Map of the Week
30 Day Map Challenge 2024-Part 2
Here is the second half of the 30 Day Map Challenge. The one where I don’t make anything but just...
a month ago
Here is the second half of the 30 Day Map Challenge. The one where I don’t make anything but just sit back and enjoy the work of others. The first half of the month was reviewed here.
I will start on Day 23 where the prompt was memory. There were quite a few good entries for this...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Costa Rica, Part 3 (Exploring La Fortuna)
The second full day in La Fortuna promised abundant showers although not continuously. It was the...
a year ago
The second full day in La Fortuna promised abundant showers although not continuously. It was the rainy season after all and it rains, and people deal with it. Frankly, the bright sunshine of the previous day was a fluke. So we understood all of this ahead of time and we devised...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Inland Northwest, Day 1 (Staging)
Was there a name for that largely empty space beyond Washington’s Cascades Range and into the Idaho...
3 months ago
Was there a name for that largely empty space beyond Washington’s Cascades Range and into the Idaho Panhandle? A little research suggested the Inland Northwest, or perhaps a now lesser-used designation, the Inland Empire (not to be confused with a similarly named area of...
Maps Mania
Mapping Mythical Islands & Imaginary Lands
a month ago
Transit Maps
Project: My UTA Rail and BRT Design Exploration
I teased this in yesterday’s review of the new official UTA diagram, so here’s my exploration of a...
a year ago
I teased this in yesterday’s review of the new official UTA diagram, so here’s my exploration of a few design ideas for an alternative version. As always with this type of project, I look for ways to approach the design problems for the diagram that are intentionally different to...
Adventures In...
How to emboss an imagery basemap
Ah the simple pleasures of the World Imagery basemap. So much earth. So much imagery. So many...
a year ago
Ah the simple pleasures of the World Imagery basemap. So much earth. So much imagery. So many corners of this world to explore. How can we take something so verdant and charming and just ratchet it up to eleven? We’ll use a water mask and some layer effects, that’s how! 0:00...
Maps Mania
The Easter Bunny's Egg-cellent Adventure
9 months ago
Adventures In...
GIS Day 2024
They say it’s the mappiest day of the year, but here’s a short video we made for GIS Day way back at...
2 months ago
They say it’s the mappiest day of the year, but here’s a short video we made for GIS Day way back at the mappiest place on earth (aka the Esri User Conference) back in July! November felt like forever away, but you know how all that goes. Thanks to Jo Ann Prichniewski for...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Dayton, Ohio Part 3 (Museums)
Sure, I visited the various Wright Brothers museums, historical sites, and memorials but they...
9 months ago
Sure, I visited the various Wright Brothers museums, historical sites, and memorials but they weren’t the totality of Dayton’s remarkable legacy. It wasn’t even the reason why we visited. I mentioned the younger kid’s interest in all things aeronautical earlier and it traced back...
Maps Mania
Real-time Air Pollution Alerts
10 months ago
Transit Maps
Book Review: “Iconic Transit Maps” by Mark Ovenden, 2024
After 2003’s Metro Maps of the World and 2015’s Transit Maps of the World (our review here), this is...
a month ago
After 2003’s Metro Maps of the World and 2015’s Transit Maps of the World (our review here), this is Mark Ovenden’s third offering on the subject of global transit maps and diagrams. The question to be asked, then, is simply – is a new book on the same subject worth it? In a...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Costa Rica, Part 7 (On To Monteverde)
Next we began our trek to Monteverde, into Costa Rica’s famed Cloud Forest. This is one of the...
a year ago
Next we began our trek to Monteverde, into Costa Rica’s famed Cloud Forest. This is one of the nation’s smallest microclimates and one of its most intriguing. High in the mountains, a thick blanket of fog frequently envelopes the landscape and creates a gentile moisture. A steady...
Map of the Week
Indigenous Map of Southern Ontario
Christi Belcourt is a Metis artist who "indigenized" the regional maps and surveys of Albert Salter...
7 months ago
Christi Belcourt is a Metis artist who "indigenized" the regional maps and surveys of Albert Salter into a map called "Good Land".
One side of the map has the English text that most people are familiar with, while the other side uses indigenous place names and commentary....
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Great American Beer Festival (and More)
I hinted at ulterior motives in the last article about my long weekend in Denver. I didn’t travel...
2 months ago
I hinted at ulterior motives in the last article about my long weekend in Denver. I didn’t travel all the way out there just to casually tour around. Indeed, I had a very specific purpose in mind — checking off a bucket list item in fact — attending the Great American Beer...
Maps Mania
The Presidential Medal of Cartography
5 months ago
James Cheshire
Being creative is reason enough to try different data visualization
A simple line chart might be all you need to communicate the patterns in a dataset, but it might not...
over a year ago
A simple line chart might be all you need to communicate the patterns in a dataset, but it might not be given a second glance. Getting the viewer to work a little harder to interpret and think about a graphic can be a very effective way of generating engagement. This is where the...
Map of the Week
30 Day Map Challenge 2023 Days 3 9
Here’s what I’ve been working on for the past week’s 30 Day Map Challenges with the prompts...
a year ago
Here’s what I’ve been working on for the past week’s 30 Day Map Challenges with the prompts listed.
Day 3 - Polygons
This is not exactly a hand made map, more having fun with cutting boards. My wife gave me the Pennsylvania board a few years ago and I used it in the 2021...
Maps Mania
The National Stereotypes Maps - Part Two
a year ago
Adventures In...
Dashing Maps
There are lots of reasons why cartographers use dashed lines in their maps. Sometimes there are a...
2 months ago
There are lots of reasons why cartographers use dashed lines in their maps. Sometimes there are a lot of different sorts of lines going around and it’s the best way to differentiate between different categories of things. Or we can embed meaning into them, like a dashed line...
