A community of interest is a contiguous population that shares common social and economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation.
Per the Local Government Redistricting Toolkit by Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus (2020):
Communities of interest are the overlapping sets of neighborhoods, networks, and groups that share interests, views, cultures, histories, languages, and values and whose boundaries can be identified on a map.
The following elements help define communities of interest:
- Shared interests in schools, housing, community safety, transit, health conditions, land use, environmental conditions, and/or other issues
- Common social and civic networks, including churches, mosques, temples, homeowner associations, and community centers, and shared use of community spaces, like parks and shopping Centers
- Racial and ethnic compositions, cultural identities, and households that predominantly speak a language other than English
- Similar socioeconomic status, including but not limited to income, home-ownership, and education levels
- Shared political boundary lines from other jurisdictions, such as school districts, community college districts, and water districts