Author: Adam DuVander

Presidential Nominating Convention Locations Since 1832

The 2020 presidential race has already begun, which means it will soon be time for two more presidential nominating conventions: the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention. During the conventions, which are hosted in various places across the country, the two major political parties select a candidate for President of the United States. Throughout history, nominating conventions have taken place in 19 different states, 27 different cities, and over different 60 buildings. Find out which cities and buildings have hosted multiple conventions and which states have yet to host even one convention when you continue reading about the presidential nominating convention locations since 1832.

View Presidential Nominating Conventions in a full screen map

As the map above notes, presidential nominating conventions can take place as early as April and as late as Septemeber, though the majority take place in June. These conventions can last anywhere from three to five days. More important than the dates, though, the map shows the locations of every major presidential nominating convention since 1832 and the trends that come with the data.

Cities That Have Seen Many Conventions

The following five cities have hosted more nominating conventions than any other city in the U.S.:

Chicago
Baltimore
Philadelphia
New York City
St. Louis

Chicago, Illinois has been the destination of 25 presidential nominating conventions. Eleven of those conventions were for the Democratic party while 14 were for Republicans. Baltimore, Maryland is the city that has seen the second-most presidential nominating conventions (10), nine of which were for the blue party. Philadelphia has hosted nine presidential nominating conventions, six of which were for the Republican party. New Yorkers have been privy to six conventions in their city, the majority of which (five) were for the Democrats.

St. Louis, Missouri has seen five total conventions, four being for Republicans. Cincinnati, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Miami Beach have also hosted their fair share of conventions: three each. A slew of other cities have done so twice. In total, the Democrats’ 49 presidential nominating conventions since 1832 have only taken place in 18 different cities. For all of the Republicans’ 42 nominating conventions, they’ve only visited 19 distinct cities.

Same Cities, Different Dates

There have been several election cycles where the Dems and the Republicans held their conventions in the same city, or even, the same building (on different dates, of course). This political feat first occurred in preparation for the 1884 election. June 3-6 Republicans met at the Exposition Hall located in Chicago. July 8–11 that same year, Democrats got together at the Interstate Exposition Building, also in Chicago.

Then came the election of 1932: the year the two major parties decided to save some money by putting down a deposit on the same space. On June 14th, 1932, Republicans got together at the Chicago Stadium to nominate their candidate. On June 27th that same year, Democrats gathered at the same Chicago Stadium for their convention. It happened again in 1944 when the two major parties once again held their nominating conventions at the Chicago Stadium. The two parties seemed to enjoy being in the same space months apart as in the next election (1948), they both held their conventions at Philadelphia’s Convention Hall. It happened again during the next election of 1952 at the International Amphitheater in Chicago. The last time Democrats and Republicans held their conventions in the same space was in 1972 when both parties met at the Miami Beach Convention Center for their respective conventions, one in early July and one in late August.

If the Buildings Could Talk: Buildings With the Most Conventions

While 25 nominating conventions took place in Chicago, they didn’t all occur in the same space. The Windy City hosted conventions at ten different buildings, with the Chicago Coliseum hosting most frequently.

The Chicago Coliseum is one of only two buildings in the U.S. to host six presidential nominating conventions. Chicago’s International Amphitheatre and the Chicago Stadium, both no longer standing, hosted five conventions. Wigwam, the Interstate Exposition Building, The Amphitheatre, Crosby’s Opera House, Exposition Hall, Auditorium Theatre, and the United Center also hosted conventions in Chicago. The other #1 building that has hosted the most conventions is the aptly named Convention Hall located in Philadelphia, which, like the Chicago Coliseum, has hosted six conventions.

Then there are the buildings each major party prefers. For example, Democrats have held their nominating conventions most often at Madison Square Garden (four times). The blue party also gravitates towards Philadelphia’s Convention Hall as they’ve gathered there three times, along with the Chicago Stadium and Chicago’s International Amphitheatre. Other than these four locations, Democrats don’t tend to host their conventions in the same buildings multiple times. Thirty-six buildings have only held Democratic conventions one time.

Republicans, on the other hand, are more likely to repeatedly hold their nominating conventions in the same buildings. They’ve set up shop most often at the Chicago Coliseum (five times), had three conventions at Philadelphia’s Convention Hall, and have been to each of the following twice: Exposition Hall, Public Auditorium, Chicago Stadium, International Amphitheatre, Cow Palace, and the Miami Beach Convention Center.

Where Could & Should They Convene Next?

