Fun Maps: How New Yorkers Feel About Subway Safety, Rat Control and 42 Other Urban Issues

Praises and complaints about the city are a common part of New Yorkers’ everyday lives — we condemn the air quality as we sit on rooftops; we brag about our neighborhood parks over drinks with friends and we collectively bond over how much we hate traffic. However, the chatter has only ever provided a vague outline of general conceptions about New York living, preventing anyone from being able to definitely answer that all consuming question: “Is it just me, or is my morning commute actually the worst of all time?” Well, wonder no longer. Thanks to some extensive reporting and an infographic by The New York Times, opinions regarding 44 different urban living scenarios have been aggregated in a city-wide survey, parsed out by neighborhood.

The result is 44 different maps, each dotted with blocks of color, which represent individual neighborhoods and the reactions of their residents to specific urban living issues (fire services, neighborhood parks, traffic, etc.).

In general, the maps pretty much confirm everything you might already know about how New Yorkers feel about their city. Overall, residents feel their quality of life is mostly positive when local issues are considered (fire services, garbage pick-up, park and subway safety during the day), but the more city-wide the situation becomes, the worse the reactions are (how New York spends tax dollars, public housing, traffic, and in last place —  services for homeless people).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the New York Times pointed out that neighborhood opinions tend to follow neighborhood income — showing large disparities from neighborhood to neighborhood when areas concerning cultural activities, crime and neighborhood cleanliness are concerned.

One of the coolest features of the study is an infographic that plots the individual reactions on a linear graph. Readers can toggle back and fourth between plot points to more clearly see how their neighborhoods stack up to others in New York.

For more information, check out The New York Times’ article to view the rest of the findings.

Next Check Out 8 Disappearing Districts And Neighborhoods of NYC or take a look at How NYC Recycles with a Video Look Inside Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility. Get in touch with the author: @Erika_A_Stark.