Date Posted:Tue 2003-06-03 20:43:45 Author: arendt Subject: Question/comment about map tweaking In reply to:
goobergunch
's message, "I can tweak the map tomorrow..." on Tue 2003-06-03 16:34:35
I assume that you are making your maps by simply hand-
labelling various census districts as belonging to one
"state" or another.
My intention, when I figure out how to use ESRI AE, is
to write some code that adds census districts to states
based on population density. A first pass would locate
the geographic center of an urban area. Then, a second
pass would add population concentrically around the
city until the state borders just touched. Further elaborations
to the algorithm would compensate for rivers, mountains,
roads, and bridges.
I feel it is absolutely essential to make cities the organizing
principle of states. I got this conviction from reading Jane
Jacobs (Cities and the Wealth of Nations; The Economy
of Cities). Ms. Jacobs' ideas are referenced in Sim City.
I am more than happy to develop these algorithms, as soon
as I figure out how to use ESRI. If I can't figure out ESRI, I
will use GMT or some other GNU pulbic license stuff.
If you are a map guru, I would appreciate some discussion
of the relative merits of ESRI and GMT or Gector.
