New yorkers are complaining more about rats

[julialedur]

Please complete all of the following sections, or the ghost of Joseph Pulitzer will spookily dance around your issue! A completed version of this template can be found at https://github.com/jsoma/data-studio-projects/issues/1

Pitch

Rat sightings in NYC.

Summary

I got my data set from NYC Open Data. It lists all 311 Service Requests from 2010 to present. The information is automatically updated daily.

I want to know which NYC boroughs have the most complaints, what type of location is the most common and if the number of complaints has been increasing since 2010.

After playing with the data a little bit, I found out that there is a spike in the number of complaints every summer. Apparently that is because the warmer weather leads to more rodent babies.

Details

Possible headline(s): New yorkers are complaining more about rats

Data set(s): https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Social-Services/Rat-Sightings/3q43-55fe

Code repository: https://github.com/julialedur/data-studio/tree/master/code

Possible problems/fears/questions:

I struggled a little bit to define a style. I'm still not satisfied with the one I've chosen, I might change it in the next version. Also, I'll use another font, been using this one a lot!

Work so far

I also thought about doing an waffle chart to represent the complaints location types, although I'm not sure if it has way too many categories to be plotted this way. Something like this:

Checklist

This checklist must be completed before you submit your draft.

• [x] I have already spent time with my data set, opening it, exploring it, etc
• [ ] I have created a "DIARY.md" file to save links and list all of the terrible, no good problems I come across
• [x] My issue links to my data set(s)
• [x] My issue links to my code repository
• [x] My issue explains what I'd like to explore in the data set
• [x] My issue includes images - either inspiration or what I've done so far

[jsoma]

That color scheme looks 🔥 HOT 🔥 with the waffle chart! Love it!

I'd recommend combining some of your categories - when you have more than maybe 5 categories people start to get a little lost. "Other" is sooometimes an okay category to group everything in, but it'd be better if you could combine ones that are similar.

I'd recommend doing that by making a new column called combined_location or something like that setting it to be the same as location, then use .replace to substitute values.

Maybe resample a little bit further in your line graph? If you're looking at an overall trend you can also remove more of the axis labels - and remember you can always leave grid lines even if you remove labels!

[kevinlitman-navarro]

• Maybe this is dumb, but could you provide some context by pointing to any high-profile rat incidents. Like, could you point to when Pizza Rat became a viral sensation on your line graph?

• I know that the city is always trying new methods to kill rats (like using dry ice), maybe you could show us when new methods were introduced, and we can see the sheer futility of trying to kill rats

• Are there many repeat incident addresses? Would check for that, maybe theres like a restaurant where people keep complaining about rats, and that would be fun

[julialedur]

Update

Your project content: images/words/etc

Any changes in direction or topic?

Not really, just a little bit in design. I added some annotations to the graphs. I also decided to make the boroughs a waffle chart and the location types a bar chart. I thought it made more sense because of the number of categories.

I'm testing some chloropleths with the number of complaints per year, then maybe I can make a gif with all of them for my final version. Something like this, animated according to the year:

Problems/Questions

Didn't run into any big problems.

I just realized I used two different colors for the annotations, grey and black. Which one do you guys like better?

For my final version, I'll make sure to fix those grid lines.

Checklist

• [x] I have included my visuals
• [x] I have filled out the sections above
• [ ] I have been updating my DIARY.md with details about my process
• [x] I have uploaded/updated any Jupyter Notebooks or other datasets into my code repository

[maxarvid]

A bot sent me here, even if it itself has not commented yet.

🐀🐀🐀

Two of my favorite topics: NYC and rats! Looks amazing just some minor tweaks: The vertical alignment on the y-ticks for the Where are all the rats? graph seem to have been shifted around a bit when you exported. Making a gif with choropleths is a pain. Please teach me if you end up doing it! In your annotation you sometimes use straight arrows, sometimes curves, I would suggest picking one and sticking with it.

Love the waffle chart, but you might want to weigh based on borough population size, just a suggestion.

🐀🐀🐀

[kellykiki]

Hi, Julia! That's a very smart idea about a nice "everyday life" topic! I also like the colors you chose to visualize this!

Great idea that you updated the project by switching to a bar chart for the places that all these rats live and to a waffle chart for areas complaining. I would probably try to normalize numbers by population in each area for your current waffle chart, in case you haven't done that already.

Other suggestions/ thoughts:

• For the line chart, what about trying to see it a bar chart or trying to put dates on your vertical axis and complaints on your horizontal axis? I would also try to add some minor ticks between the years, so the reader can understand from the very first moment that you count complaints per month; at first, I thought that you have aggregated data per year. But it was your annotation that made me understand that I look at months ;)
• For the complaints/month bar chart, I would rescale values on the vertical axis so that bars don't go out of the highest value of complaints given (currently, "1200"). I would probably try to make the annotation refer to May as well, since you chose to give this month the darker blue color you use for July and August to display increase.

Looking forward to see your final version! 💯

[sarahslo]

Hey interesting and well-presented. One minor thing, the swoopy arrow on the bars shud point back at the bars, not the other way around.

so the first chart needs to be ZERO-based, not go down to 500. secondly, what you are seeing there is seasonality, which is why you are getting the pattern why it's nice you did the month analysis. 2 things there, if you are going to annotate the peak and then say it's highest since another year, add a line or a dot to the other year so we don't have to look for that other year. secondly, to make this chart connect more to your second one with the months, i'd go ahead and a tone behind those months which will add a layer of information.

the 'by borough' waffle chart is cool. but i'd do a second chart that normalizes it per capita and even by area. i'd like to know how many complaints there are per person - you're reflecting the size of the boro here. also, i'd love to know how many complaints per square mile...

[julialedur]

Update

Your project content: images/words/etc

Any changes in direction or topic?

No, just small changes on the graphs, following the advice from the feedbacks above.

For the next version, I want to have a map ready. The dream is to have an interactive map with a dropdown menu where you can select year and see the complaints by location. Let's see how that goes.

Problems/Questions

None.

Checklist

• [x] I have included my visuals
• [x] I have filled out the sections above
• [ ] I have been updating my DIARY.md with details about my process
• [x] I have uploaded/updated any Jupyter Notebooks or other datasets into my code repository

[sarahslo]

Nice. For the complaints chart with the boroughs, you could put a big number in white type over each box so we know what the count is. or add a label above it so we see the count.

These are minor refinements. What I would also suggest is that you keep the type on the labels bold. but make the type on the numbers on all the charts, regular (a lighter font.) That helps our eyes distinguish quickly between labels and scales.

[julialedur]

Update

Standardized the annotations colors. Followed @kevinlitman-navarro's advice and added some annotations to the graphs, with interesting rat related events and observations. Also followed @sarahslo's advice on style refinements. Thanks for the tips, guys! 😄

[Palarisk]

Hi, I'm not sure whether you're working with this anymore, but since the Bot told me to give some feedback, here it goes:

I love the annotations in these graphics, they add so much info to them. In the "what month do people complain"-graph annotation i'd love to see a reason why there's a peak during the summertime.

Also in the first graph I begin to wonder what are ContraPest and Pizza Rat, but you'll probably explain that in your text?

Great job all in all!