Mapping San Diego’s Neighborhoods

It’s often said that in San Diego, Interstate 8 is the great dividing line. A cool New York Times feature appears to back up that claim.

Using Census Bureau data, the interactive feature lets you play with color-coded maps on an almost block-by-block level, anywhere in the country, to explore your neighborhood’s demographics.

What struck me from fiddling around with it were the stark differences between north and south.

South of Interstate 8, for example, there are large swaths of yellow and blue, which represent Hispanic and black populations. North of it, green — representing whites — is the dominant color. Communities south of Interstate 8 have the lowest number of people with high school degrees. Communities north have the highest concentration of residents with advanced degrees.

Just enter your zip code and you can explore your neighborhood’s race and ethnicity profile, income and education levels and housing characteristics. The maps make it easy to spot where the highest and lowest concentrations of rich and poor, minorities, same sex couples and college-educated live.

I’m going to spend more time playing around with it this weekend. Play around with it too, and let me know if you come across any interesting observations in your own neighborhood.

Please contact Adrian Florido directly at adrian.florido@voiceofsandiego.org or at 619.325.0528 and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/adrianflorido.