This is a map of the number of women that identify themselves as a minority in the U.S. It was on the website for New America Foundation and the source is cited on the map itself. This map shows me that most of the women who considered themselves minorities live in either border states, like California and New Mexico, or in very densely populated states, like New York, which a high percentage of immigrants flock to. The midwest region of the U.S. has very few minority women. Alaska and Hawaii report large numbers of minority women, which makes sense to me because many native people like the Inuits and Hawaiians live in these states and have for centuries before white people came to America. I find that this map is interesting because it's a visualization of information that I have taken for granted and it makes me appreciate that I live in California which is rich with ethnic diversity.
This is a map of the prisons that are in California. Through Google, I found it on a blog that discusses the prison system in California. By looking at the map, it is obvious that the prisons are located in places where population is more dense, for the most part. I find this interesting because it would seem more logical to remove prisoners from populated areas and transport them to more remote locations, however I can also see reasons for keeping prisoners in cities. It is important to be near courthouses and the legal system, as many prisoners are still undergoing appeals. It is also interesting that there are so few juvenile prisons, and that they are not spread out, but in two clusters near Los Angeles and the Sacramento area. This could be because of population.
This map is of the foreclosures in the United States in 2007. The map was posted on the Belmont University website with an article about the extreme number of houses in foreclosure. It cites RealtyTrac, which is a firm that tracks residential properties in foreclosure and reports its findings. This map shows the density of bank foreclosures in the United States. I find it interesting because this map not only shows the areas with the most population density, but those areas that have significantly less money than other areas. In some cases, population density and a lower average income coincide. I was personally interested in this map because I work for a property management business that has considered purchasing property in foreclosure and just last month acquired a condo that was foreclosed.
