Month: January 2009

Mean center of United States population

The mean center of U.S. population is determined by the United States Census Bureau after tabulating the results of each census. The Bureau defines it to be:

…the point at which an imaginary, flat, weightless, and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly if weights of identical value were placed on it so that each weight represented the location of one person on the date of the census.

During the 20th century, the mean center of population has shifted 324 miles west and 101 miles south. The southerly movement was much stronger during the second half of the century; 79 miles of the 101 miles happened between 1950 and 2000.

Mean center of United States population

OpenStreetMap Time Lapse

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2598878&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
OSM 2008: A Year of Edits from ItoWorld on Vimeo.
Via Ben Fry come this video shoing a time-lapse of all the edits for the OpenStreetMap project for 2008.

OpenStreetMap is a wiki-style map of the world and this animation displays a white flash each time a way is entered or updated. Some edits are a result of a physical local survey by a contributor with a GPS unit and taking notes, other edits are done remotely using aerial photography or out-of-copyright maps, and some are bulk imports of official data.

Accessible Transit Massimo Vignelli NYC Subway Map Edition

AM_Vignelli_NYCTA_01

This is the third installment of my Accessible Transit Map series. Intended as a replacement map for those with disabilities, this map illustrates which station stops on the New York City Transit Authority’s system is accessible for those with strollers or with a disability.

This map is special: it is the updated system map by Massimo Vignelli, a design which is beautiful but which I have been a vocal critic of. For those who don’t know about Vignell’s 1972 map, read Michael Bierut’s history, Mr. Vignelli’s Map which is very well written.

As in previous maps, I have removed all stations which are not handicapped accessible. Maps represent corporeal objects, through convenient fictions; a representation which works for a majority of its users. But where are the maps for the disabled or those require additional accessibility? Wouldn’t the mother with newborn in stroller need a different map then those without the need to lug all the accoutrement’s of childhood? Equally, those in a wheelchair require a map different then one which the walking can use. I decided to rectify the situation by editing the maps of major metropolitan transportation systems, in order to create a map for those who are not represented on the official map.

Here are details of the map:

Midtown Detail

AM_Vignelli_NYCTA_02

Brooklyn Detail

AM_Vignelli_NYCTA_03

Coney Island Detail

AM_Vignelli_NYCTA_04

From the three details shown above the system map gradually becomes more beautiful as you strip information away; as more and more stations are removed, the system becomes more diagrammatic and pure. This is the issue I have with Vignelli’s original, and update map: the subway is not an abstract diagram, no matter that the designer wishes it to be. No matter that Vignelli has created a masterpiece of design, the system will never be forced into the visual language that London’s Underground uses so successfully. As so it will be: the historical traces of over one hundred years of service, created by three different companies, will continue to bleed through time into today’s maps.

Feel free to download the map in pdf format: Accessible Transit Massimo Vignelli NYC Subway Map Edition.

Other Accessible Transit Maps for your perusal:

Please see also:

Day After Change, Links