Greater Greater Washington did us political nerds a huge favor, giving us the same options that D.C. Councilmembers Jack Evans (Ward 2), Michael A. Brown (At-Large) and Phil Mendelson (At-Large) will have with the “Redistricting Game,” in which D.C. residents can mess around with the District’s ward and ANC borders. So how difficult will it be for Evans, Brown and Mendelson to move things around?

Let’s say politics weren’t a part of the redistricting process — a rather ridiculous hypothetical, I know. What would be the easiest, most painless redistricting option for the Councilmembers to take? Well, it looks like Ward 2’s issues could be solved by simply transferring tract 43 (bordered by 14th, U, 16th and S Streets NW) and its 1,294 residents into Ward 1. Ward 7 and 8’s situations are a bit more complicated. But if Ward 7 picked up tract 68.04 (giving the Ward full control over the site of RFK Stadium) and its 3,670 residents from Ward 6, then ceded tract 76.05 (creating a natural boundary between the two east of the Anacostia wards along Naylor Road SE) to Ward 8, everything appears to work out, without having to shake things up too much. Here’s the map of that situation.

Of course these scenarios — especially with Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry tossing around words like “apartheid” about the Census results — are pretty naive. But hey, at least you’ll now know how unnecessarily complex your city legislature will be making the transition when the actual process goes down!