US: House Redistricting Massachusetts

[minionofmidas]

Probably too good to be true.

But I guess it's not so unlikely we'll at least get a saner map. That would be something in its own right.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Well with Olver retiring here's my proposal:

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Well with Olver retiring here's my proposal:

That would make more sense if you traded some of the Springfield area for the rest of Hampshire and Franklin. There's no comprehensible reason why those counties should be split, unless the alternative is splitting Springfield itself.

[Bacon King]

Do counties even matter in MA anymore, though?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Culturally and as a CoI, Hampshire+Franklin does, but you could cut out some of the eastern towns there and not rip things apart too much. Greenfield, Montague, Amherst, Northampton, and points west are really the bulk of what, as a resident of the area, I think should stay together.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I thought it was more important to keep the Springfield area and Worcester area in each respective district though.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Let me try to whip something up. How do you post DRA maps in threads?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

There's a "Save View JPG" button under "Area Views" at the top. Just upload it somewhere and then post it here.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Do counties even matter in MA anymore, though?

We do elect sheriffs and clerks on a county level, though that's about it.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

There's a "Save View JPG" button under "Area Views" at the top. Just upload it somewhere and then post it here.

Okay, thanks. I'll do that this afternoon.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Se~no!



First attempt: Two Westa-Woosta districts, with two criteria:

1. Pioneer Valley and Hill Towns remain mostly together and in the same district as the Berkshires.
2. Springfield and Worcester are in separate districts both of which include all or most of their immediate suburbs.

MA-01: Berkshires, Greenfield, Montague, Northampton, Amherst, Westfield, Holyoke, Chicopee, Springfield, Ludlow. Richard Neal.
MA-02: Worcester, Leominster/Fitchburg, Southbridge, Quabbin area. Jim McGovern.

I was able to get the Pioneer Valley, Hill Towns, Berkshires, and most of the Springfield area in one district by sacrificing some traditionally associated towns that could also be reasonably considered part of a CoI with the rural parts of Worcester County, such as Athol in Franklin County and Belchertown and Granby in Hampshire. I'm not terribly happy about this, nor about Wilbraham ending up in the Worcester district, but as an area resident I think the problems are relatively minor. Neal keeps about half of his current population if not a little more. McGovern gets essentially an all-new district but since it's still centered in the Worcester area he should be able to win it if he wants it. MA-03 should probably be a new MetroWest district stretching from Boston's inner north-western suburbs to the Rhode Island border. Markey could probably win here, since the more Republican (or less Democratic) parts of Worcester County would be cracked between it and MA-02.

[minionofmidas]

Boston is the only split town.

I want to keep Quincy, and also Randolph, out of the 3rd (former 10th)... which means I can't very well push the 4th out of Norfolk County.

You have put the Berkshires and most of the Pioneer Valley in with the Springfield area. From a community of interest standpoint they are far more similar to northern Worcester County as far east as Leominster and Fitchburg, whereas Springfield is the core of its own little area that kind of spills around the southern border of the state. In this respect the current map does very well (except for Northampton and Hadley being in the Springfield district, which is truly bizarre).

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Boston is the only split town.

I want to keep Quincy, and also Randolph, out of the 3rd (former 10th)... which means I can't very well push the 4th out of Norfolk County.

You have put the Berkshires and most of the Pioneer Valley in with the Springfield area. From a community of interest standpoint they are far more similar to northern Worcester County as far east as Leominster and Fitchburg, whereas Springfield is the core of its own little area that kind of spills around the southern border of the state. In this respect the current map does very well (except for Northampton and Hadley being in the Springfield district, which is truly bizarre).

Simply put, I've since changed my opinion on that, but I can do another one with a Berkshires/Pioneer Valley/northern County district, a Springfield district, and a Worcester/MetroWest district.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

The border between 01 and 02 is the Hampden/Hampshire county line for a while with 01 taking in Westfield and points west.

[muon2]

I would guess that the South Shore/Cape district will become MA-1 now that Olver is retiring. Members usually want to keep their numbers, and 1 will be the free number to replace MA-10. With that assumption, I'd assume that all other districts will keep their current numbers and most of their core area.

I also wonder if Olver's district may be split more than the posted maps suggest. For instance, The Route 1 corridor from Leominster west through Franklin county could as easily be attached to MA-5 instead of MA-3. The rest of Olver's district could go to MA-2 which would then consist essentially of Berkshire, Hampden, and Hampshire counties. That leaves MA-3 as a district in southern Worcester county with some area from Middlesex, perhaps Framingham.

