Weighted Density

Per yesterday's post on international population density statistics, this attempt to devise a "weighted density" is interesting. The methodology:

I took the 32 largest U.S. urbanized areas and added Austin and Honolulu for good measure. I pulled the Census data on each census tract partially or completely contained within each of these urbanized areas. I calculated the standard density (i.e., total population/total land area) for each census tract. I also calculated each census tract's share of the total population of the urbanized area. I then assigned each tract's density a "weight" equal to its share of the total population. I summed the weights to get the weighted density for the urbanized area.

Now all we need is a European version.

Comments

Whenever I think about census data, and our attempt to discern patterns and draw inferences, I always remember this exchange between Woody Allen and Carol Kane from Annie Hall:

Singer: So, what, you're like New York, Jewish, left-wing, liberal, intellectual, Central Park West; Brandeis University; the socialist summer camps and the father with the Ben Shahn drawings, right? And the really, you know, strike-oriented kind of, red diaper -- stop me before I make a complete imbecile of myself.

Allison: No, that was wonderful. I love being reduced to a cultural stereotype.

Singer: Right; I'm a bigot -- but, for the Left.

Posted by Jemand von Niemand | May 13, 2008 9:41 AM

It would be interesting to compare this data with the same report run after the next census to see what effect the subprime mess has had. I suspect that places like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Denver, and other 90s boomburbs will show statistically significant shifts.

Posted by Roboticghost | May 13, 2008 10:10 AM

Wow, those numbers looked really off, until I noticed they're using the last census. Using 2000 census numbers in 2008 is a problem. For older cities with stable populations, it is't much of a difference, but some Sunbelt cities have grown dramatically in the last 8 years.

This isn't merely an academic question, if a state or local government wants to draft a development plan or an affordable housing study, the first step would be adjusting for population shifts since the last census (or wait for the 2010 numbers to come out so the report's numbers are reasonably up to date).

Posted by beowulf | May 13, 2008 10:50 AM

I also found it interesting.

When you posted about it before.

Posted by Kolohe | May 13, 2008 5:16 PM