MODELING NUMBERS WHEN NOTHING MAKES SENSE, WE CAN PLAY WITH THE DATA WE HAVE
I just saw a meme telling everyone to stop being sheep because, if eight states don’t have lockdown orders, then the rest of the country is obviously stupid. Nevermind that one of those states needs people in processing plants and now that state is 12th in the country for infections per capita. The other seven have some of the smallest populations per square mile. I couldn’t help but comment. I feel slightly more authoritative on calling out stupid shit about masks than I do about other problems in society. My social media feeds are also full of posts about how San Francisco is doing so much better than New York and how Florida doesn’t want any New Yorkers within its borders. While I stopped watching press conferences a while ago, it is an ever present question: How likely am I to catch this? Why do I know more people who have gotten into car accidents after the re-opening than I do people who were seriously ill with COVID-19? Has the rest of the country learned from the mess in the Northeast compared to the stay-at-home orders in the West or are they simply distanced properly to begin with? —MV
LARGEST STATES
LARGEST STATES BY POPULATION
ONE LEGO BOARD AS 1 SQUARE MILE
THE 5 MOST POPULATED STATES ARE NOT DENSELY POPULATED
1 Alaska
665,384
1 California
2 Texas
268,596
2 Texas
3 California
163,694
3 Florida
4 Montana
147,039
4 New York
5 New Mexico 121,590
5 Pennsylvania
Comparing data from census.gov (with a different size for AK than Google reports)
BIGGEST ALASKA
731,545 people 1.2 people/mi2 570,640 mi2
SMALLEST
MOST DEATHS PER 100,000 RESIDENTS
New York
RHODE ISLAND
New Jersey
1,059,361 people
Illinois
1,018.1 people/mi2 1,033 mi2
10 deaths according to Alaska’s health dept.
8
Based on the density of Paris, one Lego person represents 317 1/3 residents per square mile in these models
Art Department Weekly • June 2, 2020
Connecticut Maryland
We modeled almost all of these places in April when talking about regional policies
District of Columbia Rhode Island
