On the one hand, in Canada even the maps of individual census collection blocks is not available free of the charge to the general public. $1000 for a map, StatCan? Really? After I pay almost 50% of my income in taxes? No, thanks.
On the other hand, the US Census Bureau makes all sorts of maps and statistics available to the public online for free. It's almost frightening the level of detail you can get down to.
Take for example, this map of Grand Isle County, Vermont, which shows where there were people who identified as "Asian" in the 2000 census.
(Click to enlarge)
Each orange dot represents one person.
Has the hair on your arms just stood up on end?
The good news is that the data available really requires some serious number crunching and a good computer to be able to create this kind of map. I tried to add the same data for the adjacent counties in New York and Vermont on either side of the lake, and my computer crashed.
Also, the orange dots are not GPS-triangulated locations of actual people. They are just placed at a random location within each census collection block.
Software used
I used a new program this time, called Epi Info. It can be freely downloaded from the CDC website, though I think it's a toned-down version of a bigger piece of GIS software created by ESRI.
Yes, Stats Can sucks. Every time I try to look something up on their site I can never find what I want, or it tells me to pay. I see no good reason why it should not be free.
ReplyDeleteWe need to write to our MP to complain. I think all census data should be available for free to members of the public, unless it's kept entirely confidential for privacy reasons.
ReplyDeleteOh, wait, I just saw who that is... Hmm.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the "hmm" for?
ReplyDeleteHesitation about whether contacting Monsieur Duceppe to try to get his office to pressure StatCan into giving me a free copy of the Census Tract map file would even elicit a response. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think they'd even care.
ReplyDelete