Realisticidealist's 2012 Precinct Map Thread

[mileslunn]

How about Hamilton County, Ohio.  Also wouldn't mind seeing Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Dallas County, Texas, or Jefferson County, Kentucky.  Those are ones I am guessing like Franklin County have a strong urban vs. suburban divide.

[mileslunn]

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh):

Looks like the suburbs went pretty much for Romney so Obama must have gained in the city itself as I seem to recall in 2004 and 2008 and the Allegheny County suburbs were pretty evenly split down the middle.  Anyone know the actual percentages in Pittsburgh vs. the rest of the county?

[mileslunn]

Great stuff. I have a few requests:

Centre, PA

Here's my rather low-tech rendition of Centre County:

What are those large red dots as those seem like rural areas that would vote GOP not Democrat.  I can see why Obama would easily win in State College that is kind of a given.  Also who won Boalsberg, PA.  The only reason I ask is one of accuweather's former chief forecasters who is a big Romney supporter and a strong critic of AGW lives there so it would be interesting to see how his town voted. 

[mileslunn]

What are those large red dots as those seem like rural areas that would vote GOP not Democrat.  I can see why Obama would easily win in State College that is kind of a given.  Also who won Boalsberg, PA.  The only reason I ask is one of accuweather's former chief forecasters who is a big Romney supporter and a strong critic of AGW lives there so it would be interesting to see how his town voted. 

The large Democratic-voting precinct to the north is Orviston, a tiny, isolated hamlet in the middle of the mountains. It's one of the few areas of the county that I haven't visited, but my guess is that it's very much oriented toward recreation and tourism. Very sparsely populated.

Moving counterclockwise, the next Obama precinct covers the area around Black Moshannon State Park. Again, very sparsely populated. I don't think there are any named places within this precinct.

The next tiny red precinct is in the borough of Phillipsburg (population ~3000). Considering its size and density, it's not surprising that at least one precinct is red; in fact, I'm more surprised that the rest of the borough voted for Romney. Phillipsburg isn't closely tied to State College; it's in a different valley, and it's a 40 minute drive from one to the other. Boalsburg and Bellefonte are very different from SC, but in these communities it's difficult to forget that you're in the same county as Penn State. Not so in Phillipsburg.

The cluster of small red precincts north of State College is Bellefonte. Bellefonte is the county seat, and, through most of Centre County's history, it was the county's largest settlement. This hasn't been so since shortly after WWII, with the expansion of the university and the decline of iron mining in central PA. Bellefonte is still the second largest borough in Centre County. (It's a pleasant community to visit, if you have the chance. Lots of late-nineteenth century architecture, a nice park, and a great coffee shop - a significant number of people commute to State College from Bellefonte.)

I'm pretty sure that Boalsburg is located in the large red precinct just south of State College. Boalsburg is another nice place to visit; it has the atmosphere of a well-preserved community that is neither rapidly expanding nor in decline. Housing is a bit cheaper here, and it's not far from the university, so it has a large commuter population. Very closely tied to State College.

So otherwise it looks like Obama won Boalsberg.  At first I thought you meant Romney as red I usually think of means Republican not Democrat, but then I realize this atlas does it backwards of what is generally used.