Common Problems and Their Remedies
How do I split a county?
You are building your map using two geo-units: counties and census tracts. Pennsylvania's 67 counties are what you first see when you start your map. If you find the zoom button on the left side of the map, you can zoom in to see census tracts. You can then select individual census tracts within a county and assign them to different districts. This video explains further.
Drawing a map from scratch takes too long. Do you have anything easier?
Why yes! We have starter maps, where you can finish a map by completing the last three or four districts of a 17-district map. You can find different starter maps on the "Choose a map. Start drawing" page right after you log in, in the Shared tab. We have different starter maps that prioritize different values, and allow you to complete a specific region.
I'm almost done but still have unassigned places that haven't been put into district. Problem is, I can't find them. Help!
If you are almost finished, click the "Fix Unassigned" button at the far right side of the toolbar. They will automatically assign all of your unassigned tracts to an adjacent district. Now all you need to do is make sure your districts are still within the target population range.
What if the district I drew stinks, and I want to redo it?
Go into “District Tools” (the second tab on the menu bar above the map). Click on “Unassign District.” Then click anywhere on the district you want to clear, and select OK when it asks for confirmation that you want to unassign all parts of that district. Voila.
How can I see how many people are in a county or tract before I assign it to a district?
Click on the "Info" button on the left side of the toolbar, and then click on any county or tract. A box will appear with population, demographic, and party registration details.
I assigned a group of census tracts to a district, but it is saying my district is not contiguous. What happened?
This usually happens with the Polygon Select tool, and you may not have realized there is an "orphaned tract" that wasn't included when you assigned your selection. To find that tract, go all the way to the bottom of the statistics panel on the right side and click on the very last line, those who are unassigned. Every unassigned tract will now show a blue outline on the map. Look for the blue line in your recent selection and fix. Then make sure to go back to the statistics panel and click on the unassigned line again, to remove the blue line.
The order of the districts in the statistics panel keeps changing. Why?
Districts are shown in the table based on visibility on the map. So if your current zoom level includes Districts 2,4,6, and 7, those will be the top four districts listed on the statistics panel.
I like a district that I've completed, but then I keep accidentally moving some of its tracts to other districts.
To prevent this, go into "District Tools" above the editing toolbar. Then click "Lock District," and click anywhere on the district that you want to lock. This will allow you to select jurisdictions that are adjacent without impacting the locked district. To unlock a district, click on "Lock District" again, and click on the locked district.
There is a non-contiguous census tract at the intersection of the bottom of Chester County, Delaware County and the State of Delaware.
Yes, this is very frustrating. Your only option is to make sure the other tracts around it are in the same district as this non-contiguous. Which is annoying if you want to use the boundary between Chester County and Delco as a boundary for a district. Our developers are working to fix this in future iterations of DistrictBuilder.
Can I renumber my districts?
Unfortunately not. Hopefully in future iterations of DistrictBuilder!