US House Redistricting: Michigan

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

Also is washtenaw pretty Republican outside ann arbor? I find krazens map to be intriguing. You can make it look nicer but he has the right idea.

This is a map of the 2004 Presidential election results for Washtenaw County.

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

For what it's worth, here's what I did in an effort to make a community-of-interest-oriented map.

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

You know as much as I'd no doubt hate Livingston, it's kind of a nice location for the type of things I like, like punk/hardcore/indie shows. Detroit is one of the few major cities where the scene isn't concentrated in the city proper for obvious reasons, but rather around Ferndale. However since Oakland County still isn't "hip", most bands on tour just prefer to look at Ann Arbor. Lansing has shows too, but big concerts by mainstream bands would prefer metro Detroit for obvious reasons. So Lansing has a scene of mostly local bands, Ann Arbor gets all the small bands passing through, metro Detroit gets the big rock concerts and bigger indie bands, and Flint doesn't have much besides the occasional local show.

But imagine someone opened a venue in Livingston County. Kids from Ann Arbor could still drive to shows there, as could kids from Lansing and Flint easily. Kids from metro Detroit have a bit further drive, but not impossible.

The backfiring though is kids often hate to drive to shows (I do too, I did all the time when I lived in Mankato but I'd walk to local shows, and I almost always walk now.) Kids from Flint would be used to it and would like it, but then again others wouldn't. Kids from Ann Arbor would just rather go to shows in Ann Arbor and would be annoyed at driving as they don't often now, kids from Lansing would prefer it to Ann Arbor or near Detroit but would still prefer that shows just come to Lansing, and kids from Ferndale would rather feel like the kids from Ann Arbor. So it'd only attract a big turnout if it was a bigger band meaning someone would have to bother opening a big club there, not likely. So....well here's a reason why exurbs suck. And why local bands will play in St. Cloud and kids from St. Cloud are willing to drive to Minneapolis, but why no one has shows between Minneapolis and St. Cloud.

There's your mission in life. Turn Livingston County into the kind of place you'd like to live! You can do it!

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

Of course it is a valid choice. The major highways such as I-96 run east-west, and the historical nature of the link sets precedent for it to be maintained. Partisanship is an obvious excuse as the seat has been held by a Democrat in recent years.

The point is that Livingston County has far more in common with points east than with points west, north, or south. To create a Livingston-based district with the best possible community of interest would require the district to pick up portions of Oakland County.

Ingham County also has far more in common with the rest of its Metropolitan area (Eaton, Clinton Counties, possibly Shiawassee) than it does with Livingston County. To create a Lansing-based district with the best possible community of interest would require Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton to be in the same district, and that Livingston County be excluded from that district.

For the billionth time, this is not a matter of partisanship. The discussion is on creating a map that best preserves communities of interest. The only partisanship involved is when your side hails a blatant Republican gerrymander as God's gift to redistricting, and then denounces a map that preserves communities of interest as a Democratic gerrymander.

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

What do I see? The Dem map.

http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_documents/mich_redistricting.pdf

Livingston County paired with Lansing.

Oakland County cut 5 ways.

Not even 1 district entirely within Wayne County.

Oakland to Macomb double cross.

That's almost as bad as the Republican map. In fact, in some places, it's worse.