Courtney Chaloff Exercise 4

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My map depicts data representing the smallest lot size for multifamily housing in square feet in the state of Connecticut. I took out other data from the multifamily zoning spreadsheet to make my map more clear and I deleted cells that contained no data about lot size. On my map, the towns without data do not have a color. For towns with data, I used the gradient method. I chose to do 5 gradients from 0 up 900,000 square feet; the darker the shade of blue, the greater the minimum lot size is. For example, Bloomfield’s smallest lot size for multifamily housing is 871,200 square feet and on the map this is represented by a very dark shade of blue. Hartford, on the other hand, is 6000 square feet and this is shown by using a much lighter shade of blue. Anyone viewing this map would get a clear idea of the smallest lot size for multifamily housing in CT towns. By showing data in a map format, it is easy to make comparisons between towns or regions by looking at areas that have lighter or darker shades of blue.

Exercise 3 – Courtney Chaloff

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In this exercise, I showed how the same set of data could be depicted in two different ways. While both graphs provide the exact same data, the first graph looks like it has a more dramatic increase than the second one. By changing the scale on the Y-axis I was able to make the slope look very different on both graphs. It is extremely important to look at the scales on a graph because it is very easy to be fooled by data. Creators of graphs can use these manipulation tactics to help convey a message they want to send out about their data, even if it is not truly representative.