Maps Mania
The American Election & the Rest of the World
3 months ago
Map of the Week
Philadelphia Bookstore Map
Note: As September comes to a close so does Philadelphia month. There will be a couple more posts...
a year ago
Note: As September comes to a close so does Philadelphia month. There will be a couple more posts today and tomorrow before I return to my normal weekly schedule.
This one is personal. Several years ago I was working with a Philly-based computer programmer and an artist to create...
Maps Mania
An Extremely Distorted Map of the US Election
2 days ago
somethingaboutmaps
Kickstarter 3: The Return
For the past several years, I’ve enjoyed the process of cyanotype printing, and have released a...
2 months ago
For the past several years, I’ve enjoyed the process of cyanotype printing, and have released a number of projects based on this technique (including my favorite item I’ve ever made). Now, I’ve decided to take my recent work in developing terrain sketches, and turn it into a new...
somethingaboutmaps
The Dream Lives
I know lately I’ve been in commercial mode, pointing you toward various projects of mine that you...
a month ago
I know lately I’ve been in commercial mode, pointing you toward various projects of mine that you can support by giving me money. And I promise I’ll get back to less commercial musings as time goes on. But for now, I also want to alert you to a way you can give other people...
Map of the Week
Below the Ice
This past fall scientists uncovered a vast landscape that has been "frozen in time" under the...
a year ago
This past fall scientists uncovered a vast landscape that has been "frozen in time" under the Antarctic Ice Shelf. Here is a nice graphic from phys.org.
The topography was determined by a combination of radio wave echoes and satellite images. This landscape, more than 2...
somethingaboutmaps
On the Practice of Wobbling
We live in an era in which maps (and plenty of other graphics) are made with digital tools....
a year ago
We live in an era in which maps (and plenty of other graphics) are made with digital tools. Workflows vary, but the end result is that a lot of us base our cartography entirely on clean vector shapes and neat raster grids. For example, I talked earlier this year about a map I...
Map of the Week
Endangered Languages of New York City
In January I did a series of posts on endangered languages. A few weeks ago the New York Times had...
10 months ago
In January I did a series of posts on endangered languages. A few weeks ago the New York Times had an excellent "scrollytelling" graphic story on these languages and where they are spoken within New York City.
as you scroll down the page languages appear down Manhattan...
Transit Maps
15% Off All Prints in the “Transit Maps” Store
Just a reminder that the best way to support the site is by buying a print from our online store,...
a month ago
Just a reminder that the best way to support the site is by buying a print from our online store, because you get something awesome in return! We’re having a Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday sale with 15% off all prints. Choose from my original...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Cicada Chase, Day 2
The first day of cicada chasing exceeded expectations and we hoped for similar results on the...
7 months ago
The first day of cicada chasing exceeded expectations and we hoped for similar results on the second. However the weather began to change overnight with downpours possible during daylight hours. Local meteorologists predicted a line of thunderstorms rolling through the Midwest,...
Map of the Week
Nicknames of the States
Here's a strange one: An 1884 promotional map for a company that manufactured hog rings (like nose...
8 months ago
Here's a strange one: An 1884 promotional map for a company that manufactured hog rings (like nose rings for hogs, you can read more about those here, if you can stomach a little animal cruelty).
Each state is shown with a representative ring-wearing hog.
Complete with a...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Inland Northwest, Day 4 (Lewis & Clark Country)
We were now officially between races. A day earlier I ran a half-marathon in Pendleton, Oregon and I...
3 months ago
We were now officially between races. A day earlier I ran a half-marathon in Pendleton, Oregon and I had to do it again in Clarkston, Washington the following day. So this was the rest day, or at least it was for me. Most participants in the Mainly Marathons Northwest series...
Transit Maps
Unofficial Maps: Two new takes on the London Underground by Kenneth Field
Back in 2019, Ken showcased an experimental alternative Tube Map based on a diamond motif (read the...
over a year ago
Back in 2019, Ken showcased an experimental alternative Tube Map based on a diamond motif (read the Transit Maps review here) that had mixed reactions from the community. He went away and absorbed that feedback, and – like a glutton for punishment – he’s back with not one, but...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Mitten Accomplished
I got a unique opportunity to visit counties in a corner of the Midwest I hadn’t touched much when...
over a year ago
I got a unique opportunity to visit counties in a corner of the Midwest I hadn’t touched much when my older kid decided to go to college in Michigan. But it didn’t offer a lot of time for my quest, just a four year window before graduation. Even so, I set what I thought was...
Maps Mania
The Distressed Communities of America
10 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Costa Rica, Part 4 (Brew Day)
We hadn’t visited any breweries in the first several days but that was about to change. It turns out...
a year ago
We hadn’t visited any breweries in the first several days but that was about to change. It turns out Costa Rica has a fairly lively craft brewery scene and we were moving into an area rich with them. Several fell within our direct path between La Fortuna and Tamarindo and that...
James Cheshire
The Scarred Landscape of the Climate Crisis
I’ve been obsessively checking satellite imagery to witness the UK turn from green to yellow, thanks...
over a year ago
I’ve been obsessively checking satellite imagery to witness the UK turn from green to yellow, thanks to the period of extreme heat and lack of rain Europe has been enduring. The parched landscape is unlike anything I’ve seen before and a cloud free day today (10th August) has...
Transit Maps
Official Map: C-TRAN Bus Network, Vancouver, Washington, October 2023
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Transit Maps has never taken a look at the map for Portland’s...
a year ago
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Transit Maps has never taken a look at the map for Portland’s northern neighbour, the (original) Vancouver. With the recent addition of their second “The Vine” BRT route along Mill Plain Boulevard, now seems like a good time. At first glance, it...
Adventures In...
The Bounding Box Podcast
The one where I chat with Rene Rubalcava about the importance of unstructured data-play, the risk of...
a year ago
The one where I chat with Rene Rubalcava about the importance of unstructured data-play, the risk of metrics becoming the goal, where to find inspiration, brewing chaos into professional development, and loving our neighbors!
