Map of Cleveland Neighborhoods
October 28, 2010 11:04 AM   Subscribe

Map of Cleveland Neighborhoods
Looking for a map of Cleveland and its neighborhoods [some neighborhoods are still missing], ready to print for a 3x4 wall ? Here it is ! Similar to this map [Large PDF] from New York City’s Planning Commission..

A couple months back, I wanted to hang a map of Cleveland [with its neighborhoods demarcated] on one of my bedroom's walls and couldn’t find one that would suit my needs with demarcated neighborhoods, a selection of colors that I liked, in a larger size that would be suitable for printing and displaying; something similar to this map [Large PDF] from New York City’s Planning Commission.

More information about the map [font selection, data sources] can be found at this page on my blog.

It's the first time I made a map and I am looking forward to any tips or constructive criticisms.
posted by fizzix (5 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

It's nice!

Some thoughts:

- I don't understand what the colors mean; a legend would also help
- similarly, you could include a scale
- shading the water blue would help show the land/water area

For choosing colors, I recommend http://colorbrewer2.org/
What program did you use to make it?
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 4:49 PM on November 1, 2010


oops, I see that you state that you used colorbrewer on your blog!

too hasty.....
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 4:52 PM on November 1, 2010


Thank you very much for the feedback !

To render the image [from Openstreetmap coordinates to a SVG image], I used osmarender.

Using a rules file in osmarender, I configured the map to have the roads, the municipal boundaries [a red color, and they aren't thick enough, in my opinion], freeways, and bodies of water.

I used the GIMP edit the SVG to add the neighborhood names, boundaries, and different color shades.

- I don't understand what the colors mean; a legend would also help
I could see how the different colors could be confusing if you're not familiar with Cleveland. The different colors are trying to convey that the area is a different neighborhood.
posted by fizzix at 12:52 PM on November 2, 2010


An alternative method, might be try using the QGIS program (www.qgis.org). This is an open-source GIS that has a plugin that can link directly with OpenStreetMap (I'm not sure if you are familiar with GIS, or Geographic Information Systems). Things like, scales and legends are features you can include automatically in a map.
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 7:38 AM on November 3, 2010


As a fellow Clevelander I gotta say this is pretty cool. I'd love to see it expanded.
To the east: including Cleveland Heights, Shaker, University Heights, Beachwood; south: down to Independence, and west to Parma and Lakewood.

An overlay of a satellite image might look cooler? Not necessary, just an idea.

Even if you don't expand it, I think the areas in between should be shaded with something. Those are neighborhoods even if they aren't as clearly demarcated as the ones you've labeled so far.

I know this is more of a proof of concept at the moment, and you probably realize it, but I'd try and clean up the text so it doesn't overlap with the borders. I'd even suggest removing the borders, since they aren't necessary in my mind.

Can't wait to see how this ends up!
posted by Political Funny Man at 7:06 AM on November 9, 2010 [1 favorite]


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