The river between Milk and Tyler

Demographics

The river between Milk and Tyler

by David Alpert • January 9, 2010 6:39 pm

This weekend's viral sensation is the New York Times' maps of Netflix users' preferences by ZIP code.

Most evident from the maps of the DC area is the divide in movie preferences between the majority-black parts of the region and the majority-white parts. Just look at Milk, the #1 most-rented movie in most of northwest DC and Capitol Hill, but which doesn't appear anywhere in the top 50 in 20019, the ZIP code containing most of Ward 7, or Congress Heights' 20032. Meanwhile, 20019 and 20032's favorite, Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys, is nowhere in the list anywhere west of Rock Creek Park or the Potomac.

Netflix preference maps for Milk (left) and Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys (right).

Are there movies that illustrate the urban-suburban divide instead of the black-white one? Not nearly so strongly. Maybe Taken, whose popularity seems proportional to distance from Woodley Park but not especially related to direction. Vicky Cristina Barcelona appears to correlate somewhat with income, being only popular in the Favored Quarter, especially in Bethesda and upper northwest DC.

Netflix preference maps for Taken (left) and Vicky Cristina Barcelona (right).

But there's one thing Washington area residents can agree to watch: reverse aging. Every area rented The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in large numbers.

Update: If you scroll the maps, you can see data for other parts of the region, most notably including Baltimore.

15 comments

Tags: demographics, east of the river, maps

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David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

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I've actually noticed Paul Blart correlates noticeably, but not strongly, with suburbanization. Moreover, though, it suggests low land values in urban and suburban areas.

by J.D. Hammond on Jan 9, 2010 7:56 pm • link • report

Also, it looks like Gran Torino trends highly in suburban areas as well, though generally those of higher land-value.

by J.D. Hammond on Jan 9, 2010 7:58 pm • link • report

What is fascinating is looking at rentals at the big military bases in the area, like around Ft Belvoir, Andrews, the Pentagon and Ft Meade:

Paul Blart, Mall Cop, Roll Models, Bedtime Stories- Yes!

Slumdog - Not so much.

Also note Pineapple Express's strong showing in the U of M area...

by anonymous on Jan 9, 2010 8:11 pm • link • report

It's also interesting to loook at these results compared to other cities. Some cities had no neighborhoods coming up with tyler perry and only atlanta and dallas had the similar amounts of coloration.

by Canaan on Jan 9, 2010 8:50 pm • link • report

Yah, there's a strong correlation between large college campuses and movies about weed.

...Man, this is some pretty awesome GIS infoporn. And I was in the middle of writing about this! You scooped me.... :/

by J.D. Hammond on Jan 9, 2010 10:05 pm • link • report

I saw this today and wept with joy.

And then I wondered why everyone was renting The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

by Neil Flanagan on Jan 10, 2010 3:17 am • link • report

"Are there movies that illustrate the urban-suburban divide instead of the black-white one? Not nearly so strongly."

Probably because the urban-suburban cultural divide is not nearly the chasm you think it is, particularly around here where the city is significantly smaller both in area and population than surrounding area. The people who live in the suburbs, particularly the closer in suburbs are basically the same "type" as the allegedly superior urban dwellers, they just have a different zip code.

Most of my friends, for example, used to live in DC and now live in the ::gasp:: dreaded suburbs because it makes much more economic sense for them to do so. But in all other regards, amazingly enough, they are the same people they were when they lived in 20009, with the same activities, same political opinions, same taste in clothing, music and movies, same lifestyle (plus 10 or 15 minutes on the metro a day), but with more robust checking accounts.

by Seriously on Jan 10, 2010 4:04 am • link • report

I think the most interesting item here is the extreme popularity of Confessions of a Shopaholic at Andrews AFB.

by Josh B on Jan 10, 2010 9:59 am • link • report

Nights in Rodanthe seems to show the urban-suburban divide even more strongly than Paul Blart. Bright orange in the exurbs, pale in inner suburbs, and white in the city. Unlike Paul Blart, it's equally unappealing on both sides of the Anacostia.

by Ben Ross on Jan 10, 2010 11:25 am • link • report

The best ones for urban-suburban divide across all cities is Mad Men, which is almost exclusively in urban areas, and Last Chance Harvey, which is almost all suburban.

by Tim on Jan 10, 2010 12:13 pm • link • report

I think theres probably more of a kids/no-kinds "divide" than an urban/suburban divide.

My 9 yo nephew had the Paul Blart DVD at the top of his Christmas list.

by spookiness on Jan 10, 2010 2:19 pm • link • report

In NYC, the urban suburban difference seems to be a lot stronger. Australia, Bedtime Stories, Eagle Eye, Last Chance Harvey, Nights in Rodanthe are all unheard of in Manhattan and beloved by the suburbs.

Conversely, Manhattan/'inner' boroughs are into Madmen, Man on Wire, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, apparently to the exlclusion of the suburbs. Manhattan and neighboring areas in general appears to be a free agent, liking stuff independently of other regions. Often it seems aligned with Westchester, but not always.

...as a final note, I had no idea Underworld was a black people thing!

by John on Jan 11, 2010 2:17 am • link • report

seriously,

your defensiveness of your "suburban" friends is amusing, but a bit misplaced.

we're not talking about individuals we're talking about generalizations and trends.

if you think generally speaking urban people are exactly the same as suburban people, you're just not looking.

by a on Jan 11, 2010 2:49 pm • link • report

I suppose it depends on your definition of "suburban". Is Arlington city or suburb? Bethesda? Technically they are, but otherwise, not so much.

by b on Jan 11, 2010 4:09 pm • link • report

But with more robust checking accounts.

And backsides, let's not forget... All that sitting in traffic takes its toll.

by oboe on Jan 11, 2010 4:28 pm • link • report