From Phxated:

Mapping the SB 1070 Boycott

My friend, JD Godchaux is a co-founder and executive director of NiJeL, a non profit GIS mapping organization. NiJel’s aim is to create maps that tell powerful stories and have real community impact. While much of their work has been for overseas clients, the recent immigration debate has inspired JD to apply his mapping skills closer to home.

JD mapped the legislative support for SB 1070. His analysis found that a state-wide boycott misses the point:

There are 9 legislative districts across Arizona where the sitting Senator and House members all voted against this hateful legislation, and another 8 districts where the delegation was split (1 or 2 votes out of a possible 3 for SB 1070).

Especially with respect to the 9 districts with no legislators supporting SB 1070, it’s fairly easy to make the case that the majority of voters living in those districts did not want this law and therefore should not be subject to a blanket boycott of Arizona.

Based on this premise, NiJel has created a simple map detailing how the delegation from each legislative district voted of SB 1070:

View full map

The dark blue areas of the map show the 9 districts where the entire delegation voted against SB 1070.

The lighter blue are 3 districts where 1 member voted for the legislation, and the light red are districts where 2 members voted for SB 1070. That leaves the dark red for districts where all 3 members voted for SB 1070.

As you can see, there is a distinctive urban-suburban/rural split in support, with the legislators representing the urban cores of Phoenix, Tempe, Tucson and Flagstaff unanimously opposing SB 1070. As such, JD argues that these districts are being unfairly hurt by the boycott:

So, if you were planning a conference at the Phoenix Convention Center or were planning a stay at the Clarendon Hotel and you canceled your reservations because of SB 1070, please reconsider!

It’s also okay to fly into Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (but not Phoenix-Mesa Gateway!), rent a car in the Rental Car Center and drive to the Grand Canyon, but please don’t stop for lunch in Sedona, Prescott or Camp Verde. Flagstaff, however is just fine!

The same is true of the entire Navajo Nation and some of Arizona most beautiful places like Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley and some of the Painted Desert.

Also, if you’re headed to southern Arizona, virtually all of Tucson is a “go” zone, with the exception of the extreme eastern and northern sides. Don’t boycott Tucson (mostly)!!

[…]
Finally, all three state universities are outside of the boycott zone, as are the stadiums for the Arizona Diamondbacks (Chase Field/BOB) and the Phoenix Suns (US Airways Center).

The new Cardinals stadium, however, is someplace you might want to consider staying away from. Perhaps this might get the team to consider playing their home games at Sun Devil Stadium again?

Another interesting observation from JD’s analysis is that there wasn’t a single district along the Mexican-US border that unanimously supported the legislation. Each border district had 2 out of 3 representatives/senators who voted against the bill.

Interestingly (but not necessarily surprisingly), the strongest support for the bill comes from districts some distance away from the border: the suburban (and exurban) regions of Tucson, the East Valley and North Phoenix, and the northwestern quardrent of the state.

So, like with the legislation itself, there is no black and white answer to the SB1070 inspired boycott. Rather, both the legislation, and the boycott it inspired, need to considered in a much more nuanced manner.

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