SEGMENTS, MAPPING AND UNDERSTANDING MODERN AMERICAN POLITICS

Problem with the Red/Blue Breakdown Fine for keeping political score, but doesn’t acknowledge the immense diversity of 300 million people, 3.5 million square miles Leads to stereotyping and creates camps within the electorate, the idea that all Red places are similar, all the Blue places are alike

Problem with Demographic Slices It removes people from their environment and pays little or no attention to the surrounding influences

So that this….

... is seen just like this

The American Communities Project # Counties NamesPopulation 222Exurbs32 mill 364Graying America15.3 mill 371African American South16.7 mill 373Evangelical Hubs12.5 mill 337Working Class Country8.5 mill 89Military Posts9.7 mill 106Urban Suburbs66.2 mill 161Hispanic Centers11.5 mill 42Native American Lands695, Rural Middle America21.5 mill 154College Towns17.9 mill 41LDS Enclaves3 mill 161Aging Farmlands576,000 46Big Cities73.6 mill 77Middle Suburbs16.3 mill 15 County Types created with 40-plus demographic data points

The Divides Inside the Country The line between the Suburbs and Exurbs is an important divider for Democrat- and Republican-leaning America. Gallup Data

Racial Breakdowns The rising tide of racial and ethnic diversity looks very different in different communities, helping create different partisan leanings. Census Data

The Changing Demographics The U.S. Hispanic population has grown everywhere since 2000, but the impacts are very different depending on the community. Census data

The Changing Economics Poverty have risen across every county type since 2000, though some of that may have to do with the great recession. Census data

Income and Poverty Census Data

Different Skills and Education Levels While education levels vary across community types, rural communities consistently have lower levels overall. Census data

Faith Differences The line between Suburbs and the Exurbs is also the line between Catholics and Protestants. Gallup Data

Inequality Across the Types Urban communities – Big Cities, Urban Suburbs, College Towns – tend to have more built-in cultural and socio-economic tensions. Using the Gini Index you can see how divided their base communities are. Census Data

Very Different Social Values There is a divide on social issues between the more socially moderate urban communities and rural ones like the Evangelical Hubs and Working Class Country. You can see the split on issues like gay marriage, where the gap is pronounced. Pew Research Data

Behind the Views on the ACA – Part 1 Animosity toward the ACA is driven by a complicated set of factors, some of the places that stand to gain coverage from the law are the most opposed. Census Data

Behind the Views on the ACA – Part 2 On top of politics, cost may play a big role. Rural communities, which lean Republican and have lower income play more under many federal exchange plans. Federal Exchange Insurance Data

You Are Where You Eat Who visited in the last 12 mos Who Shopped in the last 4 weeks Experian Data