Maps Mania
I'm Sending You Back to the Future!
a month ago
Transit Maps
Submission – Official Map: Greater Copenhagen Rail Map, 2024
Submitted by Jakob, who says: The M4 branch extension to Copenhagen South has just opened, and with...
5 months ago
Submitted by Jakob, who says: The M4 branch extension to Copenhagen South has just opened, and with it, a much improved map compared to 2019 [My review of the 2019 map can be found here – Cam]. The Circle Line is now more spacious, junctions are labeled more clearly, and metro...
Maps Mania
540 Million Years of Planet Earth
8 months ago
Maps Mania
245 Russian Military Targets at Risk
4 months ago
Maps Mania
The World Air Quality Report 2023
9 months ago
GeoCurrents
The Forests of Northern Somalia?
Somalia (including Somaliland) is widely known as an arid and drought-plagued land. Climate maps...
3 weeks ago
Somalia (including Somaliland) is widely known as an arid and drought-plagued land. Climate maps depict most of the country as having a hot and dry desert climate (“BWh” in the Köppen classification system). Much of southern Somalia, as well as a portion of the far northwest...
Map of the Week
The Climate Impact of Your Neighborhood
This latest New York Times interactive map shows how people who live closer in to city centers have...
over a year ago
This latest New York Times interactive map shows how people who live closer in to city centers have a relatively small carbon footprint, while those who live further out have some of the largest footprints in the nation.
While that may not be surprising by itself there are some...
Musings on Maps
“They’re Eating Dogs”
“If exotic non-human animals inhabited the edges of the inhabited world in medieval cosmologies,...
4 months ago
“If exotic non-human animals inhabited the edges of the inhabited world in medieval cosmologies, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the MAGA candidate who has done much to resurrect the contours of theocratic Neo-medieval maps of the world is perpetuating stories of … Continue...
somethingaboutmaps
Getting Local: A Map Disassembly
Though it’s only been a couple of months since the last time I did a map breakdown, I feel like it’s...
a year ago
Though it’s only been a couple of months since the last time I did a map breakdown, I feel like it’s time for another. While my own instincts are to avoid repetition, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from my YouTube-watching habits, it’s that a creator can put out a regular...
Transit Maps
Submission – Historical Map: Relief Map of Street Railway System in Pittsburgh and Vicinity, 1910
Submitted by Marc, who says: Hi ! I enjoy the historical maps, especially. Here’s my all-time...
5 months ago
Submitted by Marc, who says: Hi ! I enjoy the historical maps, especially. Here’s my all-time favorite historical map — a hand-made relief map of the Pittsburgh streetcar system, from 1910. Transit Maps says: Oh, I just love this, Marc! This fantastic map was included as part of...
James Cheshire
Atlas des Unsichtbaren
Thrilled to announce the publication of German edition of Atlas of the Invisible: Atlas des...
over a year ago
Thrilled to announce the publication of German edition of Atlas of the Invisible: Atlas des Unsichtbaren. It is published by Hanser, who also did an amazing job with our previous book Die Wege der Tiere, and available in all good bookshops across the German speaking world. Click...
Maps Mania
The Scariest Place Names in the World
2 months ago
Adventures In...
How to make this thematic map, and stuff
One of the great joys of working here at Esri is the opportunity to collaborate with amazing people....
5 months ago
One of the great joys of working here at Esri is the opportunity to collaborate with amazing people. Recently I had the opportunity to present at the User Conference about thematic mapping, with Sarah Bell and Kenneth Field. It was a lot of fun and we all surprised each other...
Maps Mania
Alternatives to Google Maps Street View
a year ago
Musings on Maps
Swing States, Battleground States and Hot Spots
Are the maps of President Trump's 2024 electoral evidence of a sudden shift or deep undercurrents of...
2 months ago
Are the maps of President Trump's 2024 electoral evidence of a sudden shift or deep undercurrents of disaffection? The sudden partisan shift of voting maps suggest a dark undercurrents in American politics. Continue reading →
Map of the Week
Paris Olympics 1924
Paris will host the Olympics in a few days. They previously hosted them 100 years ago. Here is a...
5 months ago
Paris will host the Olympics in a few days. They previously hosted them 100 years ago. Here is a small map of the 1924 Olympic venues.
via metropolitiques
Artist Pauline de Langre has some nice, artistic maps showing the venues in 1924 and 2024.
A bit hard to read at this...
James Cheshire
Newspapers and the 1976 Drought
With each new temperature record that tumbles the UK, climate skeptics have a standard stock phrase:...
over a year ago
With each new temperature record that tumbles the UK, climate skeptics have a standard stock phrase: ‘it was this hot in 1976’. Of course it wasn’t, and crucially the planet overall was not as hot then as it is now. Parts of the UK media have had their part to play in fueling...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 7 (Tankfest)
Finally the single event that justified our entire trip to England arrived, the renowned Tankfest....
5 months ago
Finally the single event that justified our entire trip to England arrived, the renowned Tankfest. It’s everything the name implies, a festival of military tanks, and it happens only once a year on the grounds of the Tank Museum in Bovington (map). This is what the younger kid...
GeoCurrents
U.S. Presidential Election Lecture Series Completed
The GeoCurrents lecture series on the historical geography of U.S. presidential elections has been...
a month ago
The GeoCurrents lecture series on the historical geography of U.S. presidential elections has been completed. The series itself can be found here. The final lecture, which covers only the election of 2024, can be found here. The next GeoCurrents lecture series will be on global...
Maps Mania
Who are Your Neighbors Donating to?
2 months ago
Map of the Week
America's Garden Capital
I have more way more items to post for Philadelphia month than there are weeks left so in the next...
a year ago
I have more way more items to post for Philadelphia month than there are weeks left so in the next few weeks I will be doing some extra postings, and a few minor notes thrown in like this one.
