Data candy

Image

This piece from the Infrastructurist caught my attention.  It takes data from the American Community Survey in 2008 and breaks them up visually into 8 major cities, including Seattle.

Quick: without looking at the details, which color stands out most?

If you said orange, you're correct (and you win a new car...!).  With the exceptions of D.C., San Francisco and NYC, the majority of the population drives alone to work.  Bet you could have guessed that.

Next in line: lots of light blue indicating some serious transit ridership.  Serious in Seattle?  No consolation price here (although better than LA and Houston). The winners are NYC, D.C., San Francisco and Chicago. Relatively predictable.

What else stands out?  Mainly that we have a good bit of work to do.  Combining walking, biking (and telecommuting/other), the numbers do show up-- but not like this.  For those looking for an explanation, I would recommend this: google "land-use planning."