Link Sharing: This page links to a newspaper article on the potential impact of offsite storage for items with low circulation numbers in a province-wide academic library consortium. Check it out and contribute to the discussion!
Today’s map is a Valentine’s Day treat for all the single ladies and men in Halifax, Nova Scotia. By manipulating 2006 Census data at the tract level, I’ve plotted maps that show the marital status of all the men and women in Halifax.(*)
1. Women who are not in a married relationship in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2006 Census:
Women not in a married relationship in Halifax, 2006 Census
2. Men who are not in a married relationship in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2006 Census:
Men not in a married relatonship in Halifax, 2006 Census
(*) Careful attention must be given to meaning of these values. These maps represent the marital status of all people living in a tract, over the age of 15 – a question that was asked on the 2006 Census. When a person was asked this question, they could respond by stating that they were:
For the purposes of these maps, I have considered anyone who answered “Never legally married (single)”, “Legally married (but separated)”, “Divorced”, or “Widowed” to be your potential special some one who you might meet by accident walking down Spring Garden Road on a sunny, Sunday afternoon.
Note, however, that this census question does not take into account people who are living in a common-law relationship. StatCan was concerned with marital status as opposed to “relationship status” when asking this question. The number of common-law relationships in a tract therefore muddles the values because some one who is “never been married (single)” or “divorced,” for instance, may actually be living with some one in a common-law relationship. In the future I’ll manipulate the numbers to account for this, so for now understand that these maps, strictly speaking, reflect marital status in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Summary Data:
Population of Halifax, aged 15 or above: 312,650
Please feel free to comment on the maps or to note any errors to be corrected. In the mean time, Happy Valentine’s Day.
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Citations and disclaimers.
These maps were published with data gathered from Statistics Canada 2006 Census Tracts as well as from aggregated data retrieved from the Equinox data delivery system (Tables 97-552-XCB2006005 and 97-552-XCB2006006). This data was used strictly for scholarly research purposes and in no way in the pursuit of any commercial or income-generating venture.
This weekend I projected unemployment data from the 2006 Census onto a map of Halifax. I won’t say much about this topic because its subject matter lies well beyond my area of expertise; although I’m willing to make broad assumptions about population growth, I don’t want to speak too much about employment numbers lest some one quotes me on it. (I see you in my site statistics, all you high school and jr. high kids logging in from ednet.ns.ca addresses – remember to click to the census data and cite them for your projects!)
Halifax unemployment data, 2006 census
First, some observations on the projection. The unemployment figures for Halifax’s 88 Census Tracts ranged from 2.1% in Fairview (Tract 205.0017.00, south of Hwy 102 and north of the St. Margaret’s Bay Road) to 12.8% in Shannon Park (Tract 205.0112.00, south of the MacKay Bridge at Windmill Road), with the city’s average unemployment rate at 6.3%. This is a 10.7% spread, which I’ve separated into 5 fields with a 3% spread in each. By showing 5 different unemployment rate groups, this spread gives a sharp level of detail, but on the other hand it creates a patchwork-quilt of colors with few discernible patterns. Projecting data requires balancing data against visuals – if the data is not represented properly, then patterns may not emerge, or the patterns that do emerge may be misleading altogether. Be sure, therefore, to click through to the original data files for each tract (links are provided on the tract’s data boxes).
[flexiblemap src=”http://michael.steeleworthy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/20100208_Halifax_Unemployment_Data_2006_Census.kml” width=”700″ height=”400″]
And now, some observations on this map against others. Thus far I’ve noted how Timberlea and the Sackvilles tend to stand out on census maps. Both areas saw a significant decrease in population from 2001 to 2006, and my recent population density map shows that both areas are denser than their surrounding (more-)rural neighbours thanks to the network of highways spidering out from the peninsula. What today’s map highlights is that both areas’ population decreases are mirrored by higher unemployment rates. The areas may have a denser population than their surrounding census tracts, but people seem to be leaving (possibly to find work elsewhere?).