The 2020 presidential nominating convention locations have already been selected. For the first time, Democrats will venture to Milwaukie, Wisconsin while Republicans will gather in Charlotte, North Carolina for the second time in history. Even modern-day conventions are following a trend that began in 1832: most nominating conventions take place in the Eastern U.S.

This trend is different from the many instances the West has taken the cake, like the most extreme high and low temperatures in the U.S., and the NBA finals wins per team and opportunity. The one thing Democrats and Republicans seem to have in common is that they tend to miss the entire west side of the nation when picking convention locations.

Aside from California and Colorado, there are no other Western states that have hosted a nominating convention. So, to help out future presidential nominating convention planners, we made a list of the 31 states that have yet to see a convention, most of which are in the West:

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
Connecticut
Delaware
Hawaii
Idaho
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Maine
Mississippi
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Mexico
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Oregon
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wyoming

Home State Conventions

If you found yourself wondering if any presidential or vice-presidential candidate had their nominating convention in their home state, we have the answer. Since 1832, only five presidential candidates were nominated at a convention that took place in their home state. These candidates were Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, Horatio Seymour of New York, Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio, John W. Davis of New York, and George H. W. Bush of Texas.

Occurring even less are the four V.P.’s who were chosen as possible second-in-command in their home state. These candidates were John A. Logan of Illinois, Adlai Stevenson I of Illinois, and George H. W. Bush of Texas when he was nominated to be Vice President.

Now you know all the cities and buildings that have held major party presidential nominating conventions since 1832. Plus, you’re aware of where Democrats and Republicans could and should go next. While we wait to see where future conventions will take place, check out our other president-related maps like the many international travels of U.S. presidents or presidential assassination attempts mapped and the births and burials of U.S. presidents.

Cost of Living in 388 Cities Worldwide

Choosing a retiring destination or city you want to move to is a big step. Before you up and move to a place with the lowest unemployment rate or other benefits, note that the cost of living varies around with world. Take Switzerland for example. There are several Swiss cities that are almost 30% more expensive to live in than New York City (one of the most expensive in the U.S.) There are many other cities where the cost of living is notably higher than average. On the other hand, there are also cities where the cost of living is low. Plus, there are pairs of cities that while geographically faraway, are closer than you think when it comes to nearly identical costs of living. Find out all this and more as you keep on reading about the cost of living in 388 cities worldwide.

View Cost of Living in 388 Cities in a full screen map

The map above shows Numbeo’s list of the cost of living for 388 cities collected on June 27, 2019. While the list is ever-fluctuating, you’ll be able to see which cities are generally the most expensive when you sort by the highest cost of living range. The map also contains more information than the cost of living for each of these cities. In fact, there are multiple indices of interest.

Cost of Living: Indices Explained

Information about rent, groceries, restaurant prices, and local purchasing power are included on the map. The main cost of living index takes into account groceries, restaurants, transportation, and utilities, though it doesn’t include rent. That’s what the cost of living plus rent index is for. As for the local purchasing power, this describes the ability to buy goods and services based on the average wage in the city.

It’s important to note that New York City serves as the baseline for each city. As you’ll find on the map, the Big Apple gets 100’s across the board. Each index is subsequently compared to New York. For example, if Guatemala City’s cost of living is 44.23, it means that on average, Guatemala City is 55% cheaper to live in than New York. As with the cost of living, if a city’s local purchasing power is 41.92, as it is in Guatemala City, the inhabitants of that city with the average salary can afford to buy 58% fewer goods and services than New York City residents with an average salary.

Cities with the Highest and Lowest Cost of Living

With all that in mind, here are ten cities with the highest cost of living:

Basel, Switzerland
Zurich, Switzerland
Lausanne, Switzerland
Geneva, Switzerland
Bern, Switzerland
Stavanger, Norway
Oslo, Norway
Trondheim, Norway
New York, NY, United States
Bergen, Norway

Photo of Bern, Switzerland by Louis from Pexels

If this list looks familiar, it’s because the ten most expensive cities to live in mirrors the ten most expensive cities to spend Valentine’s Day. Swiss cities cost a lot of cash and Basel, Zurich, Lausanne, Geneva, and Bern make up 50% of the top ten list of the highest costs of living. Basel is the highest.

