Jun

17th 2008

Congestion Cities

Filed Under United States, Urban Geography | Leave a Comment

INRIX, a traffic-information provider released their list of the top 100 most congested cities in the United States.  Not surprisingly, some of the most populated metropolitan areas rank at the very top of the list.   According to the press release, “The INRIX Scorecard takes a micro look at traffic problems all across the country — zooming in on the total hours spent in traffic, worst day of the week for commuting and average speeds for the top 100 cities in the U.S., along with hundreds of other details including the identification of the nation’s worst bottlenecks Americans drive through every day.”  The top four ranked cities (Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Washington D.C.) account for 50% of the top 1,000 bottleneck locations in the country.

The top ten worst cities for congestion are:

  1. Los Angeles, CA
  2. New York, NY
  3. Chicago, IL
  4. Washington D.C.
  5. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
  6. San Francisco, CA
  7. Houston, TX
  8. Boston, MA
  9. Seattle, WA
  10. Atlanta, GA

Learn more: National Traffic Scorecard - INRIX

Jun

01st 2008

Carbon Footprint of Metropolitan U.S.

Filed Under Environment, United States | Leave a Comment

In a study issued by the Brookings Instititute, the surprising conclusion was that the carbon footprint of urban dwellers was 14% smaller than the average American’s.   The top three smallest metropolitan area carbon footprints in order are: Honolulu, HI, Los Angeles, CA and Portland, OR.  The top three largest metropolitan area carbon footprints in order are Tulsa, OK, Knoxville, TN, and Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA.

Read more:

May

13th 2008

Immigrant Assimilation in the US

Filed Under United States | Leave a Comment

A new report issued by the Manhattan Institute entitled “Measuring Immigrant Assimilation in the United States” looks at the rate at which immigrants adapt to living in the United States.  The study looked at the degree of similarity between native and foreign-born adults living in the United States using Census data.  The think tank compared statistics on economic (e.g. income and home ownership), cultural (ability to speak English) and civic (e.g. military enrollment and rates of U.S. citizenship) factors using Census data from 1890 to 2006 and found that rates of assimilation vary greatly among immigrant groups.

The study found that while immigrant groups are assimilating faster than in the past, the slowest rate of assimilation is occurring among Mexican immigrants.  The significant findings as highlighted in the executive summary are:

  • The degree of similarity between the native- and foreign-born, although low by historical standards, has held steady since 1990. Assimilation declined during the 1980s, remained stable through the 1990s, and has actually increased slightly over the past few years.
  • Newly arrived immigrants of the early 21st century have assimilation index values lower than the newly arrived immigrants of the early 20th century. Growth in the immigrant population usually lowers the assimilation index because newly arrived immigrants drag down the average for the group as a whole. This phenomenon can be seen between 1900 and 1920 and again in the 1980s. The stability of the assimilation index since 1990 is therefore remarkable in light of the rapid growth of the immigrant population, which doubled between 1990 and 2006.
  • Immigrants of the past quarter-century have assimilated more rapidly than their counterparts of a century ago, even though they are more distinct from the native population upon arrival. The increase in the rate of assimilation among recently arrived immigrants explains why the overall index has remained stable, even though the immigrant population has grown rapidly.
  • Yet the current level of assimilation remains lower than it was at any point during the early 20th century wave of immigration.

Read the report (PDF): Measuring Immigrant Assimilation in the United States - Jacob L. Vigdor

Apr

23rd 2008

Five percent of the population, twenty-five percent of the prisoners

Filed Under Current Events, United States | Leave a Comment

The NY Times takes a look at the substantially higher number of inmates in America versus any other country.  With 2.3 million criminals behind bars, the United States incarcerates people for certain crimes that rarely receive prison sentences in other countries.  For example, China, which has a population four times that of the United States, has only 1.6 million people imprisoned.  The rate of incarceration in America means that roughly 1 in 100 adults are behind bars.  The NY Times points to a variety of reasons provide by experts to explain the higher rate of incarceration: “higher levels of violent crime, harsher sentencing laws, a legacy of racial turmoil, a special fervor in combating illegal drugs, the American temperament, and the lack of a social safety net.”

Apr

05th 2008

Inflated Views

Filed Under Cartography, United States | Leave a Comment

The Cartophilia blog has some interesting maps showing the inflated views of selected states around the United States.  All of the maps show the inflated views of each states self-importance.  Each map shows a distorted view of the rest of the United States with the subject state shown larger than life.

Mar

26th 2008

Planning to avoid bullets

Filed Under United States, Urban Geography | Leave a Comment

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting article about the growing integration of safety elements into buildings and community areas in order to protect residents living in high gang and crime ridden areas from gun shots.  Examples included are a senior center built 30 feet above the street level (including an aboveground courtyard) and a dirt hill at a state park - both designed to protect residents from drive-by shootings.  City Councilman Ed Reyes explains the need: “When we look at the pragmatism of our neighborhoods, we have to ask questions: Where is the bullet going to come from? What projectile elevation should we adhere to in our development? Where should we situate the trees?”  Other strategies include bulletproof windows and creating gardens on rooftops. 

Feb

29th 2008

2008 Statistical Abstract

Filed Under Data, United States | Leave a Comment

Compiled from various U.S. Government and private sources such as the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Statistical Abstract is the mother lode of statistics on many aspects of American life. Covering a range of such subjects as politics, economics, life expectancy, and marital status, the Statistical Abstract has been capturing an annual snapshot of the United States since 1878.

Next Page →