Maps Mania
The Money Mountains of Los Angeles
3 months ago
Maps Mania
Welcome To Your New Gardening Zone
7 months ago
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...
a month 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...
GeoCurrents
Fernand Braudel: The Greatest Geographer of the Twentieth Century?
[Today’s post is the text of an oral presentation that I recently gave at a Stanford-Berkeley...
a week ago
[Today’s post is the text of an oral presentation that I recently gave at a Stanford-Berkeley Symposium on the legacy of the French historian Fernand Braudel.] In 1981, I entered the graduate program in geography at U.C. Berkeley and found myself in a war zone. The traditionalist...
Transit Maps
Historical Map: Trams of Brisbane, Queensland, 1957
A simple but nicely drawn map of tram services in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in 1957. The lack...
a year ago
A simple but nicely drawn map of tram services in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in 1957. The lack of any sort of key for the routes means that users need to have some familiarity with the city to decipher where trams might go. The pamphlet that the map is part of includes...
GeoCurrents
Wikipedia’s Visually Striking but Inaccurate Cartograms of U.S. Presidential Elections
When preparing the illustrations for my current lecture course on the historical geography of U.S....
a month ago
When preparing the illustrations for my current lecture course on the historical geography of U.S. presidential elections, I was thrilled to discover that Wikipedia’s articles on most of these elections are illustrated with visually striking cartograms of the results, mapped at...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 8 (Onward to London)
Finally we reached the end of our time in Dorset. I enjoyed that quiet corner of England and I felt...
4 months ago
Finally we reached the end of our time in Dorset. I enjoyed that quiet corner of England and I felt we covered it pretty thoroughly. Now we needed to drive back to London where a whole new set of adventures awaited. Stonehenge However, we couldn’t go straight back because of...
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...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Cumberland Parkway Time Zone Crossing
Time Zone crossings in the United States generally happen at state borders which of course are...
12 months ago
Time Zone crossings in the United States generally happen at state borders which of course are easily recognizable landmarks. So you simply cross the state line and you change your watch. No big deal. Unfortunately Time Zones cut right through the middle of some states, like...
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...
Map of the Week
Make the Desert Bloom
Tomas Pueyo has an idea to help combat global warming and rising seas. His idea is to create new...
a year ago
Tomas Pueyo has an idea to help combat global warming and rising seas. His idea is to create new seas by flooding several below sea level basins, such as the Dead Sea or Death Valley with seawater to create or enlarge inland seas. Here is an image from his Substack pages showing...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Inland Northwest, Day 5 (University Loop)
This was another early morning start although not as early as some of the others. We wouldn’t need...
2 months ago
This was another early morning start although not as early as some of the others. We wouldn’t need to drive very far anymore now that we’d settled into our temporary home in Lewiston, Idaho for four nights in a row. The Washington Race Sunrise came quickly and we soon found...
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...
Maps Mania
Mapping Moving Borders in Real-Time
3 months ago
Maps Mania
Tracking Russia's 'Dark' Shadow Ships
3 months ago
Map of the Week
Heat Islands of Philadelphia
Program Note: This month is Philadelphia month! Don't get too excited. In the past I've done San...
a year ago
Program Note: This month is Philadelphia month! Don't get too excited. In the past I've done San Francisco Week and New Jersey Week. Much of that content was posted to Twitter. These things happen when I suddenly find a trove
of information about a specific place. In this case...
Maps Mania
How big are London, New York & Tokyo?
a year ago
Map of the Week
Countries with Women Leaders
Here is a map from the Washington Post, via Reddit showing countries past & present with women as...
a month ago
Here is a map from the Washington Post, via Reddit showing countries past & present with women as heads of state. Click it (and then again) for higher resolution.
We in the United States like to think we are the most advanced country in the world but by this metric we are well...
Maps Mania
The Riskiest Places to Live in America
5 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Southern Heat, Part 1 (Road Trip)
It feels like I just got back from Costa Rica and then I’m right back on the road again. True...
a year ago
It feels like I just got back from Costa Rica and then I’m right back on the road again. True enough, we made it home for only a couple of weeks before we began an extended drive through the southeastern United States. However, those were the only dates that worked with...
