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potkea OP t1_j24qtz5 wrote

This is a re-upload based on the constructive criticism you /r/massachusetts users gave me. The original thread is archived here

I'm from Michigan, I just was teaching myself QGIS and decided that making this map would be interesting.

I used the FBI's crime data explorer to gather info on the number of violent crime incidents from reporting municipalities, divide that by the estimated population, and multiply that number by 100,000 to get the violent crime rate. For example: Boston had a total of 4,354 reported violent crimes in 2020 and an estimated population of 697,323, so (4,354/697,323) x 100,000 = a violent crime rate of 624.38 incidents per 100k.

Overall, the Commonwealth had 308.8 incidents of violent crime per every 100k residents, making it the least safe state in New England but safer than many other states and lower than the Nationwide rate of 398.5 incidents per 100k.

And since people were asking about this: Not reporting just means that the data isn't reported to the FBI.

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TacticalBill t1_j24qvp1 wrote

Making me have to break out another map to compare!

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Technical_Hair_4383 t1_j24w9kw wrote

Wow! Points to SE Martha's Vineyard for nearly as much violent crime per 100k as Pittsfield, Springfield and Fall River!

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bryanhealey t1_j250wto wrote

honest question: what constitutes a violent crime? does that include stuff like armed burglary? would also be interested in how this compares nationally and internationally.

great map, tho! love being able to easily visualize these kind of stats.

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tstop22 t1_j25226j wrote

I’m really struggling with the all blue key. The different shades are just too close together.

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96ToyotaCamry t1_j253iuc wrote

Replying to bryanhealey (#1,153,138)

Straight from the Wikipedia article that OP linked in comment: In the United States, violent crime consists of five types of criminal offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and gang violence

This makes Mass the 33rd state when ranked from most to least violent crimes per 100k from 2011-2020. Mass has been on a downward trend (decreasing levels of violent crime) every year.

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supercrooky t1_j256zrj wrote

Replying to Technical_Hair_4383 (#1,152,212)

Crime rates don't work right on the Vineyard, or to lesser extent the Cape.

The problem is these figures always use the number of residents as the divisor, not the number of people present, while the crime totals are all committed by all people present, not just residents. This is a good enough approximation most places, but in the case of MV the residents figure is around 1/10th the peak summertime population. So, you get the violent crimes committed by tourists and seasonal residents all added up and attributed to the year round population, inflating the figure.

You see this to some extent or another anywhere lots of people visit and fewer people live - tourist destinations, downtown business districts, shopping centers, etc.

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slib9898 t1_j25dz30 wrote

Replying to potkea (#1,155,536)

I think there is still a similar issue. not to say these maps you made aren't good. thank you so much for them, OP!

I also have some trouble differentiating. it would look a lot uglier, but maybe making each color entirely different would help, but then you lose the benefit of being able to look at the map as a whole and seeing clusters of counties/ cities with crime

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Tizzy8 t1_j25icur wrote

Replying to supercrooky (#1,154,503)

You run into this in Western Mass as well. The college students are often counted as living at home make the population of places like Amherst look smaller than it is.

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Balsac_is_Daddy t1_j25ksfa wrote

Replying to mmelectronic (#1,155,850)

I cannot speak for anyone else in Holyoke, but my neighborhood feels safe. Its absolutely not perfect, this Paper City. There absolutely is crime, people have been killed, but Id say the average person wouldn't have any problems. Most of the folks I know in Holyoke chose to move here, chose to buy properties here, chose to invest time and money into this community. And we throw the best goddamn St. Patrick's Day party. ☘️

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tstop22 t1_j265xk4 wrote

Replying to potkea (#1,155,536)

Maybe, but I think it’s a combination of things that are confusing my eye:

  • There are probably too many different buckets, what happens if you cut the number in half? Do you lose relevant data for your story?
  • The legend boxes of color are much bigger than the states that are colored. This makes it really hard to evaluate color density by eye.
  • “No data” can’t be white on a chart like this or you are biasing the story. It should probably be a different palette completely (yellow?) if you are being more neutral.

What story you are trying to tell should dictate your choices.

Interesting plot, btw. Love that you are bringing original content to the sub.

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DernKala1975 t1_j269qe3 wrote

Replying to bryanhealey (#1,153,467)

In defense of DC: it’s not really fair to compare DC to the states. DC shows up as dark red compared to the states on the map but in reality would be more comparable to other large cities - I know the crime rate in DC is high but IIRC there are other cities that are higher.

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Ok_Fox_1770 t1_j26czbd wrote

So many little Massachusetts places… I know kinda where I am on the map under 300 pretty good odds

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Weekly_Sympathy4706 t1_j26e21k wrote

As a resident of Webster it was easy to spot the darkest shade of blue on the CT border 👍🏻

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bostonmacosx t1_j26ffue wrote

Colors are way too close together.....use patterns....plus colors...

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DawctorDawgs t1_j26lwaw wrote

Replying to potkea (#1,159,163)

Hey potkea! Id potentially make the data into fewer cuts, which would eliminate the number of shades & simplify this overall…maybe 250/500/750/+.

What you’re really drawing attention to is outliers, and they’ll remain as such even with fewer cuts. You can also put the “incidents per 100K” somewhere ONCE - no need for it written out each time. With newfound space (or maybe even without), blow the map up larger, and maybe add a few labels somehow, calling out major cities (small, potentially unnecessary idea tbh), but could be helpful to orient.

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goPACK17 t1_j26ur36 wrote

I'm a bit surprised to see P-town so blue?

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Plants_Golf_Cooking t1_j28egmr wrote

Replying to mmelectronic (#1,155,850)

There are the Heights and the Flats. The Heights are older, Victorian suburbs; the Flats are the remains of the housing for the mills workers when there were any to speak of. I worked at a business in the the Holyoke Mall and it attracts a mixed bag of people. Not at all the type of town I would want to raise a family in.

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EatMoreBlueberries t1_j28vp4q wrote

Longmeadow is interesting. Just south of two of the most violent places, Springfield and Holyoke, but far lower crime rates than any of its neighbors. Geography: the west side of town is the Connecticut River, with no bridge. The north side of town is Forest Park. The only street through the park is usually closed . It's not easy to get from Springfield to Longmeadow. And Longmeadow has a good police department.

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MikeD123999 t1_j2c57bm wrote

Surprise by southboro, always though that place was nice. Darker blue than i would have thought

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MikeD123999 t1_j2c5vcx wrote

Poor kids in randolph need to watch out for those kids from the mean streets of stoughton and canton

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