Massachusetts Overdose Deaths by Town Map (Boston, Springfield: rentals, neighborhoods, statistics)

[Judder]

Thought this would be of interest to folks. I pulled the data from the Dept of Public Health http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/s...s-may-2017.pdf

Here's a map of overdose rates averaged from 2012-2016 per 1,000 people. I've excluded towns with populations under 2000, as one overdose can skew the rate.

Feel free to discuss.

[GeoffD]

I don't think the resolution is right to capture the hotspots properly. There are neighborhoods in the larger failed cities that should show up red that have higher population than some of the small-ish towns that show up red or yellow. All the cities and most of the socioeconomically mixed towns should have neighborhoods that show red on this graphic.

[BostonMike7]

The towns I am familiar with appear just as I expected.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

The towns I am familiar with appear just as I expected.

Except I was expecting Easton to come in bright red at #1.

[Judder]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

I don't think the resolution is right to capture the hotspots properly. There are neighborhoods in the larger failed cities that should show up red that have higher population than some of the small-ish towns that show up red or yellow. All the cities and most of the socioeconomically mixed towns should have neighborhoods that show red on this graphic.

I wish the data was that granular, and we could break this down by census block or neighborhood. Best that's out there is broken down by town/city. I think what's interesting is that places like Springfield and Lawrence that are considered real "bad" cities in MA are not among the highest per capita. South shore and southeast MA obviously have the highest overdose rates per capita in the state.

[tysmith95]

Surprised that Salisbury is bright red.

I expected Lawrence to be bright red.

[MrLinderman]

I, for one, am shocked that Brockton has a higher overdose rate than the failed-state of Abington.

[in_newengland]

I thought Lawrence would be red. Salisbury is red because of winter rentals that get taken by drug addicts. The police are using Narcon now so deaths will go down. Was definitely not surprised by Ware.

[tamajane]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

I thought Lawrence would be red. Salisbury is red because of winter rentals that get taken by drug addicts. The police are using Narcon now so deaths will go down. Was definitely not surprised by Ware.

Surprised by Salisbury. Owners let druggies rent their summer cottages??? To OD in them... unwise. Narcan doesn't solve the problem of opiate abuse....

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by MrLinderman

I, for one, am shocked that Brockton has a higher overdose rate than the failed-state of Abington.

All the hoodlums and junkies from surrounding towns go to Brockton to get their fix. I swear they should put up a border there, to keep all these people from ruining their pristine community.