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Vaguely related, a few years ago I made a map of "how to drive from SF to NYC while passing through the minimum number of Republican-voting counties": https://g

Vaguely related, a few years ago I made a map of "how to drive from SF to NYC while passing through the minimum number of Republican-voting counties": https://github.com/louispotok/blue-road-trip https://github.com/louispotok/blue-road-trip

michae4 3y ago
that route follows an ancient coastline - https://starkeycomics.com/2021/06/11/how-a-coastline-100-million-years-ago-influences-modern-election-results-in-alabama/ https://starkeycomics.com/2021/06/11/how-a-coastline-100-mil...
- piceas 3y ago
  "How a coastline 100 million years ago influences modern election results in Alabama" With some maps of Cretaceous sediments, fertile Black Belt Prairie soil, farm size 1997, slave population 1860, black population 2010, and Election Results. A little bit about the soils from a different link: "The Black Belt is the only region in Alabama with extensive regions of alkaline soils (soil pH> 7.0). Early settlers discovered these clayey soils held more nutrients and were generally more productive than the sandier Coastal Plain soils. For this reason, many of the large, antebellum cotton plantations were located in the Black Belt region of Alabama and Mississippi. Black Belt soil color is dark because of the humus, or decomposed organic matter, that often coats the clay particles. However, severe erosion due to intensive farming practices removed much of the dark, rich topsoil." https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/healthy-soils/alabama-soils-blackland-prairie/ https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/healthy-soils/alabama-soils...
- pimlottc 3y ago
  That is really interesting, thanks for sharing!
kristopolous 3y ago
Did you traverse this? Maybe return through maximally republican counties and compare?
- exp1orer 3y ago
  Ha, no, just a fun exercise sparked by a conversation with a friend. It also doesn't take the road network into account, just county adjacencies.
casefields 3y ago
You rediscovered the black belt. Also where cotton is produced: https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-5dcb98887fb22c1d3a920a36e0fa70dc-c https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-5dcb98887fb22c1d3a920a...
trabant00 3y ago
I can't believe how even a topic about open maps API gets turned into politics. And then gets voted to the top. What was HN saying about Twitter's algorithm? Something about polarization, divisiveness, outrage, etc? It's not algorithms, it's you. You're making online discussion miserable for everybody.
- thrwawy74 3y ago
  This is objectively useful: Now we can build an underground railroad for getting LGBT folks out of Florida and similar states.
  - tinus_hn 3y ago
    So edgy that you’re only posting it using a throwaway account. Stop trolling.
    - thrwawy74 3y ago
      Is this edgy? I work in the gov and last week drafted a policy to inform and quickly relocate staff in such states based on their public-facing potential for harm. Quite a lot of our staff is in Florida right now, and legislation continues to roll through.. It's quite real to me. Also I just cycle through throwaway accounts because when I attached my comments to a username I began to self-censor how I speak. The lack of a username helps me think.
      - jay3ss 3y ago
        For what it's worth, I didn't think that was edgy. Sometimes it's a good idea to think about worse case scenarios
        thrwawy74 3y ago
        It's legit the focus of where I work :c (gestures broadly to everything)
arunharidas 3y ago
These are kind of people who inject fear mongering among the other people.

michae4 3y ago

that route follows an ancient coastline - https://starkeycomics.com/2021/06/11/how-a-coastline-100-million-years-ago-influences-modern-election-results-in-alabama/ https://starkeycomics.com/2021/06/11/how-a-coastline-100-mil...

piceas 3y ago
"How a coastline 100 million years ago influences modern election results in Alabama" With some maps of Cretaceous sediments, fertile Black Belt Prairie soil, farm size 1997, slave population 1860, black population 2010, and Election Results. A little bit about the soils from a different link: "The Black Belt is the only region in Alabama with extensive regions of alkaline soils (soil pH> 7.0). Early settlers discovered these clayey soils held more nutrients and were generally more productive than the sandier Coastal Plain soils. For this reason, many of the large, antebellum cotton plantations were located in the Black Belt region of Alabama and Mississippi. Black Belt soil color is dark because of the humus, or decomposed organic matter, that often coats the clay particles. However, severe erosion due to intensive farming practices removed much of the dark, rich topsoil." https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/healthy-soils/alabama-soils-blackland-prairie/ https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/healthy-soils/alabama-soils...
pimlottc 3y ago
That is really interesting, thanks for sharing!

kristopolous 3y ago

Did you traverse this? Maybe return through maximally republican counties and compare?

exp1orer 3y ago
Ha, no, just a fun exercise sparked by a conversation with a friend. It also doesn't take the road network into account, just county adjacencies.

casefields 3y ago

You rediscovered the black belt. Also where cotton is produced: https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-5dcb98887fb22c1d3a920a36e0fa70dc-c https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-5dcb98887fb22c1d3a920a...

trabant00 3y ago

I can't believe how even a topic about open maps API gets turned into politics. And then gets voted to the top. What was HN saying about Twitter's algorithm? Something about polarization, divisiveness, outrage, etc? It's not algorithms, it's you. You're making online discussion miserable for everybody.

thrwawy74 3y ago
This is objectively useful: Now we can build an underground railroad for getting LGBT folks out of Florida and similar states.
- tinus_hn 3y ago
  So edgy that you’re only posting it using a throwaway account. Stop trolling.
  - thrwawy74 3y ago
    Is this edgy? I work in the gov and last week drafted a policy to inform and quickly relocate staff in such states based on their public-facing potential for harm. Quite a lot of our staff is in Florida right now, and legislation continues to roll through.. It's quite real to me. Also I just cycle through throwaway accounts because when I attached my comments to a username I began to self-censor how I speak. The lack of a username helps me think.
    - jay3ss 3y ago
      For what it's worth, I didn't think that was edgy. Sometimes it's a good idea to think about worse case scenarios
      - thrwawy74 3y ago
        It's legit the focus of where I work :c (gestures broadly to everything)

arunharidas 3y ago

These are kind of people who inject fear mongering among the other people.