A recent New York Times article investigates the dating scene in New York City and the distances that singles will travel to be with their significant others.

In “When Love is a Schlep,” Elizabeth Harris writes about inter-borough dating and the lengths that people will (or won’t) go to in order to reach a date.  She explains that real estate trends have spread out the single population more than ever before.

Using the latest American Community Survey data, Social Explorer analyzed the patterns of the 3.8 million singles in the city by neighborhood, gender, who still lives with their parents, and more.

Next time you’re sitting on the subway wondering if the haul to see your significant other is worth it, take a look at these maps and ponder your options.

A recent New York Times article by Sarah Kershaw explores the mythologies and realities of “cougars”–older women who date and marry younger men.

In “Rethinking the Older Woman-Younger Man Relationship,” Social Explorer’s Andrew Beveridge provides the data behind the phenomenon:

An analysis of census data on age difference in marriages showed that the number of marriages between women who are at least 5 or 10 years older than their spouses is still small, 5.4 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. But both rates doubled between 1960 and 2007, according to Andrew A. Beveridge, a demographer at Queens College, who conducted the analysis.

At the same time, the data showed that the percentage of marriages of older men and younger women decreased steadily through 1980, and since then it has remained stable.

Social Explorer also provided the data for a New York Times graphic.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Social Explorer and the University of Illinois at Chicago have been awarded a $500,000 collaborative grant from the National Science Foundation for a project to try and improve undergraduates’ science skills using Social Explorer.

“We’re trying to train better social scientists — sociologists, historians, demographers, urban planners and criminologists,” said Josh Randinsky, assistant professor of the learning sciences in the UIC College of Education.

This project is called “Creating and Disseminating Tools to Teach with Demographic Data Maps and Materials.”  The grant will enable a research team to review and revise Social Explorer, develop new online curriculum modules for easier accessibility, train undergraduate faculty to teach new research techniques using the mapping technology, and integrate the tool into undergraduate social science classrooms.  Due to this and other funding we are able to keep Social Explorer
subscription prices for institutions relatively low.

Social Explorer is already in use in classrooms around the country and in conjunction with several social science textbooks published by Pearson Publishing.  To view Social Explorer’s example teaching modules, please visit the help page. We are interested in contacting those who use or would be willing to use Social Explorer in teaching to work with us on this project. Send a note to instructors@socialexplorer.com if you are interested.

In the article “After Generations in Spotlight, Harlem Slips as Center of Black Politics,” Nicholas Confessore explores the decline in political power of the one time “lodestar of black politics” for the city and the country.

In the discussion of various causes, Confessore cites Social Explorer’s Andrew Beveridge regarding population shifts.

Some point to demographics, noting that black political power has simply migrated to where the votes have. According to census data provided by Andrew A. Beveridge, a sociologist at Queens College, almost a quarter of New York City’s black population lived in Manhattan in 1970, when the Harlem Clubhouse began its rise. Now that proportion is 12 percent. Today, Mr. Rangel himself has more white constituents than black ones, and when he leaves Congress, some Manhattan Democrats say, his successor may not necessarily be African-American.

Previously, Beveridge wrote about the demographic changes in Harlem for GothamGazette.com in the article “An Affluent, White Harlem?”

Following up on the release of the latest American Community Survey data, New York Times reporter Sam Roberts explored the demographics of New York City poverty using analyses from Social Explorer’s Andrew Beveridge.

In the article, “N.Y. Poverty Data Paint Mixed Picture,” he writes:

In a departure from the national picture, family income rose slightly in New York City in 2008 from 2007, and the proportion of poor people was virtually unchanged, according to census figures released Tuesday.

Still, the city and surrounding region had its share of grim news: The Bronx remained the country’s poorest urban county; the income gap in Manhattan was still higher than in any other county; and the poverty rate in Connecticut rose faster than in any other state.

The article also states that:

An analysis by Andrew A. Beveridge, a demographer at Queens College, found that the share of income in Manhattan going to the wealthiest declined slightly in 2008, signaling an end to the boom.

For the full explanation of changes in poverty in the New York City area, click here for the full article.  Subscribers can investigate poverty and other demographic topics with Social Explorer’s newly added 2008 American Community Survey data. Please visit  the maps and the reports tabs to explore for yourself, or click here to find out about subscribing.

How has the US been doing since the economic downturn?   Social Explorer’s analysis of the newly released data from the 2008 American Community Survey offers a detailed picture of the recession’s impact during the past year.

Sam Roberts explored the latest demographic portrait of the nation in the article “Census Data Show Recession-Driven Changes.” Among the findings based on Social Explorer’s data analysis, immigration has declined, fewer people got married and fewer homes were purchased. Click here to read more about the impact of the recession on social and economic indicators.

Subscribers can investigate these and other trends with Social Explorer’s newly added 2008 American Community Survey data. Please visit  the maps and the reports tabs to explore for yourself, or click here to find out about subscribing.