Adventures In...
Vignettes for the Win!
A vignette is a darkening (or lightening) of the edges of a composition, to subtly frame it and draw...
a month ago
A vignette is a darkening (or lightening) of the edges of a composition, to subtly frame it and draw the eye in to the middle. It’s an old photographer’s darkroom trick. Lucky for us, I’ve spent many hours in the darkroom and have grown to appreciate the charm and effectiveness...
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...
Maps Mania
FlightRadar's New GPS Jamming Map
9 months ago
Maps Mania
Mapping Every US Election Since 1840
2 months ago
Transit Maps
Historical Map: Argentine Railways, 1907
Now this is a map! This is just superb cartography: detailed, clear and lovely to look at. I love...
a year ago
Now this is a map! This is just superb cartography: detailed, clear and lovely to look at. I love the way that brown is used for mountainous features, and a light blue is used for water features – it allows this information to be visible, but it doesn’t compete with the overlaid...
Maps Mania
I'm Sending You Back to the Future!
4 weeks ago
Adventures In...
Throwing Shade In Wild Color
I once heard someone say that standard hillshade (one-direction light source) ignores half of the...
a year ago
I once heard someone say that standard hillshade (one-direction light source) ignores half of the terrain. While this is an exaggeration, it makes a good point. Earth has an atmosphere and light diffuses, bounces, and wraps around a terrain in a manner that a single light...
Maps Mania
The World's First OpenStreetMap
10 months ago
Transit Maps
Submission – Fantasy Map: Tram Network for Bristol, England by Elliott Sargent
Submitted by Elliott, who says: I’ve been a fan of your work for a while now, and thought I’d submit...
a year ago
Submitted by Elliott, who says: I’ve been a fan of your work for a while now, and thought I’d submit my own work for judgement. I’ve had a crack at designing a map for an as-yet non-existent tram and bus network for Bristol, UK, a city in dire need of reliable, integrated public...
Map of the Week
Summer Light Reading 2024
Here is another installment of what is becoming an annual summer tradition. Just like the light...
4 months ago
Here is another installment of what is becoming an annual summer tradition. Just like the light beach reading, here is some light map reading. Not much to comment about, just some maps and related items I like.
First of all since the Olympics are in Paris, a nice papercut map you...
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...
4 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
Below the Ice
This past fall scientists uncovered a vast landscape that has been "frozen in time" under the...
11 months 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...
Adventures In...
How to make this map of a melting glacier
I’ve been to Columbia Glacier, just west of Valdez, Alaska, three times. The first was as a...
a year ago
I’ve been to Columbia Glacier, just west of Valdez, Alaska, three times. The first was as a youngster in 1984, the second in 1987, and the final time in 2000. Each time, the ride by boat to the terminal edge of the ice where it calves into Prince William Sound, took a bit longer....
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...
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...
6 days 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...
Adventures In...
How to Reattach Land that Spills Over the International Dateline
If you’ve ever made a world map before, you may have noticed that bit of Siberia that spills over...
a year ago
If you’ve ever made a world map before, you may have noticed that bit of Siberia that spills over the International Dateline only to magically appear on the left edge of the world. When it comes to projecting our not-2D world onto a 2D surface, we have to draw the line somewhere....
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
Adding URL Parameters to an Interactive Map
11 months ago
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...
Map of the Week
New Sweden
New Sweden was the first European colony in the Delaware Valley, established in 1638. It was a short...
a year ago
New Sweden was the first European colony in the Delaware Valley, established in 1638. It was a short lived colony meant to be Sweden's answer to the New Netherland colony (now New York).
via Wikipedia
"Nya Sverige" or "Niew Sweden" was originally proposed by Peter Minuit,...
Maps Mania
Every Basketball Court on Google Maps
3 months ago
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...
9 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...
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 Newest Maps of Mars - in 3D
6 months 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...
5 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...
Maps Mania
Geolocating Visual Media in Conflict Zones
a month ago
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...