Base figures:
Population of Halifax in 2006: 372858
Labour force [persons ages 15+]: 309270
Unemployed persons in labour force: 13385
Unemployment Rate: 6.3%
Population of Nova Scotia in 2006: 913462
Labour force [persons ages 15+]: 756595
Unemployed persons in labour force: 43530
Unemployment Rate: 9.1%
Today’s map improves on last week’s iteration, which only plotted population figures per census tract in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This week, I’ve traced population growth for each census tract in Halifax Regional Municipality using freely available data from the 2001 and 2006 Statistics Canada censuses.
A census tract (CT) is a a compact, populated area. It should have clearly defined boundaries, a population that is fairly homogeneous from a socio-economic standpoint, with roughly 2500 to 8000 (but ideally about 4000) people living in it (source).
2010_0109_Pop_Growth_Decline_HRM_2001-2006
This map reveals interesting trends in Halifax population patterns. For the most part, peninsular Halifax and old Dartmouth have stagnant or declining populations, while the suburbs (especially in western HRM) show strong population growth. Rural areas such as old Halifax County and the Chebucto Peninsula have roughly remained stagnant. Some CTs, however, have rates of decline or growth that differ in large degree from their neighbouring CTs, including:
It will be interesting to see how the proposed development of the land east of Bayers Lake, which is divided between 2500025.03 and 2500024.00 will affect population rates in this area. Perhaps the development (which likely won’t be ready in time for the 2011 census) will improve growth figures for CT 2050024.00 in the future.
Producing this map reinforces the reasons why census tracts should all have a uniform size. Halifax Regional Municipality covers a large amount of urban, suburban, and rural land, and its census tracts’ population figures range from under 1000 to over 6000. This spread makes it difficult to measure one CT’s population growth or decline against another CT’s own rate. For instance the population of 205113.00, off of Windmill Road in Dartmouth, declined by 185 people in 2006, a difference of -20.6%. Meanwhile, the population of 2050004.02, in old Halifax’s south end, declined by 158 people in 2005, a difference of -3.6%. Since populations can vary quite a bit from one census tract to another, be sure to check the actual population figures of surrounding census tracts when comparing one colour code to another.
Population of Halifax in 2001: 359183
Population of Halifax in 2006: 372858
Difference: 3.8%
(03 Jan 2010: Updates – Added links to the CT data files.)
I have something to share…
20100103_2006_Halifax_Census_Tracts
You’re looking at a colorful map of Halifax Regional Municipality. Using information gathered from the 2006 Census, I’ve plotted the 2006 Census Tracts onto a map of Halifax using Google Earth and Google Maps so that data can be analyzed visually in the future. Aside from the colors and boundaries, there is no data attached to this particular map; this is a New Year’s project of sorts, so I hope to produce one rendered map of the city, region, or province per week.
I’ve been toying with the idea for this map for some time. I originally began to mark up a map of Nova Scotia’s provincial constituencies last spring, but that project gave way to other concerns (i.e. the great outdoors) and I’ve since put it on the backburner since there is a new government on Hollis St. Instead, I’ve produced a map this is closer to my professional interests. I work regularly with socio-economic data from Statistics Canada and I’m familiar with its 2006 Census tools as well as with CANSIM and E-Stat; mashing up the data I use on a regular basis is a visual extension of my own research.
This page has been influenced from many other sites that deploy Google Earth and ArcGIS data on the internet – The Toronto Star’s Map of the Week, and the CBC‘s and the Globe and Mail‘s 2008 election coverage come to mind. If you like what you see here, then consider checking out those sites as well.
For what it’s worth, the data used to produce this particular map is available on the Internet but is held through Crown Copyright by Statistics Canada. I’m producing it anyway, though, since our fair dealing provisions allow for research and scholarship, which this is intended to be. (i.e. Copyright Act and CCH are on my side, more or less.)