What the Data Says About Life in the City

Cities can be undersold or oversold in equal measure, but they never fail to present a shortage of data. With its #citydata series, This Big City explores the sometimes surprising facts about cities that emerge from the din of urban life.

1 minute read

January 17, 2014, 7:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


The latest installment of the #citydata series presents ten data vignettes about the facts of life in and around the city. Below are listed some of the more revelatory of the statistics, with some recent coverage thrown in for good measure:

  • “30 cities across the United States engaged in planning or building street car systems.” (Although at least one city planned its system on the back of a napkin.)
  • “10-12 passengers die each day on Mumbai Trains.” (But developing countries have a serious road death problem.) 
  • “7.1 million Americans moved to a different state in 2012.” (A recently produced infographic provides a beautiful visualization of the country’s migration patterns.)

Thursday, January 16, 2014 in This Big City

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