Maps Mania
Where to Watch April's Solar Eclipse
10 months ago
Adventures In...
Layout sandwich
Here’s how to make an ArcGIS Pro layout where certain elements of the map step over the neatline and...
a year ago
Here’s how to make an ArcGIS Pro layout where certain elements of the map step over the neatline and the graticule is relegated only to the oceans. Because that looks cool! Mapping has a long and handsome history of neatlines that are interrupted by bits of land spilling over it,...
Map of the Week
Thirty Day Map Challenge 2023-Days 17-23
Another week of 30 Day Map Challenge Maps…
Day 17 - Flow
Probably the intention here was to have...
a year ago
Another week of 30 Day Map Challenge Maps…
Day 17 - Flow
Probably the intention here was to have people make maps of the flow of surface water or air or traffic but I decided to make a flow chart instead.
A vaguely interesting look at the trip home I had to make many times as...
Adventures In...
Close Encounters of the Cartographic Kind
I was watching the Steven Spielberg 1977 classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, with the...
7 months ago
I was watching the Steven Spielberg 1977 classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, with the family last night and nerded out when I saw a character that claimed to be a cartographer. I always do. It was the cartographer who recognized that the signals the aliens sent were...
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...
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...
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...
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...
7 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...
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...
Maps Mania
America's Changing Plant Hardiness Zones
a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Dayton, Ohio Part 5 (Venturing West)
My second day of county counting focused west of Dayton, once again targeting five new counties....
8 months ago
My second day of county counting focused west of Dayton, once again targeting five new counties. This time I planned to capture Butler and Darke counties in Ohio; and Union, Fayette, and Randolph counties in Indiana. Hopefully this excursion would also take about three hours like...
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...
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...
4 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
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,...
3 weeks 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...
Maps Mania
Your Hour-By-Hour Guide to Election Night
a month ago
Map of the Week
Planning for the Next Eclipse
Maybe you saw Monday's eclipse and were impressed enough to want to travel to see another one or...
8 months ago
Maybe you saw Monday's eclipse and were impressed enough to want to travel to see another one or maybe you missed it because life got in the way or you couldn't justify the time and expense of travel. Or, maybe you're like me and foolishly traveled to Rochester, New York where...
Transit Maps
New Official Map: San Francisco Muni Metro Map with Central Subway
This map has actually been out for a while, but today – celebrating the full opening of the Central...
a year ago
This map has actually been out for a while, but today – celebrating the full opening of the Central Subway – seemed like the appropriate day to post about it. Design-wise, this is very much an evolution of previous efforts (see my review of the post-COVID resumption of service...
Maps Mania
Using AI to Detect Oil Spills
10 months ago
Maps Mania
Mapping Gaza's Destroyed Buildings
10 months ago
Maps Mania
The 100 Most Segregated School Districts in America
9 months ago
Adventures In...
Vintage Retro Old-School 1890s Basemap for ArcGIS Pro
Here’s how to stack up some tile layers and blend them up to concoct a basemap that wouldn’t look...
4 months ago
Here’s how to stack up some tile layers and blend them up to concoct a basemap that wouldn’t look out of place in 1890. Except that you wouldn’t have anywhere to plug in your monitor so it would be hard to show it to people back then. Ok bring a small generator. Wait, all these …
Adventures In...
Stories
Here are some StoryMap stories that I’ve written over the years… Piracy & Time Travel How Deep is...
a year ago
Here are some StoryMap stories that I’ve written over the years… Piracy & Time Travel How Deep is Challenger Deep? Julie’s Improbable Flight How to Write a Story, starring sharks and hurricanes Gap, Pass, Notch, & Saddle College Football Air Mile Index Rivers of Plastic Smoking,...
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...
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...
Thoughts on the Cartographer’s Role in an AI Future
A few moments ago I was asked by a student about the “development of cartography over the next 10...
10 months ago
A few moments ago I was asked by a student about the “development of cartography over the next 10 years.” Here’s my somewhat off-the-cuff response, though my thoughts have been steeping in this for the past year or so. In the next 10 years artificial intelligence, and probably...
Map of the Week
Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
In response to last week's Black Atlantic post, a reader directed me to the Atlas of the...
10 months ago
In response to last week's Black Atlantic post, a reader directed me to the Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The Atlas has a companion site, Echoes: the SlaveVoyages Blog where you can browse through an impressive array of maps produced for the Atlas. Here are the major...
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...
10 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...
Map of the Week
The Inequalities of Climate Change
There was much talk, if not much action, at the recent COP27 conference about wealthier countries...
a year ago
There was much talk, if not much action, at the recent COP27 conference about wealthier countries compensating poorer ones for the impacts of climate change. The poorer countries see the largest impacts, while contributing the least to the problem. This map illustrates the...
Maps Mania
Travel Times in the Roman & British Empires
3 weeks 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...
Maps Mania
Battles of World War II & American Wars
5 months 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...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 6 (Bournemouth)
We didn’t go far but it seemed like a world apart, traveling from an isolated corner of Dorset into...
5 months ago
We didn’t go far but it seemed like a world apart, traveling from an isolated corner of Dorset into its most populous area. That led us to Bournemouth (map), a coastal town along the English Channel. There are so many ancient places in the United Kingdom but this is not one of...
Maps Mania
The Scariest Place Names in the World
a month ago
Musings on Maps
Perilous Waters
The voyage to the Titanic promoted cartographic fantasies of discovery and exploration, but only in...
a year ago
The voyage to the Titanic promoted cartographic fantasies of discovery and exploration, but only in international waters. The maps of legal oversight Stockton Rush avoided demand to be recognized as a creation of globalism, as much as a luxury diversion of the super-rich. ...
Map of the Week
Water Taxis of Paris
Here is a nice map of the water taxi system in Paris, circa 1900.
Boats pulled by horses or with...
a year ago
Here is a nice map of the water taxi system in Paris, circa 1900.
Boats pulled by horses or with oars or sails were eventually replaced by steam powered boats in the 1800's. They were a large part of the Paris transportation network before the railroads took over in the early...
Maps Mania
245 Russian Military Targets at Risk
3 months ago
Map of the Week
Icelandic Glacier Web Portal
This web portal is a collaborative effort by Icelandic institutes, agencies, companies, societies...
a year ago
This web portal is a collaborative effort by Icelandic institutes, agencies, companies, societies and private persons to display an overview of glaciological research and variations of Icelandic glaciers. The portal provides access to measurements, observations and photographs...
Maps Mania
Reconstructing the Ancient Trade Routes
11 months ago
Transit Maps
Historical Map: Lines of the Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway, 1927
Here’s a fascinating map of streetcar lines in Omaha, Nebraska in 1927, beautifully hand drawn on...
a year ago
Here’s a fascinating map of streetcar lines in Omaha, Nebraska in 1927, beautifully hand drawn on top of a pre-printed single colour map of the area produced by the City’s engineering department. Not only does the map show the extent of all the streetcar lines (with 64.6 miles of...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Osage Orange
It seemed strange to fixate on a single tree for more than a decade but that’s exactly what...
3 weeks 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...
Map of the Week
30 Day Map Challenge-Admiring the Work of Others
For the past several years November for me has meant working on the 30 Day Map Challenge. This year...
a month ago
For the past several years November for me has meant working on the 30 Day Map Challenge. This year I’ve been too busy to participate - also I really needed a break from it. Not participating means I’ve been able to admire the work of other cartographers. Here are some highlights...
Map of the Week
Radical Atlas of Ferguson, USA
Coming out this summer from Belt Publishing (publishers of the "50 Maps" book series on Cleveland,...
7 months ago
Coming out this summer from Belt Publishing (publishers of the "50 Maps" book series on Cleveland, Detroit and Buffalo) is the Radical Atlas of Ferguson, USA.
"Ferguson, Missouri, became the epicenter of America’s racial tensions
after the 2014 murder of Michael Brown and the...
GeoCurrents
Changing Correlations Between Income and Voting in U.S. Presidential Elections, 2016-2020
In 2009, Andrew Gelman published a fascinating and informative book called Red State Blue State Rich...