After the Swiss cities, the cost of living faces a steep decline. Stavanger, Norway, the 6th most expensive city, has a cost of living of 105.21, a nearly 15-point drop from #5. Like Switzerland, Norway monopolizes much of the top ten cities with the highest cost of living. Cities ranked #6, #7, #8, and #10 on the list are in Norway. And the U.S. makes its first appearance with the ninth city with the highest cost of living and the baseline for the rest of the world: New York. We mentioned #10 on the list belonged to Norway. Bergen happens to have the exact same cost of living as New York: 100. However, Bergen’s rent index is 37.11, and its cost of living plus rent is nearly 30% cheaper than N.Y. so it isn’t all the same.

As with the commute times and transportation rates within the U.S., we’re forever comparing Los Angeles to New York. You can’t just not compare two of the largest cities on opposite ends of the country. Though L.A. doesn’t appear in the top ten, the City of Angels is ranked #42. The average cost of living in L.A. is 20% less than living in New York. In fact, everything from rent to groceries and restaurants will cost you less in L.A. Los Angeles residents also have a higher purchasing power. Your hard-earned cash has 15% more power in L.A. when compared to N.Y.C.

Lowest Cost of Living

The ten cities where the cost of living is the lowest are all located in India or Pakistan:

Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Karachi, Pakistan
Thiruvananthapuram, India
Visakhapatnam, India
Islamabad, Pakistan
Lahore, Pakistan
Vijayawada, India
Kochi, India
Mysore, India
Bhubaneswar, India

Rawalpindi and Karachi are the least expensive cities to live in with respective cost of livings of 17.17 and 19.73. That means that living in Rawalpindi is nearly 83% cheaper than it would cost to live in New York City. However, there may be a downside to cheaper costs of living: houses could be worth little in these cities. India has six cities on this list, the cheapest of which is Thiruvananthapuram, which has a cost of living of 20.41.

While not the lowest of the low, the major cities of South America make for another interesting trend. The majority of South American cities have costs of living on the lower side, ranging between 54.29-41.76.

Distant Cities with Duplicate Costs of Living

We’ve discussed the cities with the highest cost of living and those with the lowest, but what about the cities with the nearly identical cost of livings? No, it’s not Basel, Zurich, Lausanne, Geneva, or Bern, Switzerland. The following cities are on opposite sides of the globe, yet though they are distant, they have duplicate costs of living. Aalborg, Denmark, and Tokyo, Japan have nearly identical costs of living despite being over 8,500 miles from each other. Aalborg’s cost of living is 90.28 while Tokyo’s is just .02 less at 90.26. A different Danish city has a similar cost of living as Boston, Massachusetts. Arhus, DK has a cost of living of 86.92 while Boston’s is 86.87. That’s only a .05 difference.

Now for the “thruple:” Dublin, Ireland, Sydney, Australia, and Singapore. The costs of living in these three cities are all within less than .2 of each other. Dublin cost of living is 79.61, followed by Sydney’s which is 79.52, and Singapore’s cost of living which is 79.4. And even though Paris, France is only officially a twin city with Rome, when it comes to cost of living, Paris is nearly identical — fraternal twins if you will — to Seattle, Washington. Though these two cities are 4,993 miles apart, their costs of living are only .09 away from each other. The cost of living in Paris is 85.91 while Seattle’s is 85.82. In case you were wondering, Rome’s cost of living is 71.08 which is nowhere near Paris’s. Seattle: 1; Rome: 0.

We found nine nearly identical costs of living between very distant cities. How many more can you find? There are lots of cities that are so close — in cost — yet so far away in distance. To calculate the distances between cities with similar costs of living on the map, just break out the digital measuring tape. BatchGeo’s Advanced Mode allows you to select the measuring tool (ruler icon in the top left corner of the map.) You can either click on the first option and drag your cursor from one location to another to see the distance between the two points, or you can nmeasure a boatload of distances from one point all at once by clicking on the multi-measure tool.

Well, we’re off to move to a nice moderately-priced city like Valencia, Spain (cost of living: 54.76), Ljubljana, Slovenia (cost of living: 55.82), or pretty much any city in Europe, aside from Switzerland, of course. The map showed us that the majority of the average-costing cities can be found in Europe. Maps like this one really illuminate data trends, so be sure to check out related maps you can make in minutes, including how to apartment hunting visually with a custom map, how to make an open house map, and how to visualize local crime data with a map.

Excel Data Visualization Examples

Sometimes data is difficult to wrap your head around. That’s where data visualization, or crafty graph work, comes in. You can use the same tool you’re likely already employing to store and manipulate your data — Microsoft Excel — to visualize the very same data. Excel is a formidable tool for data visualization.

Your Excel data probably looks similar to the data above. But it can be difficult for numbers to communicate data-related trends. Common data visualization examples using Excel feature charts, graphs, combinations, and their derivatives. Such diagrams speak a thousand words that can be hard to find in data.