Did you know that Philadelphia is America’s Garden Capital? A bit of local boosterism...
Maps Mania
Gaza is 42 Million Tonnes of Rubble
5 months ago
Map of the Week
Map for Bloomsday
I have not read Ulysses by James Joyce, few people have. Even fewer have understood it. To honor the...
7 months ago
I have not read Ulysses by James Joyce, few people have. Even fewer have understood it. To honor the annual Bloomsday festival going on right now, here is a map showing the wanderings and locations within the book. The map about as easy to understand as the plot itself.
I have...
Maps Mania
The Manhole Card Collectors Map
5 months ago
Maps Mania
The Book Banning Map of America
4 months ago
Map of the Week
This One
This one map (via New York Times) tells you quite a bit about what happened in the U.S. Election on...
2 months ago
This one map (via New York Times) tells you quite a bit about what happened in the U.S. Election on Tuesday.
Aside from a few strange outliers (western Oklahoma, suburban Atlanta, northwest Michigan) The "red shift" happened across all regions and demographics. Hard to look at...
Transit Maps
Submission – Official Map: Long Island Rail Road Screen Maps at Grand Central Madison
Submitted by Griffin, who says: I work upstairs in the old Grand Central and was every excited to...
a year ago
Submitted by Griffin, who says: I work upstairs in the old Grand Central and was every excited to check out the new station this morning. Spotted this new map on the wall down there, thought you might find it interesting. Transit Maps says: Oh, I do like this. Graphically strong...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
St. Mary’s (and Calvert), Maryland
County counting becomes increasingly difficult as I continue my glacially slow progress. Now it...
a year ago
County counting becomes increasingly difficult as I continue my glacially slow progress. Now it takes more than five hours to reach the closest unvisited county from my home. Fortunately I found a workaround by shifting my focus to overnight county visits. There are plenty of...
Maps Mania
Piecing the World Back Together
5 months ago
Maps Mania
Have You Earned Your Air Pollution Stripes?
4 months ago
somethingaboutmaps
Conventional Cartographic Wisdom that I have Failed to Grasp
When I teach cartography, I am deliberate about not presenting my students with any rules. I do not...
a year ago
When I teach cartography, I am deliberate about not presenting my students with any rules. I do not want obedience to memorized maxims — instead, I simply tell them about practices that I think are good ideas, and then I offer an explanation of my reasoning. The students can...
Maps Mania
Live 2 Years Longer with Better Air Quality
a year ago
Transit Maps
Unofficial Map: High-Speed Rail of France, 2023 by Lars’ Transport Maps
Well, this is just beautiful. Having made my own diagram on the same subject matter way, way back in...
a year ago
Well, this is just beautiful. Having made my own diagram on the same subject matter way, way back in 2011, I think I’m qualified to say that this is a rousing success. The maps have some similarities – routes are colour-coded either by their Paris origin station or operator...
Maps Mania
⅓ of Rafah’s Buildings Destroyed
9 months ago
Transit Maps
Submission – Unofficial Map: Brussels S-Train by Elliot H
Submitted by Elliot, who says: I’ve come across this blog a couple of months ago, and have been...
a year ago
Submitted by Elliot, who says: I’ve come across this blog a couple of months ago, and have been lurking ever since. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at designing a trasit diagram, and having gotten some free time, I decided to redesign the S-Train diagram for Brussels. So here...
Adventures In...
Boost the Human Footprint in Imagery
The World Imagery Basemap is a lovely resource spanning the Earth in all directions at all scales....
4 months ago
The World Imagery Basemap is a lovely resource spanning the Earth in all directions at all scales. If you want to add a level of context you can always add a reference overlay. But what about baking a reference overlay into the imagery in a way that makes it look, like, sort of...
James Cheshire
The long history of using maps to hold water companies to account
James Cheshire, UCL Southern Water was handed a record fine of £90 million in July 2021 after...
over a year ago
James Cheshire, UCL Southern Water was handed a record fine of £90 million in July 2021 after pleading guilty to illegally discharging sewage along the rivers and coastline of Kent, Hampshire and Sussex. More than a year later, the headlines have not improved for Britain’s...
Maps Mania
How Near do You Live to a Mass Shooting?
a year ago
Maps Mania
How big are London, New York & Tokyo?
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 3 (Dorchester)
We began to explore a little further afield, still within Dorset, as we began to settle in to our...
6 months ago
We began to explore a little further afield, still within Dorset, as we began to settle in to our home for the week. That took us a little further west and a few miles inland from the English Channel. It included a lot of open countryside and then a sizeable settlement....
somethingaboutmaps
Simple Oblique Views in Blender
While many people use my Blender shaded relief tutorial, and associate me with the software, I’m...
over a year ago
While many people use my Blender shaded relief tutorial, and associate me with the software, I’m really not much of a 3D cartographer. I make oblique-view maps only rarely, and when I do, it’s usually in a simplified, abstract style, rather than the detailed, naturalistic...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 5 (Isle of Purbeck)
Dorset’s Isle of Purbeck isn’t an island it’s a peninsula. It was probably more isolated and...
6 months ago
Dorset’s Isle of Purbeck isn’t an island it’s a peninsula. It was probably more isolated and difficult to reach in previous centuries. So maybe it felt like an island to people back when the English Channel was the primary “road” to the outside world. Even now it’s a...
Maps Mania
Global Sentiment Towards Israel & Palestine
a year ago
somethingaboutmaps
2022 Freelancer Survey Results
Thank you once again to everyone who participated in this year’s survey of freelance cartographer...
over a year ago
Thank you once again to everyone who participated in this year’s survey of freelance cartographer rates and business practices! Herein, you will find the results of the survey, sliced into a few different charts and visuals, all crafted by my survey partner Aly Ollivierre. For...
