Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Visualizing Density in Three Dimensions

Unfortunately, I lack the programming ability to display this in an interactive format, but I'll share a few screen shots.  These are from a 3-dimensional map of the state in which each census tract is extruded according to its population density.  The result is a map in which each person takes up an equal amount of three dimensional space (3.125 cubic miles if you're interested).  Later on, I've added Maryland and Washington, DC to the mix.

Looking west from the Atlantic Ocean:


 Looking northeast from Tennessee:


Hampton Roads:


 Richmond Metro Area:


 NoVa:


 Charlottesville in the lower right, Harrisonburg on top, Staunton and Waynesboro on the left.


 Lynchburg on the right, Roanoke in the middle, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Radford on the left:


Just Virginia:


With Maryland and DC:

Fredericksburg on the left, DC in the middle, Baltimore on the right: