Maps are severely important as they are used and relied on everyday and everywhere. Maps
are used to get to destinations and to also locate destinations. Whether we are using Google
Maps, a Zoo Map, or a Museum Map, they are all helpful, nonetheless. Maps allow us to guide,
navigate, and become familiar with places. From home addresses, stores, restaurants, parks,
beaches and much more. Without them we are in a way, blind to the world around us, more
susceptible to getting lost and going the wrong direction, and more susceptible to many other
unwanted interferences. However, not everything about maps is beneficial. As individuals and
as a society, we have grown undoubtedly reliant on apps. This reliance has permitted a sort of
divide between the digital and media world and the real world. Gregory Scruggs, author of
Reliance on Google Maps Street View Could Create an Urban Digital Divide says, “In post after
post on YouTube, local blogs, and community media document the precarious nature of life in
wooden shanties alongside toxic creek, which is prone to flooding and where noxious gases can
cause vomiting. But you wouldn’t know any of that if you took a Google Maps Street View tour of
Avellaneda.” Maps only show the surface. Maps lack to tell the full story and specifics of
locations and establishments. New School professor Margarita Gutman says, “You will never
know what is really happening in the bad parts of the city.” Maps in a way, shield you from the
negatives of a location. They show what you want to see, but not what you need to see. You
could be going to the most unsafe place in the world, and you wouldn’t know just by looking at a
map. You are on your own. “For years, Arroyo Sarandí, a stream that snakes through the
working class suburb of Avellaneda in Buenos Aires, has fallen victim to industrial use. Pollution
and trash have caused serious flooding and health issues for the people living in villas misérias,
or slums, along the river banks”, says the article SGPIA Research Finds ‘Digital Divide’ in
Google Street View of Environmental Issues, Slums. Maps only show so much; and that is not
enough. Sure, if you just want to get somewhere Google Maps is essential and efficient, but if
you want data, information, and specifics, Google Maps misses the mark.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1MN9D_YQJxZMiTjuY1ecNJMtz7U7xGEs9&usp=sharing
The map I have constructed is based on data online which states which Bronx neighborhoods
are the most unsafe. Whether they are unsafe because of drug violence, gang violence,
domestic violence, or are known for prostitution, drug sales, or murders, and rapes. All eleven of
the neighborhoods are often deemed unsafe and recommended to stay far away from.
Ironically, most of these neighborhoods are normally very busy and popular. For example Hunts
Point, Crotona, Pelham Parkway, and Soundview. With shopping malls, parks, and many
transportation options, these places are extremely well known. With that being said, it is
essential that people living and traveling to and from these specific places in the Bronx are well
aware of the negatives and demographics of these said neighborhoods. This map gives
essential insight to Bronx natives and visitors. A key aid to maintain their safety, awareness, and
consciousness.
1 comments
Great prototype! Maybe you could combine this with an App to show places to avoid in the city if you are trying to get somewhere…. Or with a restaurant finder to find places to eat in the safest locations only.