[HN Gopher] Centers of Population
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Centers of Population
Author : geox
Score : 38 points
Date : 2022-01-20 13:40 UTC (9 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.census.gov)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.census.gov)
| et2o wrote:
| Interestingly enough, the mean center of population for NY State
| is only about 9 miles from the NJ border. Given NYC's location,
| not suprising. I wonder if there are any states with centers of
| population closer to the border than that. Given NY's geometry,
| if NYC continues to grow relative to upstate, I could imagine the
| center of population of the state actually being outside of NY
| State boundaries.
|
| It's also possible in the past the NJ's state center of
| population might have been in NY - if Newark and Northern NJ were
| more relatively populous, I think that the mean center of
| population might be in Staten Island or the NY-NJ harbor.
| et2o wrote:
| After a brief search, Hawaii's is in the ocean between O'ahu
| and Moloka'i. DC's might be the closest to the state border
| (about 3.1 miles) but still just about directly in the center
| of the DC polygon.
| madcaptenor wrote:
| Still feels like that's in Hawaii, though.
| zamadatix wrote:
| Rhode Island's is < 6.5 miles. Feels a bit like cheating though
| haha.
| Cupertino95014 wrote:
| A fun project for your student(s):
|
| Do an animated video of a US map, where the mean center of
| population for each state moves around every 10 years.
| madcaptenor wrote:
| For Delaware, I eyeball the distance from the center of
| population to the nearest border (again NJ) at maybe three
| miles. But Delaware's so small that I feel like that doesn't
| count; something like (distance to border)/(square root of
| state area) might be worth looking at.
| zamadatix wrote:
| Google Map's measurement tool is giving me a hair under 5
| miles which beats out Rhode Island.
| madcaptenor wrote:
| That's what I'm seeing too - can't believe I forgot there
| was a measurement tool.
| et2o wrote:
| Definitely-would want to normalize distance by total state
| size, your formula works. I'm pretty sure NY would be the
| winner here, although Alaska might also be close by this
| metric.
| zie wrote:
| I would randomly guess Portland, it's literally up against the
| WA border on the north, and most of the state lives in/around
| Portland.
| xyhopguy wrote:
| For oregon the population center is almost exactly Detroit.
| There is a large population in the willamette valley south of
| portland (and bend is captured by this too).
| zie wrote:
| Assuming this is true, and it makes sense that it would be;
| Detroit is in the north west corner of the state, up near
| the WA border.
| PaulDavisThe1st wrote:
| How much would each (national, state) CoP move if it took actual
| people's weight into account?
| v8xi wrote:
| for those interested: the mean center of population for the US is
| a county road somewhere between Springfield and St. Louis,
| Missouri. https://goo.gl/maps/nSt8tZKGvhcsXqieA
| [deleted]
| beefman wrote:
| Why is the "geographic center of area" so far North?
|
| https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2020/geo/geogr...
| LargoLasskhyfv wrote:
| Because of the agglomeration of the United Frackers of the
| Bakken.
| maxnoe wrote:
| Alaska?
| erwincoumans wrote:
| Just curious, what is the purpose of having the center of
| population?
| Wiseacre wrote:
| To airdrop supplies or information at a moment's notice.
| v8xi wrote:
| If we align it perfectly with the center of mass of the
| continent, maybe it will prevent sea level rise?
| Kon-Peki wrote:
| It is interesting that two smallest shifts in mean center of
| population are 2010-2020 and 1910-1920.
|
| The largest shift appears to be 1850-1860 - perhaps due to the
| California Gold Rush?
| jrmg wrote:
| Interesting to me that the US cente roof population is still
| moving west. Even between 2010 and 2020 there's a notable shift.
| paganel wrote:
| The moving South part is also interesting.
| mlindner wrote:
| Retirees moving from the midwest to warmer climates also.
| q1w2 wrote:
| Texas is still west of the current center and there has been
| huge migration to Texas.
| melissalobos wrote:
| That's kind of interesting, I think it might be more interesting
| if they didn't include Alaska and Hawaii and tracked those
| separately.
| readthenotes1 wrote:
| Or if they also added all the territories and extreme rendition
| sites!
| rindalir wrote:
| This is a major bummer for me. I live mere feet from the previous
| center of population for my state, and now it has moved nearly a
| mile away :(.
| et2o wrote:
| I thought they would already be marked on Google Maps, but they
| are not. It doesn't seem possible to add them even as a Tourist
| destination either. Interesting.
| zamadatix wrote:
| I'm able to suggest adding them after entering a name, setting
| a category (e.g. Tourist Attraction), and clicking "update
| location on map" and not actually moving it (e.g. reset).
| Steltek wrote:
| For a related nerdy science joke, there's also Massachusetts'
| geographic center or in other words, the "Center of Mass".
|
| https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/570
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(page generated 2022-01-20 23:02 UTC)