Salt Lake City is just as white as you imagined

I’m obsessed with maps.  As I write this from my living room, there is a map of Mahoning County on the wall to my left and one of Ohio to the right.  I’m completely fascinated by them, and this fascination is the main reason I chose geography as one of my specializations (think minor).

It’s no surprise that I was amazed when I found Eric Fischer’s study of racial breakdowns in America’s largest cities.

Fischer was inspired by a map created by Bill Rankin in 2009 that shows Chicago’s racial breakdown by community.  The map is simplistically elegant and informative, showing the stark racial boundaries between neighboring communities in an easy-to-interpret design.

The map that started it all