Cleaner bar chart for Nashville Poll

plot_priorities.R

library(tidyverse)
library(showtext)

# Add fonts similar to those used on Vanderbilt's website
font_add_google("Arimo", "arimo")
font_add_google("Noto Serif Display", "noto-serif-display")
showtext_auto()

# Create dataframe with top priorities data
# From Slide 24: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/csdi/Nasville_2025_slides_final.pdf
top_priorities_df = tribble(
  ~priority, ~pct,
  "Improving public education", .74,
  "Working on problems low-income people face", .69,
  "Making rents in Nashville more affordable", .67,
  "Reducing crime", .64,
  "Taking steps to ensure the city's long-term financial health", .62,
  "Making home buying in Nashville more affordable", .61,
  "Reducing traffic", .6,
  "Dealing with homelessness", .55,
  "Supporting small and local business", .49,
  "Improving public transportation", .49
)

# Plot
top_priorities_df |> 
  # Convert priority to factor ordered by %
  mutate(priority = fct_reorder(priority, pct),
         rank = rank(desc(pct))) |> 
  ggplot(aes(y = priority, x = pct)) +
  # Highlight top 3 priorities (because too many priorities really means no priorities)
  geom_col(aes(fill = rank <= 3), alpha=.95, width = .65,
           show.legend=F) +
  geom_text(aes(label = scales::percent(pct, accuracy = 1), 
                fontface = if_else(rank <= 3, "bold", "plain")),
            colour = "white",
            hjust = 1.2,
            size = 8) +
  scale_x_continuous(labels = scales::percent_format(accuracy = 1),
                     limits = c(0,1), position = "top") +
  # Colour picked from Vanderbilt's logo
  scale_fill_manual(values = c("TRUE" = "#bfa058", "FALSE" = "#555555")) +
  labs(
    title = "Top Priorities for Mayor Freddie O'Connell",
    subtitle = "% Rated as Top Priority by Nashville residents",
    y = NULL,
    x = NULL, #"% rated as top priority",
    caption = "Source: VU Nashville Poll (2025)"
  ) +
  theme_minimal(base_family = "arimo")+
  # Text colours from vanderbilt.edu website
  theme(plot.title.position = "plot", plot.margin = margin(20,20,20,20),
        axis.text.y.left = element_text(size = 28, colour = "#1c1c1c", margin = margin(0,0,0,0)),
        axis.text.x.top = element_text(colour = "#555555", size = 20),
        axis.title.x.top = element_text(hjust = 1),
        panel.grid.major.y = element_blank(),
        panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
        plot.background = element_rect(fill = "#f5f3ef", colour = "#f5f3ef"),
        plot.title = element_text(size = 56, face = "bold", margin = margin(5,0,5,0), 
                                  family = "playfair-display", colour = "#1c1c1c"),
        plot.subtitle = element_text(size = 28, 
                                  family = "arimo", colour = "#555555"),
        plot.caption = element_text(size = 20, margin = margin(20,0,0,0),
                                    family = "arimo", colour = "#555555")
        )
        
# Save as png
ggsave("top_priorities.png", width = 8, height = 4, dpi = 300)