Maybe today we’re a little introspective around here. Or maybe today is the day Silicon Florist is focused on Rose City’s age. Or maybe—just maybe—I couldn’t resist posting on this breathtaking visualization of the age of the buildings in Portland created by Justin Palmer.
How old are the houses on your block?
After stumbling upon a dataset of the Portland metro area released by the City of Portland, I wanted to answer this question myself.
The dataset contains 619,000 structures and 544,033 of them list the year they were created. After loading this up in TileMill and adjusting the color schemes, some beautiful patterns begain to emerge.
That’s right. Half of a million Portland buildings with construction dates. And satiating that curiosity created this:
He also uncovered a number of interesting data points for our relatively young town. Like the fact that 4,452 structures remain from the 1800s. Or that 1978 was the busiest building year with 10,265 structures remaining. And in true Portlandia fashion, “The dream of the 90s is still alive in 75,434 structures. The 1890s haven’t fared so well, with only 942 structures still standing.”
I hate to do this to you, but take a few minutes to muck around with Justin’s map of Portland, yourself. He said, knowing full well that you’ll be immersed in it for hours.
