GPS World

Tag: redistricting

  • 4 more organizations select Maptitude for Redistricting

    Four more organizations have selected Maptitude for Redistricting. The South Carolina Legislature, Massachusetts Secretary of State, NJ United, and the Mississippi Planning and Development District will all be using Maptitude for Redistricting for their redistricting activities this decade.

    Photo: Caliper
    Photo: Caliper

    Maptitude is a mapping software program created by Caliper Corp. that allows users to view, edit and integrate maps. Maptitude for Redistricting is the professional tool for political redistricting.

    According to Caliper, the ease-of-use, fitness-for-purpose and competitive pricing of Maptitude for Redistricting have made Maptitude the dominant product for political redistricting. Maptitude provides measures and reports, and the program features tools such as the Efficiency Gap Measure tool for exploring redistricting problems.

    Maptitude was used to democratize redistricting in California and is used by the majority of redistricters, from independent commissions, non-profits, and civil rights groups, to the courts and political parties, Caliper added.

  • Maptitude for Redistricting ready for 2020 cycle

    Screenshot: Mapitude
    Screenshot: Mapitude

    Maptitude for Redistricting is designed specifically for anyone involved in or preparing for the 2020 redistricting cycle, from novice to professional users.

    Maptitude for Redistricting 2019 has new partisan competitiveness reports, adds access to imagery layers, and allows users to save and share their plans in a variety of formats.

    New features include:

    • Speed improvements provide faster access to maps and geographic analysis.
    • Expanded file support for Excel worksheets, Google Earth Documents (KML/KMZ) attribute data fields, and MapPoint files.
    • New partisan competitiveness reports and measures of compactness for analyzing redistricting plans,
    • Integrated satellite imagery from a variety of sources for giving a better view of district composition.
    • The latest Census geography and data, including current ACS data.

    Maptitude for Redistricting is a professional tool for political redistricting. It provides measures and reports that support the creation of fair and balanced districts.

    Maptitude is constantly enhanced and provides tools such as the Efficiency Gap Measure for exploring redistricting problems.

    Maptitude was used to democratize redistricting in California and is used by the majority of redistricters, from independent commissions, non-profits, and civil rights groups, to the courts and political parties.

  • Correcting the census: Household sizes in Maptitude 2019

    Correcting the census: Household sizes in Maptitude 2019

    Household size distributions are critical inputs to many business analyses, but may not be correctly derived from U.S. Census data, according to Caliper.

    The Census counts people at their geographic locations, and when several unrelated people live at the same address, they are reported as one household with a number of residents.

    A confusing array of data is reported. In both the Census SF1 2010 file and in 2017 ACS, the following tabulations are provided down to the Census tract level:

    • People in Family Households
    • 2 person Family Households
    • 3 person Family Households
    • 4 person Family Households
    • 5 person Family Households
    • 6 person Family Households
    • 7+ person Family Households
    • Non-relatives in Family Households
      • Unmarried Partners (including same-sex couples) in Family Households
    • People in Non-Family Households
      • Unmarried Partners (including same-sex couples) in Non-Family Households

    There is also extensive information on people residing in group quarters in the 2010 Census, which has the tabulations below:

    • People in Group Quarters: College
    • People in Group Quarters: Military
    • People in Group Quarters: Navy Ships
    • People in Group Quarters: Other
      • People in Group Quarters: Homeless
      • People in Group Quarters: Group Homes
      • People in Group Quarters: Residential Treatment
      • People in Group Quarters: Merchant Ships
      • People in Group Quarters: Workers’ Group Living Quarters
      • People in Group Quarters: Other Other
    • People in Group Quarters: Institutionalized

    Using this information, Maptitude 2019 includes a corrected data set of household size distributions for Census Tracts and Block Groups to account for the under-representation of one-person households in the Census data.

    Census tracts with Caliper derived households. (Image: Caliper)
    Census tracts with Caliper derived households. (Image: Caliper)
    Census tracts with Census household count. (Image: Caliper)
    Census tracts with Census household count. (Image: Caliper)