Transit Maps
Fantasy Map: Washington Commanders 2023 “Season Map”
Posted yesterday on the Commanders’ Twitter account, here’s a Washington Metro-themed map of the...
a year ago
Posted yesterday on the Commanders’ Twitter account, here’s a Washington Metro-themed map of the team’s 2023 season. It basically just places the team’s opponents for the year on a vaguely US-shaped map using some Metro iconography and colours and calls it a day. It’s...
Map of the Week
Maps and Views at the British Library
The British Library contains over 4.5 million maps, atlases, globes, and digital models dating back...
6 months ago
The British Library contains over 4.5 million maps, atlases, globes, and digital models dating back to medieval times. A small sample of these are displayed on the walls in a section called "Maps & Views". Here are some mediocre pictures I took with links (where I can find them)...
Maps Mania
Live from the Sundhnúkur Eruption
9 months ago
somethingaboutmaps
Projection Cards
I had a whimsical idea a few months ago: map projection trading cards. Something nerdy and...
over a year ago
I had a whimsical idea a few months ago: map projection trading cards. Something nerdy and map-related that you could collect and exchange at conferences. I poked around at some design ideas for a while, and here’s what I’ve come up with so far. This is the front side of the...
somethingaboutmaps
Projection Connections: A Very Nerdy Poster
Friends, I’m excited to offer to you a new poster. Not a map this time around, but something...
over a year ago
Friends, I’m excited to offer to you a new poster. Not a map this time around, but something map-related. A 16 × 24-inch tangled web showing how 100+ different map projections are all related to each other: Projections are a niche topic even among cartographers, so I don’t...
Map of the Week
Merry Gridmas!
Gridviz is a Javascript library for visualizing gridded (raster) data. They created a Christmas...
3 weeks ago
Gridviz is a Javascript library for visualizing gridded (raster) data. They created a Christmas themed map showing land use with holiday emojis.
Also if you visit the Gridmas page you can watch the snow fall over Europe. You can pan and zoom around, however if you try to go...
Map of the Week
US Oil and Gas Pipelines
Felt is a nice web mapping app that anyone can use to get a map and add your own data, mark it up...
a year ago
Felt is a nice web mapping app that anyone can use to get a map and add your own data, mark it up and share with others. One of their most interesting example maps is this map of oil and gas pipelines.
Oil pipelines are in blue and natural gas is orange. I would have reversed...
Map of the Week
The Lost Subways of North America
A new book by Jake Berman, The Lost Subways of North America explores the history of unbuilt and...
a year ago
A new book by Jake Berman, The Lost Subways of North America explores the history of unbuilt and discontinued transit in 23 cities in the United States and Canada. Mexico is not included because "Mexico's urban history is so unlike that of the United States and Canada."
Cities...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Southern Heat, Part 4 (Bug Loop)
Sure, the southern United States has more than its fair share of pesky bugs that most people...
a year ago
Sure, the southern United States has more than its fair share of pesky bugs that most people actively avoid. Mosquitos, horseflies, and palmetto bugs probably top that list. So it probably sounds strange that we devoted an entire day to insects, particularly to the appreciation...
Musings on Maps
Fifteen Two-Hundred Pound Bombs
Dropping at least fifteen two hundred pound bombs equipped with precision guidance systems–bunker...
3 months ago
Dropping at least fifteen two hundred pound bombs equipped with precision guidance systems–bunker busters that could penetrate deep underground and flatten built structures–that killed Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and much of his high command follows a terrifying explosion of...
Transit Maps
Historical Map: Sydney Railway Layout, c. 1940
Unearthed on Twitter (It’ll always be Twitter to me, no matter what Elon says) by @crossing_lights,...
a year ago
Unearthed on Twitter (It’ll always be Twitter to me, no matter what Elon says) by @crossing_lights, this is quite an extraordinary find. Long-time readers may have seen the 1939 version of this diagram (and the digital recreation that I made). Here’s the thing: the general...
Maps Mania
Global Climate Change Impacts
10 months ago
Maps Mania
The Unknown Pleasures of Population Density
a year ago
Map of the Week
Guided Across Switzerland by Hand Drawn Maps
The New York Times has a piece where the author ditched his phone and walked across Switzerland...
5 months ago
The New York Times has a piece where the author ditched his phone and walked across Switzerland guided only by hand drawn maps from the people he met along the way. I love a nice hand drawn map and this article provides lots of good examples.
These maps illustrate the things...
Map of the Week
The 2022 Hurricane Season
While I was busy obsessing over my 30 Day Map Challenge in November, CNN put out this map in a...
over a year ago
While I was busy obsessing over my 30 Day Map Challenge in November, CNN put out this map in a summary of the 2022 hurricane season.
It's interesting to see all the hurricane tracks on one map. While the season started out slowly, it finished with several memorable storms...
somethingaboutmaps
The Unnecessary Peril of the Fuller Projection
Throughout my career, I’ve heard a variety of rumors and conflicting opinions about whether or not...
over a year ago
Throughout my career, I’ve heard a variety of rumors and conflicting opinions about whether or not you can get in trouble for using the Fuller projection. Let's find out if it's true.
Adventures In...
Tolkien Style Maps in a GIS: part 1, Forests
“Most of the trees are just trees, of course; but many are half awake.” In this 4-part series we’ll...
11 months ago
“Most of the trees are just trees, of course; but many are half awake.” In this 4-part series we’ll walk through the reckoning of a Lord of the Rings style fantasy map, right in ArcGIS Pro. We map-makers get to breathe honest to goodness geographic life into the seminal aesthetic...
Maps Mania
Europeans Profiting from American Deaths
6 months ago
Maps Mania
Unlocking America’s Visual Time Machine
a year ago
Adventures In...
Tolkien Style Maps in a GIS: part 3, Water
“The world has changed. I see it in the water.” In this 4-part series we’ll walk through the...
