Recursive grids for density measures

I’ve been wanting to do this for ages… and I finally did!

The idea is this:

1. Create a square.
2. If the square has more than n things inside it, divide it into four parts.
3. Do the same for each of those squares and so on recursively.

My recent pet project¹, cul-de-sacs (threshold = 10 or less per):

Dayton got a bit cut off, unfortunately. Trust me though: it has plenty of sprawl! This image sort of gives you an idea how the process works.

Population density, based on 2010 census blocks (threshold = 100 people or less per):

14 levels deep! This one took a couple hours. Click through for a larger image.

Many more to come, I’m sure, now that I’ve written the script…