Create Basic Data Visualizations in Excel

There are a number of visualization tools within Excel. While the multiple options can be overwhelming, you can get a lot of mileage out of the simplest of charts.

Bar and Column Chart Examples

Bar and column charts are understandable by even elementary and middle school children. The taller columns (vertical) or longer bars (horizontal) describe the data. You can even include multiple data to compare over time or for other situations.

Our sales data shows product and services revenue by month. When translated into a column chart, as above, you can see that services are always higher than products, but more volatile. It would be hard to get this story from numbers alone!

The same data can also be turned into a bar chart. In this case, and likely with most time-series data, column charts actually work best.

How to create a bar or column chart:

Select your data
Click Insert → Chart
Select Column or Bar

Your version of Excel may have slightly different menus. You can also click an icon that looks like a chart or graph.

Line Graph Examples

Line graphs are more suitable for cases where individual data points are not so important. Technical analysis can build upon a simple line graph, including regression quotients, slope values, and extrapolation.

On the line graph example above, we’ve used the same data as before, but there are a few differences: we’re showing the total number of sales (instead of revenue) and it’s displayed over time in a way that may better explain the trends in this business.

How to create a line graph:

Select your data
Click Insert → Chart
Select Line

Pie Chart Examples

Pie charts may be the most appealing of all the data visualization options. In a nutshell, pie charts are circular depictions of statistical proportions, using divisions. The bigger the slice of the pie, the larger the representation, and more generally, the importance.

Using another “slice” of the same data, we can see which regions provided most of the revenue.

How to create a pie chart:

Select your data
Click Insert → Chart
Select Pie

Advanced Excel Data Visualization Examples

Advanced data visualizations become important when simpler diagrams just won’t cut it. This could be the case when there isn’t much difference between values, or you want to communicate multiple values at once.

Combine Charts and Graphs

We’ve shown revenue by month, in dollars. And we’ve shown sales by month, in number of purchases. Each is useful in its own way, but a more complete picture comes into view when we combine them in a single data visualization.

In July and August, there are a lot of sales, but there’s less revenue per sale. That story wasn’t easily visible before we merged the line graph and column chart.

How to create a combo chart:

Select your data
Click Insert → Chart
Select Column
Click Change Chart Type → Select Combo

The advanced type of a combo chart is not available in the first menu. However, you can change the type to include a column and line. Notice the selected option has the line values on the second Y-axis —that allows you to show different scales in a single chart.

Create Stacked Charts

Another advanced chart type is a stacked chart. Here we’ll use the exact same data as in our first column chart, but the information will be displayed in a smaller space, with a single column per month.

The added benefit here is that we’re more easily showing the total revenue per month. So, three values are communicated in each month’s column. The stacked chart is an advanced Excel visualization option that really packs a punch!

How to create a stacked chart:

Select your data
Click Insert → Chart
Select Column
Click Change Chart Type → Select Column → Select the visual of stacked columns

As with the combo chart, you need to dig into the chart type menu and select it visually. Of course, there’s a lot more you can do with chart design, but Excel can’t do quite every visualization, as we’re about to see.

Visualize Excel Data on a Map

One of the best ways to show data visually is with a map. Not all data fits this model, but if you have places—address, cities, or postal codes—plotting them on a map makes a lot of sense. Excel can’t do this itself, but luckily, BatchGeo’s Excel mapping tool makes it easy.

Plot Addresses as Map Markers

To make a map, make sure your Excel spreadsheet — or Google Sheet or Numbers — contains location data. Take the above spreadsheet about car mechanics around the Santa Monica area, which we used to make the following map.

View Santa Monica Mechanics (with Ratings) in a full screen map

How to:

Copy and paste your spreadsheet data into batchgeo.com
Check to make sure you have the proper location data columns available by clicking “Validate and Set Options”
Select the proper location column from each drop down
Click “Make Map” and watch as the geocoder performs its process

Sum and Average Data in Map Clusters

Maps are a great way to visualize data. However, we can often find ourselves with more than just four data points. When “marker overload” leaves you with hundreds of markers on your map, preventing you from seeing trends clearly, you can summarize and average your data with map clustering.

View Household income, average clustering in a full screen map

Let’s say you have data similar to the map above which contains the household income of over 3,000 U.S. counties. Without map clustering, the would appear crowded and you may struggle to visualize your data. By following the steps below to enable map clustering, you’ll once again be able to visualize your data clearly.