How to intelligently degrade or smooth GIS data (simplifying polygons)?

Question

I have detailed US county maps, from the TIGER LINE data sets. How might I sample, smooth, or degrade the data so that I get straighter, more boxy, less \"noisy\" shapes to

Answer 1

You could also try Visvalingam’s algorithm, which iteratively removes the least perceptible part of a line. Here is a great explanation of that algorithm:

• http://bost.ocks.org/mike/simplify/