shows the county-level results for the 2016 election. To look at all the red it would appear Republicans dominated the race. In reality, Democrats received a larger share of the popular vote.

One way to show magnitude is by a familiar cartogram, which distorts area to reflect the size of a phenomenon. Another is the three-dimensional map shown above, sometimes called a prism map. By extending each region into the 3rd dimension, it’s possible to show the relative importance of each region while retaining the map’s shape, keeping the areas recognizable. In this case, the height of each county corresponds to its total number of votes.

Visualizing the Great Migration — The Most Under-Reported Story of the 20th Century

This is a very insightful map of the Great Migration that occurred in the early 20th century.  No one really has written much about it.  I am interested in the migration pattern of early native North Americans and of the continent as a whole.  I really love this stuff.

Follow the link to read more byMax Galka

In 1910, 83% of African Americans lived in the South, about the same percentage that had…

Global Obesity:  Mapping its rise, 1975-2014

Over the last 40 years, global obesity rates have increased dramatically -- along with our waist-lines! The average adult today is 3 times more likely to be obese as in 1975. This map shows how this trend occurred, country-by-country. If you watch the progression over the years, it is amazing how the patterns spread ubiquitously around the world. One assumes the trend must be related to the spread of modern fast-food, prepackaged diets, along with increasingly sedentary populations.

Color = adult obesity rate in the year shown.

"The True Shape of the U.S. Economy" by @galka_max

It’s clear that the U.S. economy is heavily concentrated in certain locations (the Northeast, California, Chicago) and less in others (the Heartland and Mountain regions), but what is the precise distribution?

How much of the U.S. GDP comes from large cities versus rural areas? And how do the economies of each city compare with each other?