2 months ago
In 2009, Andrew Gelman published a fascinating and informative book called Red State Blue State Rich State Poor State: Why Americans Vote the Way They Do. Gelman’s main thesis was nicely summarized by Leo Carey in The New Yorker: “Andrew Gelman persuasively argues that the poor...
James Cheshire
More than arrows
UPDATE: If you would like a detailed reflection on this, I have co-authored an article with Alex...
over a year ago
UPDATE: If you would like a detailed reflection on this, I have co-authored an article with Alex Kent entitled Getting to the Point? Rethinking Arrows on Maps. You can read it here. This week I took to Twitter to offer a critique on way we might map (at the time of writing) the...
Adventures In...
Find and download vintage USGS topo maps
The new Historical Topo Map Explorer is out of beta and ready for you to dive into a collection of...
6 months ago
The new Historical Topo Map Explorer is out of beta and ready for you to dive into a collection of over 180,000 beautiful vintage USGS topo maps! Use this updated Living Atlas app to geographically browse, download, export, and even animate, these cartographic objects of joy....
Maps Mania
What is Your Neighborhood Scare Score?
2 months ago
Transit Maps
Submission – Official Map: GoBus Ohio, 2024
Submitted by Leo, who says: The state-supported GoBus system in Ohio has a somewhat strange route...
4 months ago
Submitted by Leo, who says: The state-supported GoBus system in Ohio has a somewhat strange route scheme (e.g. no direct route from Columbus to Cleveland, or Columbus to Cincinnati via Dayton) but their map, despite being overall fairly poor, makes some interesting stylistic...
Maps Mania
The Rise & Fall of National Rail Networks
a year ago
Maps Mania
How Well Do You Know New York's Subway?
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Chain Restaurants of America
10 months ago
Maps Mania
The Presidential Medal of Cartography
4 months ago
Maps Mania
Virtual Indian Independence Day
4 months ago
Maps Mania
Have You Earned Your Air Pollution Stripes?
4 months ago
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
Kickstarter 3: The Return
For the past several years, I’ve enjoyed the process of cyanotype printing, and have released a...
a month 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...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Atlanta BeltLine – Eastside Trail
I arrived in Atlanta, Georgia for business. On the final day I wrapped-up and had a little time to...
a year ago
I arrived in Atlanta, Georgia for business. On the final day I wrapped-up and had a little time to visit a family member who lives in the city. That became a good excuse to head over to the Grant Park neighborhood on Atlanta’s eastside. We spent most of our late afternoon walking...
Maps Mania
How to Make Your Own Map Jigsaw Puzzle
4 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Dayton, Ohio Part 3 (Museums)
Sure, I visited the various Wright Brothers museums, historical sites, and memorials but they...
8 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...
James Cheshire
Anxiety and Mapping the Climate Crisis
Many of the maps I have created in recent years address the climate crisis and I’ve been asked a...
over a year ago
Many of the maps I have created in recent years address the climate crisis and I’ve been asked a number of times about if I feel powerless in the face of the data I’m showing. I reflect on this here with Kit Rackley. Our chat also in part inspired this article in The...
Transit Maps
Submission – Unofficial Map: Improved Cercanías Madrid Map by Jace
Submitted by Jace, who says: A while ago I saw your review of the Cercanías Madrid [our 2022 review...
3 months ago
Submitted by Jace, who says: A while ago I saw your review of the Cercanías Madrid [our 2022 review is here – Cam], and, as a regular user of the system, I too find the map quite bad: Uneven distances between lines, mismatched fonts in the route bullets, and overall lack of...
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...
Map of the Week
The Spread of Slavery in the United States
In September, 1861 the U.S. Coast Survey published this large map showing the enslaved population by...
a year ago
In September, 1861 the U.S. Coast Survey published this large map showing the enslaved population by county. It was "sold for the benefit of the sick and wounded soldiers of the U.S. Army."
The image above is from an article in Smithsonian. Here is a detailed view showing part...