11 months ago
“The world has changed. I see it in the water.” In this 4-part series we’ll walk through the reckoning of a Lord of the Rings style fantasy map, right in ArcGIS Pro. We map-makers get to breathe honest to goodness geographic life into the seminal aesthetic found in the LOTR...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Silver Line Extension
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority opened its eleven mile Silver Line extension on...
over a year ago
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority opened its eleven mile Silver Line extension on November 15, 2022. I couldn’t be there on opening day but I still wanted to check out the new stations while they were relatively “new.” So I checked in with my frequent travel...
Maps Mania
Land doesn't vote, people do!
4 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Asia-Pacific, Part 7 (South Korea: The DMZ)
The Korean War never actually ended. Rather, it froze in place at an armistice line on July 27,...
a year ago
The Korean War never actually ended. Rather, it froze in place at an armistice line on July 27, 1953. So there’s a multi-decade ceasefire, a truce, but no agreed-upon resolution of hostilities. A four kilometre wide Demilitarized Zone acts as a buffer between North and South...
Map of the Week
The Coaquannock Map
I will begin Philadelphia month at an early stage, just before European settlement.
via...
a year ago
I will begin Philadelphia month at an early stage, just before European settlement.
via Historical Society of Pennsylvania
This 1934 map showing the homeland of the Lenape people when the first white settlers arrived in Philadelphia, was funded by the Works Progress...
Map of the Week
Middle Earth Transit Map
Hard to believe that those dumb hobbits risked their lives walking all the way to Mordor when they...
8 months ago
Hard to believe that those dumb hobbits risked their lives walking all the way to Mordor when they could have just taken the Orange Line.
Oh wait, the tunnel under the mountain is closed
so they would have had to switch to the Red Line at Bree and then made another...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Kaiserslautern
I hope to stay longer than 72 hours the next time I visit Germany. I don’t recommend such a short...
8 months ago
I hope to stay longer than 72 hours the next time I visit Germany. I don’t recommend such a short visit. However I went there for work as I do occasionally, and I had no choice. So that’s what I did. I landed in Frankfurt on Monday, drove down to Kaiserslautern, stayed through...
Maps Mania
China vs America - World Influence Map
4 months ago
James Cheshire
PhD Opportunity: An Atlas of Health and Social Inequalities
Excited to announce that we have funding for a +3 studentship in the UCL Department of Geography for...
over a year ago
Excited to announce that we have funding for a +3 studentship in the UCL Department of Geography for the project “An Atlas of Health and Social Inequalities”. The research will be carried out in association with the Health Foundation and will comprise the creation of a range of...
Map of the Week
Your Climate in 60 Years
This fall's supercharged hurricanes are a reminder that despite the dishonest rhetoric coming from...
3 months ago
This fall's supercharged hurricanes are a reminder that despite the dishonest rhetoric coming from top Republican politicians, global warming is definitely not a hoax. The University of Maryland has a new mapping tool to show you where on earth your climate will most resemble in...
Maps Mania
Mapping a Global Coral Bleaching Event
9 months ago
Map of the Week
The Possible Collapse of Oceanic Circulation
This map, via Down to Earth shows the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).
The AMOC...
9 months ago
This map, via Down to Earth shows the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).
The AMOC is like a "heat conveyor belt". It moderates temperatures on the planet by moving warmer air to northern latitudes while returning cooler air to the tropics. It has already slowed...
Adventures In...
Blend Mode Helper
Blend modes can be a complex thing to wrap one’s head around. Experimentation is the best teacher,...
a year ago
Blend modes can be a complex thing to wrap one’s head around. Experimentation is the best teacher, but even then there are lots of variabilities involved, depending on the layer you use to experiment. The Blend Mode Helper Map (and its constituent Blend Mode Helper layer) reduces...
Maps Mania
The 46 States of America & Each State Flower
7 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Detour to Ashtabula
About two and a half years ago I planned to capture three unvisited counties at the far northeastern...
7 months ago
About two and a half years ago I planned to capture three unvisited counties at the far northeastern corner of Ohio. Unfortunately it didn’t happen due to a snowstorm that dumped about a foot of snow on the target area. So instead I changed my plans and focused on Michigan’s...
Maps Mania
Four Free Alternatives to GeoGuessr
9 months ago
Map of the Week
America's First Subway Map
The first subway in the United States was built in Boston. The tunnel ran along Tremont Street, a...
a year ago
The first subway in the United States was built in Boston. The tunnel ran along Tremont Street, a chaotic mess of streetcars, horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians. The tunnel was built to route the streetcars underground to ease congestion. Here is a plan of the original subway...
Maps Mania
The Worldwide Breaking News Map
7 months ago
Maps Mania
Geotripper - the Traveling Salesman Game
a month ago
Musings on Maps
A Global Landscape of Growing Glacial Loss
With frozen glaciers disappearing into the oceans at an unprecedented rate, the rise of an...
a year ago
With frozen glaciers disappearing into the oceans at an unprecedented rate, the rise of an ecotourism of glacier viewing is hardly unexpected. But the rise of new heights of glacial melt that are feared for much of the arctic this … Continue reading →
Map of the Week
MapFailbruary Challenge Days 1-14
Those of you who follow me on my Twitter and Mastodon feeds know that I spent February doing yet...
a year ago
Those of you who follow me on my Twitter and Mastodon feeds know that I spent February doing yet another map challenge. Like November’s 30 Day Map Challenge, only this one encourages you to fail. The #mapfail hashtag is popular and somewhat contentious among cartographers....
Transit Maps
Submission – BART “Heat Map” by Harsha Devulapalli
Submitted by Harsha, who says: I’ve been a big fan of your blog for over a decade. Recently, I had...
5 months ago
Submitted by Harsha, who says: I’ve been a big fan of your blog for over a decade. Recently, I had the opportunity to replicate the BART transit map for a data visualization in a story I wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle. I would love to hear your thoughts on it! Transit Maps...
