A Word About Baltimore City’s Snappy Budget Graphic….

 Infographics are all the rage. They are beautiful, engaging, and fun to look at. This one is no exception:At first glance, it looks like a lot of fun. The Finance Office has done something unexpected, which is trying to make understanding the budget of Baltimore City a bit easier by using data visualization. It is likely to be successful in that more people will look at this than might read a website that breaks out funding by categories, or talks about the property rate; but, it also leaves a lot to be desired.Here are a few things we would suggest to the City of Baltimore for next time:Pie chartsBe careful with them. Unlike other data visualization folks, I’m not completely opposed to the pie chart in all situations. But, if...