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I appreciate the goals of this project, but IMO they aren't being very rigorous about it, and really only arrive at the conclusion that "more blacks are poor, a
by arcticfox 8y ago
I appreciate the goals of this project, but IMO they aren't being very rigorous about it, and really only arrive at the conclusion that "more blacks are poor, and tickets hit poor people very hard", which I think anyone would already agree with before this study. I don't really understand what the ward breakdown adds.
"Which Ward Owes The Most?": right, poor people can't afford to pay tickets and build up debt.
"Where People Are Ticketed Most": this seemed promising. I clicked and mostly majority-white neighborhoods popped to the top. This is explained away by saying they're more congested; OK, fair enough, but try to control for that by population density? Or something? How am I supposed to read "unfair to minorities" out of that?
"How Ticket Type Varies By Ward": maybe there's something here, but this seems just as related to other factors to me as the previous point. From what I've seen in Chicago, the majority-black neighborhoods are vastly different than the majority-white neighborhoods (I feel like ProPublica would agree), so a difference in ticket type seems incredibly logical. Yet here it's not dismissed like they dismissed the previous category.
"What Happens if You Don’t Pay": right, poor people can't afford to pay tickets and it ends in a property seizure or bankruptcy.
"Who Appeals and Wins": sorting by "Percent contested and won" the minority neighborhoods fair very well, consisting of 5 of the top 8.
- IOT_Apprentice 8y agoPerhaps to call out the politicians who could do something about the preying on the poorer areas?