Maps Mania
Mapping the Political Landscape
3 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Asia-Pacific, Part 4 (Japan: Exploring Tokyo)
Sure, the tourists sites were great, but Twelve Mile Circle readers know I like to follow tangents...
a year ago
Sure, the tourists sites were great, but Twelve Mile Circle readers know I like to follow tangents even when I do that. I’m always on the hunt for the unusual, or at least the unusual to me. I’m sure everything seemed perfectly normal to anyone from Japan. So I made sure I...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
From Skyline to Valley
A family friend had a big round-number birthday recently and we drove down to Central Virginia for...
over a year ago
A family friend had a big round-number birthday recently and we drove down to Central Virginia for the celebration. Meanwhile, I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to add to my various travel lists so I wondered how might I combine the two. I thought about county counting...
Map of the Week
Huge Lego Model of the Lake District
Artist Jon Tordoff has made a 100 square foot, 200,000 piece (so far) Lego model of England's Lake...
over a year ago
Artist Jon Tordoff has made a 100 square foot, 200,000 piece (so far) Lego model of England's Lake District.
via Getty Images
The model began as a pandemic recreation map of Buttermere, his favorite spot.
"Now I've come over the Honister Pass, up Borrowdale and I've got...
Adventures In...
Storybook Cartography
ArcGIS Pro is a serious tool for serious GIS analysis. Are you ready for some seriously charming...
a year ago
ArcGIS Pro is a serious tool for serious GIS analysis. Are you ready for some seriously charming illustration style cartography? Ok! . . Children’s maps are a valuable thing. They are often the first impressions the world of geography has on every single one of us. What an...
Maps Mania
Reconstructing the Ancient Trade Routes
a year ago
Map of the Week
Ice Flows in Greenland
The Atlas of the Invisible was published a few years ago. The maps show trends in the earth’s...
a month ago
The Atlas of the Invisible was published a few years ago. The maps show trends in the earth’s climate and demographics that are largely hidden to the naked eye. I never got a chance to review it but was recently struck by this visualization.
A detailed description of the...
Maps Mania
The Sad State of Local News 2023
11 months ago
James Cheshire
COVID inquiry heard Boris Johnson ‘struggled’ with graphs – if you do too, here are some tips
James Cheshire, UCL and Rob Davidson, UCL In March 2020, the UK government’s chief scientific...
a year ago
James Cheshire, UCL and Rob Davidson, UCL In March 2020, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, presented to the nation a graph showing “the shape of an epidemic”. The red line depicting the number of predicted COVID cases rose to a steep peak before...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Indiana I-69 Time Zone Crossing
If you’re driving along Indiana’s portion of Interstate 69, say from Evansville to Bloomington, you...
3 weeks ago
If you’re driving along Indiana’s portion of Interstate 69, say from Evansville to Bloomington, you are going to cross a Time Zone boundary. It happens between Mile Markers 37.5 and 39.0, about forty minutes north of Evansville at normal highway speeds. But please note that the...
Adventures In...
How to Make Features Illuminate an Underlying Basemap
Sure, we can make features look like they are glowing. But how can we make them look like they are...
a year ago
Sure, we can make features look like they are glowing. But how can we make them look like they are casting light on the basemap below? Here’s a silly little trick using crafty symbology and blend modes in ArcGIS Pro. In this case we’ll use glorious stork migration paths,...
Maps Mania
Google Updates Satellite Imagery of Ukraine
a year ago
Map of the Week
Mid 1900's Urban Planning in Philadelphia
Here are a few urban planning items to close out Philadelphia month. Hope you have enjoyed the...
a year ago
Here are a few urban planning items to close out Philadelphia month. Hope you have enjoyed the journey.
Cathedral Road:
There are many discontinued highways and roads to nowhere throughout the United States, including Woodhaven Road, a dead end expressway in Northeast...
Map of the Week
The Southern Underground Railroad
This map, via Smithsonian, shows the main passageways that the enslaved took southwards to...
a year ago
This map, via Smithsonian, shows the main passageways that the enslaved took southwards to freedom.
The southern Underground Railroad was less traveled and much less well documented, but Mexico after gaining independence passed strong anti-slavery laws. Even before that the...
Transit Maps
Historical Map: San Joaquin County, California, c. 1910
Here’s a beautiful old illustrative map – this is from a prospectus advertising the benefits of...
a year ago
Here’s a beautiful old illustrative map – this is from a prospectus advertising the benefits of settling in San Joaquin County, California in 1910. Part of depicting this as a desirable place to live and do business is showing the multitude of modern railway lines – including...
Transit Maps
Historical Map: Union Pacific Annual Report Map, 1980
Here’s an absolutely cracking diagrammatic map that appeared as a fold-out sheet in Union Pacific...
5 months ago
Here’s an absolutely cracking diagrammatic map that appeared as a fold-out sheet in Union Pacific annual reports from about 1978 through 1981, maybe slightly longer. I first saw this as a photograph of a partial part of the map, but it didn’t take me too long to find the whole...
Transit Maps
Submission – New Official Map: UTA Rail and BRT Map, 2023
Submitted by Browne, who says: UTA, the primary transit provider for northern Utah, has officially...
a year ago
Submitted by Browne, who says: UTA, the primary transit provider for northern Utah, has officially launched its newest BRT service, and with it, a new transit map. The OGX is a new BRT route from Ogden Central Station, downtown, Weber State University, and down to McKay-Dee...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Inland Northwest, Day 7 (Abrupt End)
What should have been a ten day trip ended unexpectedly on the seventh day. The previous evening our...
2 months ago
What should have been a ten day trip ended unexpectedly on the seventh day. The previous evening our kid who was watching the house called to tell us about our soaking wet basement carpet. Our ancient boiler was leaking. So we immediately contacted our insurance provider, a water...
Adventures In...
