Monday, April 26, 2021

The Worst Map Of The Week


I don't unremarkably criticize maps on this blog. Google is mainly concerned amongst interesting on-line maps too maps which are experimenting amongst novel or master copy visualization techniques. This agency I tend non to concentrate on the cartographic failings of the maps featured on Google .

Yesterday's Van Gogh map postal service is a proficient illustration of this. This map is never going to win whatever awards for excellence inward cartography simply the Van Gogh map is an interesting experiment inward using the novel Mapbox GL mapping platform. It could thus locomote real useful every bit a present map for whatever developers who are starting to explore Mapbox's novel map library - so it gets no criticisms from me.

However cartographic critics create play an invaluable purpose inward sharing too encouraging proficient cartographic practice. Kenneth Field's Gaza Everywhere map is a bully illustration of how Cartonerd's observations tin truly Pb to a map developer creating a ameliorate map.

I am going to brand an exception today however, inward my 'no criticism' policy, for a map yesteryear The Daily Telegraph which has truly annoyed me. I'll allow Cartonerd criticize the cartography if he wants - I desire to concentrate on the map's horrible social prejudices.

The Daily Telegraph has mapped the 'best places' to alive inward England too Wales. To brand this map The Telegraph has created its ain 'index' based on v social too economical criteria. Average Weekly Incomes too Home Ownership levels brand upwardly 2 of these v criteria. Therefore the map places a huge weighting inward its sentence of the 'best places' to alive on areas having no pathetic people or people who don't ain their ain homes.

On outset reading virtually these criteria my outset idea was that The Telegraph was making a truly nasty sentence inward deciding where the ameliorate places to alive are, assuming that if y'all accept the alternative it is ameliorate to avoid living anywhere nigh pathetic people. I too so wondered a lilliputian virtually whether this sentence mightiness truly locomote true. It is exclusively possible that the nicer places to alive larn beyond the agency of people without high incomes. The 'best places' to alive attract to a greater extent than people too the marketplace drives upwardly the cost of holding too the expanse eventually becomes dominated yesteryear people amongst high incomes.

To locomote fair to the paper The Telegraph's supposition mightiness locomote non that an expanse is ameliorate because it has no pathetic residents simply that the ameliorate areas accept higher incomes because they eventually larn unaffordable to anyone without a high income.

To examination this hypothesis I looked at the rankings for areas unopen to where I alive inward East London. In The Telegraph map Redbridge is declared a far ameliorate identify to alive than Hackney. Hackney scores real depression on the abode ownership too average income levels piece Redbridge scores real high on both criteria. Hackney is thus declared a less overnice identify to alive because it has likewise many pathetic people.

Given the alternative even so I don't remember I'm lonely inward thinking that I would far rather alive inward Hackney than Redbridge. Hackney is a far to a greater extent than vibrant too exciting community than Redbridge, amongst far to a greater extent than options inward damage of restaurants, night-life too cultural activities.

Herein lies ane of the problems inward The Telegraph's criteria for deciding where the 'best places' to alive are. My sense is that areas amongst depression income too abode ownership levels are frequently the areas which are the most exciting to live. These are the areas, inward cities inward particular, which frequently attract the young, the artistic too the dynamic start-up companies looking for inexpensive rent.

In fact I await at The Telegraph's The Best Places inward England too Wales too honor that inward the areas I know virtually I would far rather alive inward the places that The Telegraph claims are the worst places to alive than inward their 'best places'. But I gauge that could locomote downwards to my ain social prejudices too the fact that I don't necessarily despise people on depression incomes.

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