Clustering Massachusetts Communities into Regions
Massachusetts has 351 cities and towns spread across 14 counties.
Counties and other work
to divide the state into regions typically results in broad
regions with non-specific names. In this work, we cluster
Massachusetts communities into cohesive and locally meaningful regions
each with a descriptive name to represent it. The result is
35
regions, each with name, description as well as the list of cities and
towns in the region.
We have identified and assembled specific
regions that are locally, but maybe not widely, known and stitched
them together into a mosaic that encompasses the entire state. This
mosaic is available as the interactive map below with each region shown in a
color representative of the region and each community shown in its
primary region if it belongs to more than one.
Roughly 75% of cities and towns belong to a single primary
region with the remaining communities in overlapping regions. Two
additional maps are available that account for communities in
overlapping regions:
- A map showing lighter color
intensity for communities in overlapping regions.
- A map showing blended colors for communities in overlapping regions.
Details on the project,
including methodology are available in the project report.
Comments on what feels right and what feels wrong are welcome at cew@wpi.edu.
Hovering over a community shows its name, region and county.
Regions (# Communities) where clicking on a region shows its description.