THE URBAN INSTITUTE - INTERACTIVE MAPS
Web chatter around data is implying we are now experiencing a revolution - a data revolution. While not completely new, data visualization advances could be occurring as a part of the revolution because of their ability to explain real-world problems.
We at the EWU's Community Indicators offices love data visualization and enjoy sharing what we find interesting. This is partly because we know good data visualization can do an excellent job of explaining complexity, as well as making the data a little more fun, too.
The Urban Institute's Interactive Map website is a great compilation of interactive data visualizations that takes the complex and simplifies the story. For example, most of the maps referenced include data for every county in the U.S., or a designated boundary, such as "Commuting Zones" as offered in the Mapping America's Futures interactive map. Taking boundaries people are already familiar with (county and state boundaries, for example) and supplying numbers within the boundaries makes the complex simpler.
A few of the mapped data visualizations titles include:
- Mapping America's Futures - shows where births, deaths, and migration is occurring by age and race across the U.S.
- State Economic Monitor - multiple indicators offered in the following categories: employment, earnings, housing, taxes, as well as offering historical data.
- Income and Race Concentration in Public Schools - showing the share of children from low-income families in public schools.
- A New View of the Housing Boom and Bust - a visualization showing every mortgage in the U.S., including both purchases and refinances, broken down by the race of the purchaser.
- America's Public Schools Remain Highly Segregated - shows the share of white kids attending majority white schools across the U.S. during the 2011-2012 school year.