Puget Sound 3D block diagram
Here’s a map of the Puget Sound area that I made a couple years ago for presentations to folks in...
a year ago
Here’s a map of the Puget Sound area that I made a couple years ago for presentations to folks in the US northwest. Recently I wanted to work some more at labeling in a 3D environment and found this to be a handy target. Additionally, I thought it would be fun to make more use …
Maps Mania
The Global Problem of Forever Chemicals
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 2 (Jurassic Coast)
We were firmly based in Swanage after the long day of travel and ready to explore our new...
6 months ago
We were firmly based in Swanage after the long day of travel and ready to explore our new surroundings. However, we were still pretty tired so we stuck close to home and made it an easy day. Swanage sits near the eastern end of the 96 mile (154 km) Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World...
Transit Maps
Historical Map: Diagram of Passenger Stations in the Sydney Metropolitan Area, 1928
There’s a lot to like about this simple little track diagram of Sydney’s rail system from 1928....
5 months ago
There’s a lot to like about this simple little track diagram of Sydney’s rail system from 1928. There’s a lot of different angles – both with route lines and station labels – but it still manages to hang together as a coherent whole. A big part of that is the dead straight...
Adventures In...
How to make a “peeled edge” area of interest effect
Sure, everyone loves a good raised area-of-interest effect. But what about a peeled edge area of...
5 months ago
Sure, everyone loves a good raised area-of-interest effect. But what about a peeled edge area of interest? It’s a snazzy trick and maybe just the sort of flair that your map needs! And it’s simpler than maybe you’d guess. To give your area of interest a peeled edge effect, you...
Map of the Week
A Blue Map of China
This past weekend I finally got to the Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library to see...
4 months ago
This past weekend I finally got to the Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library to see their exhibit, Heaven and Earth: The Blue Maps of China on one of its final days. Yes, I should have visited months ago when I could have encouraged readers to see it but though they...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Asia-Pacific, Part 5 (Japan: Farther Afield)
Monday arrived and I had to get back to work. A weekend in Tokyo was nice although I had other plans...
a year ago
Monday arrived and I had to get back to work. A weekend in Tokyo was nice although I had other plans and that involved getting out of the city. After all, the whole premise for this trip was visiting U.S. military facilities USS Blue Ridge The 7th Fleet of the United States Navy...
Transit Maps
Official Map: Newark International Airport Regional Rail Connections, 2023
Every so often, I come across a transit map that is just so unfit for purpose that all I can do is...
a year ago
Every so often, I come across a transit map that is just so unfit for purpose that all I can do is scratch my head and ponder, “Just why?” This is one of those maps. Produced by (or on behalf of) Newark International Airport, it purports to show regional rail services that you...
Map of the Week
The Liverpool Overhead Railway
I found this cool strip map of the Liverpool Overhead Railway, the first elevated electric railway...
a year ago
I found this cool strip map of the Liverpool Overhead Railway, the first elevated electric railway in the world. It opened in 1893 and was dismantled in 1957 because the company could not afford to make the necessary repairs. This map is dated "c1938".
via Flickr
According...
Adventures In...
Make this AI-inspired topo landscape please
Many weeks ago I saw an achingly beautiful bit of AI-generated terrain art shared by Esri’s glorious...
a year ago
Many weeks ago I saw an achingly beautiful bit of AI-generated terrain art shared by Esri’s glorious instagram account. Initially I was a bit intimidated by the robots; it was so charming and tactile and wondrous and dreamlike and sinuous. But also…inspiring. I wondered if I...
Map of the Week
The Atlas of Design, Volume 7
Note to readers on this platform: I also publish this blog on Substack. You may find that the...
3 months ago
Note to readers on this platform: I also publish this blog on Substack. You may find that the pictures below show up a little better than here.
The Atlas of Design is a biannual production of the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS). It highlights some of the...
Maps Mania
What is Your Neighborhood Scare Score?
3 months ago
Maps Mania
Every Basketball Court on Google Maps
4 months ago
Adventures In...
How to find (and style!) detailed water polygons for your map
I often struggle to find high resolution polygons for things that tend to change, like water, urban,...
a year ago
I often struggle to find high resolution polygons for things that tend to change, like water, urban, ice, whatever. Here’s how you can wrangle some up-to-date, detailed, water polygons for your small or medium scale maps (plus five different ways you can style them up)… Here’s...
Transit Maps
New Official Map: Los Angeles Metro with Regional Connector, 2023
Just dropped on the LA Metro Twitter account, here’s a first look at their new system map once the...
a year ago
Just dropped on the LA Metro Twitter account, here’s a first look at their new system map once the Regional Connector opens at noon, this Friday June 16. First off, one prediction I made in my previous review [October 2022] has been proven true: this map marks the end of the old...
somethingaboutmaps
Independent Study: A Reflection
Earlier this summer, I decided to embark on an educational experiment: I wanted to create a version...
a year ago
Earlier this summer, I decided to embark on an educational experiment: I wanted to create a version of the independent study groups that I used to co-teach when I was at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, in which students would work on a mapping project, and meet weekly for...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Osage Orange
It seemed strange to fixate on a single tree for more than a decade but that’s exactly what...
a month ago
It seemed strange to fixate on a single tree for more than a decade but that’s exactly what happened. I notice it a few weeks every autumn and then quickly forget about it for another year. That all started sometime around 2013 when I began to ride a stretch of the Capital...
Maps Mania
The World's Most Controversial Interactive Map
11 months ago
Adventures In...
How to add mist to terrain in ArcGIS Online
There are lots of reasons to cloak your terrain in a fluffy ephemeral layer of mist. It gives an...
a year ago
There are lots of reasons to cloak your terrain in a fluffy ephemeral layer of mist. It gives an overall sense of the slope and elevation trends in your view, it showcases meandering river valleys in a charming realism, hilltops peak through with clarity and drama…and it just...
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