I am no fan of geographic heatmaps, especially those that are really just density maps or poorly interpolated surfaces. To me the term “heatmap” is just an overused marketing term. So, when I came across this “heatmap” today I had to laugh:
“Rental Heatmap” from Boston.Curbed.com
And here is a screen grab (in case they edit their page!).
There is no heatmap here, at all (unless I am totally using this page incorrectly, which isn’t out of the realm of possibility). No doubt, it’s a slick web-map application that really aids the story, but let’s call a spade a spade.
Side note: Is the term heat map so popular because choropleth doesn’t sound cool?