Maps Mania
London, Paris & Berlin Metro Memory Games
a year ago
Maps Mania
The Best Graphics Team in the World
4 months ago
Maps Mania
The World's Most Controversial Interactive Map
10 months ago
somethingaboutmaps
Another Atlas of Minor Projects
A few years ago, I compiled a PDF of various small odds-and-ends mapping projects that I’d done....
10 months ago
A few years ago, I compiled a PDF of various small odds-and-ends mapping projects that I’d done. Now, I’ve done it again. Please enjoy Another Atlas of Minor Projects, which houses a few dozen cartographic items that needed a home. These are all small, mostly-quick projects that...
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 week 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
Gaza is 42 Million Tonnes of Rubble
4 months ago
Map of the Week
Map Failbruary Challenge Days 15-28
Here is the second half of the #MapFailbruaryChallenge. For the first half and explanations...
a year ago
Here is the second half of the #MapFailbruaryChallenge. For the first half and explanations see here. Here are the categories, again with minimal commentary.
Day 15 - You do not need to know geography to be a cartographer
Day 16 - Not safe for work
Day 17 - Not enough or...
Map of the Week
Thirty Day Map Challenge 2023-Days 24-30
The final installment of this year’s 30 Day Map Challenge.
Day 24 - Black and White
I had no...
a year ago
The final installment of this year’s 30 Day Map Challenge.
Day 24 - Black and White
I had no thoughts ahead of time on this one. I wanted to do something with raster data and the easy, quick thing (this often requires taking the easy and quick route) was to grab the Natural...
Map of the Week
The Salt Front
The salt front is the point where a river becomes too salty to be safe for drinking water. The front...
3 weeks ago
The salt front is the point where a river becomes too salty to be safe for drinking water. The front moves upstream from the river’s mouth as less freshwater flows downstream to dilute it. I’d never heard of a salt front until I read about it in a recent article in...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Inland Northwest, Day 2 (Walla Walla to Pendleton)
We awoke in Walla Walla at the beginning of our first full day. We couldn’t check-in at our...
2 months ago
We awoke in Walla Walla at the beginning of our first full day. We couldn’t check-in at our accommodations in Pendleton, Oregon until mid-afternoon and the drive would only take about an hour. So we needed to find something we could do locally and we got another chance to explore...
Map of the Week
Mauna Loa Lava Maps
Sure, there are cool livestreams of the Mauna Loa volcano you can watch, but even better, you can...
over a year ago
Sure, there are cool livestreams of the Mauna Loa volcano you can watch, but even better, you can see live maps of the lava flow.
Here is yesterday's status map from the U.S. Geological Survey
The dark red in these maps shows the new lava flow from the last 24 hours. It is...
Maps Mania
The World's Bioregions & Ecosystems Mapped
a year 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...
a month 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...
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...
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...
Maps Mania
30 Days of Crashes in New York City
5 months ago
Maps Mania
Reconstructing a Plane Crash
11 months ago
Musings on Maps
Floating Sargasso Sea
Mapped from the Canaries to the West Indies, against a blank background, the Sargassum Belt seems...
a year ago
Mapped from the Canaries to the West Indies, against a blank background, the Sargassum Belt seems removed from the levels of phosphorous of our coastal oceans leaving the high density of its thirteen million tons on a blank screen as the latest whacky disturbance of the...
Musings on Maps
“We Like Fighting Games”
As he waited rather glumly for “the Feds” to arrive at his home, as his stepfather predicted, Airman...
a year ago
As he waited rather glumly for “the Feds” to arrive at his home, as his stepfather predicted, Airman First Class Jack Douglas Teixiera may have pondered why he had posted classified maps of heated battle fronts in the Ukraine War … Continue reading →
Maps Mania
Using the Overpass API with Leaflet
10 months ago
Maps Mania
Which Airports are also Filetypes?
2 months ago
Map of the Week
Emancipation National Historic Trail
It took over two years for the Emancipation Proclamation to reach Galveston, Texas. Specifically...
6 months ago
It took over two years for the Emancipation Proclamation to reach Galveston, Texas. Specifically June 19, 1965 hence the Juneteenth holiday. Galveston was the largest slave market west of New Orleans. The newly emancipated fled Galveston to Freedmen's Town and other parts of...