The other issue will be whether the legislature creates a Bristol plus Brockton district as some local reports seem to desire. I only see that happening if Frank is willing to represent a district without his Newton/Brookline home area.

[muon2]

I would guess that the South Shore/Cape district will become MA-1 now that Olver is retiring. Members usually want to keep their numbers, and 1 will be the free number to replace MA-10. With that assumption, I'd assume that all other districts will keep their current numbers and most of their core area.

I also wonder if Olver's district may be split more than the posted maps suggest. For instance, The Route 1 corridor from Leominster west through Franklin county could as easily be attached to MA-5 instead of MA-3. The rest of Olver's district could go to MA-2 which would then consist essentially of Berkshire, Hampden, and Hampshire counties. That leaves MA-3 as a district in southern Worcester county with some area from Middlesex, perhaps Framingham.

The other issue will be whether the legislature creates a Bristol plus Brockton district as some local reports seem to desire. I only see that happening if Frank is willing to represent a district without his Newton/Brookline home area.

If all three of the above were to come to pass, this map might be the result. The maximum deviation is 784, and no town is split except Boston. The standard DRA color to number scheme applies.

[Torie]

The Cape Cod CD has that little appendage all by itself near Boston on your map Muon2.  What is all of that about? What is the Obama percentage of that CD?  I assume that is the most GOP CD in your map.  Is that the case?

[Brittain33]

That appendage is Quincy, Mass. and it's been in the last two iterations of this district.

[jimrtex]

The Cape Cod CD has that little appendage all by itself near Boston on your map Muon2.  What is all of that about? What is the Obama percentage of that CD?  I assume that is the most GOP CD in your map.  Is that the case?

If you want to create a Brockton-Fall River-New Bedford district and keep it reasonably out of the Boston suburbs, the Plymouth-Cape-Islands district has to come that far north,  It really has a substantial suburban component.  Quincy has a population of 92,000 and since Muon was avoiding town splits, it may be the only choice.   If you drop that you have to go further west, which gets you off the coast, and you can't get that much going west from Plymouth without running into Brockton or New Bedford.

[krazen1211]

http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2011/11/04/tsongas-seat-center-redistricting-standoff/ZuQZENB2TabsWX2LoXnfvJ/story.html

The city of Lawrence has become the latest battleground in the Legislature’s final push to redraw its congressional districts, with US Representative Niki Tsongas, the delegation’s only woman, fighting off a plan by state lawmakers in the House that would take the heavily Democratic community from her district and give it to Representative John F. Tierney.


Why don't they add Revere or Lexington instead of Lawrence to the 6th district?

[muon2]

http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2011/11/04/tsongas-seat-center-redistricting-standoff/ZuQZENB2TabsWX2LoXnfvJ/story.html

The city of Lawrence has become the latest battleground in the Legislature’s final push to redraw its congressional districts, with US Representative Niki Tsongas, the delegation’s only woman, fighting off a plan by state lawmakers in the House that would take the heavily Democratic community from her district and give it to Representative John F. Tierney.


Why don't they add Revere or Lexington instead of Lawrence to the 6th district?

Perhaps they are leaning in the direction of my map.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Here is a map whose goals were to have one Springfield district, one Worcester district, one rural-ish Western/Central Mass district, and one Boston district, and to screw over Stephen Lynch.





Note that if I rejigged the boundaries in East and South Boston somewhat (currently all of Boston is in one district except for about two thousand people living right on or in the Harbor), I could create a MA-07 that would be drivable via the Ted Williams Tunnel. Frank could probably win either MA-04, which includes his home as well as the bulk of Lynch's current district, or MA-09, which includes his South Coast strongholds, but he might have to try harder than he's accustomed to in either case. The maximum deviation is -1,499 for MA-03.

[krazen1211]

Here's mine. Least change map for incumbents, except the 3rd and the 10th (now 1st)







In particular the following districts are maintained

MA-2 (adds Holyoke and West Springfield)
MA-8 (adds more of Boston)
MA-7 (adds Marlborough, Southborough, Northborough, Westborough)
MA-6 (adds Lawrence)

And the following districts are mostly maintained

MA-4 (adds the Ashland to Falls River belt, drops New Bedford)
MA-5 (adds Fitchburg, Leominster, Gardner)
MA-9 (adds Quincy, Weymouth)

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

We have a new map!

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/politics/29702664/detail.html



Lynch and Keating are districted together, but it's expected that Keating will use his Bourne summer house as an excuse to run in his "old" Cape Cod district.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The Cape Cod district looks a bit like the one there in the 1980s.