Maps Mania
Alternatives to Google Maps Street View
a year ago
Maps Mania
Europeans Profiting from American Deaths
5 months ago
Maps Mania
Where Mountains Rise From Oceans
6 months ago
Maps Mania
The River Basins & Watersheds of the World
a year ago
Maps Mania
The EJAtlas: A Map for Environmental Justice
3 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Costa Rica, Part 8 (Completing the Circuit)
Too soon the Costa Rica adventure approached its end and it was time to wrap things up with a final...
a year ago
Too soon the Costa Rica adventure approached its end and it was time to wrap things up with a final few activities. The route involved the usual complexities, driving down the mountain from Monteverde and heading towards the airport outside of San José. We also took a little...
Adventures In...
North Arrow Necessity
Can a map still be considered a map if it doesn’t have a north arrow? Yes. A north arrow is an...
4 months ago
Can a map still be considered a map if it doesn’t have a north arrow? Yes. A north arrow is an optional map accompaniment and you should think critically about your map to determine for yourself if it needs a north arrow or not. For what it’s worth, often a map should not have a...
Maps Mania
The Unknown Pleasures of Population Density
a year 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...
8 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...
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
Russia's Secret Nuclear Targets in China
4 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Dayton, Ohio Part 4 (Venturing North)
The ultimate destination was Dayton, Ohio and it took about seven and a half hours to get there....
8 months ago
The ultimate destination was Dayton, Ohio and it took about seven and a half hours to get there. However we didn’t just sit in Dayton for an entire week. If I had to drive all that way you better believe I would do some County Counting along the way too. At this point I’ve...
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...
4 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...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Silver Line Extension
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority opened its eleven mile Silver Line extension on...
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...
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...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Graduated
It seemed like just yesterday that Twelve Mile Circle chronicled the kid who designed an imaginary...
7 months ago
It seemed like just yesterday that Twelve Mile Circle chronicled the kid who designed an imaginary town and counted various forms of transportation. Now my elementary aged student is all grown up, a newly-minted university graduate. Those interceding years passed much more...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Dayton, Ohio Part 2 (Take a Walk)
Dayton is decently sized place with about 130,000 residents in the city proper and about 800,000 in...
8 months ago
Dayton is decently sized place with about 130,000 residents in the city proper and about 800,000 in the larger metropolitan area. So that makes it large enough for some attractions and urban amenities, but nobody would mistake it for a city that never sleeps. I figured I might...
Transit Maps
What I’m Up To and the Future of the Blog
Hi, everyone – it’s been a while! Quite a few people have written in lately wondering why I haven’t...
5 months ago
Hi, everyone – it’s been a while! Quite a few people have written in lately wondering why I haven’t updated the blog in a while, so I thought I should address that. Firstly, for those that were concerned something was wrong, I’d like to reassure you that I’m a-okay and everything...
somethingaboutmaps
Leopard Map Disassembly
Friends, it’s been a long while since I last wrote up a walkthrough of one of my mapping projects....
a year ago
Friends, it’s been a long while since I last wrote up a walkthrough of one of my mapping projects. So, today, let’s break down a piece that I made earlier this year for Scientific American magazine. This is actually the first of three pieces that I’ve made for Scientific American...
Maps Mania
When is the Coldest Day of the Year?
11 months ago
Map of the Week
Forest Fires All Over North America
This has been a remarkably heavy year for forest fires and it's still very early in the season. The...
a year ago
This has been a remarkably heavy year for forest fires and it's still very early in the season. The last few summers the West Coast has experienced many days of terrible air quality. This year the East Coast is experiencing it. Last week cities like New York, Philadelphia and...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 10 (More Typical London)
Unlike the previous day, we focused our final full London day on places more regularly associated...
4 months ago
Unlike the previous day, we focused our final full London day on places more regularly associated with typical tourists. Sometimes we do that. Occasionally I displayed my normal geo-oddity proclivities but mostly it was about cramming as much as possible into the hours before...
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!
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