Handmap

Wisconsin was one of the first states to shake up my assumptions about how beautiful the rest of the country could be (specifically the mid-west). The late summer days are pastoral and comfortable, the people are friendly, and the cheese - well I didn't get to try any but if you care to share I'll dare to share a square. 

First city map that also well describes the city it represents.  New Orleans incubates the perfect balance between "not giving a fuck" and "this is all that matters". City park lines up perfectly with the middle finger and the shape of the palm follows the river.  The thumb lines up with I-10 and labels the French Quarter and Bywater.  

While a part of me hopes that people start using these maps, if this one makes it back to me I'll be a happy clam (or maybe crawfish). 

Fun Fact: If you cannot have fun in New Orleans, you are unfortunately genetically unable to have fun anywhere in the world.

Visiting? Bourbon's a trap ... if you visit, stop by if you must but make sure to check out the Bywater, Mid-City, City Park, Algier's Point, Uptown, Magazine, and some spots in the French quarter.

Have a bike? Join the Social Ride on Thursdays for a wonderful time.  

By far the best highways I've ever driven in the United States.  All that oil money is at least going to something.  Also, you have some of the largest and fastest growing cities in the country (Austin and Houston, your suburbs are showing - or you can go check out the actual census data).

Another good thing: interior boarder patrol stations have started to be closed. These multi-million dollar facilities are installed to serve as a round-two security for the billions of dollars of drugs and weapons that are funneled through the US-Mexican border every year to satisfy the US drug appetite.

The hyperloop would travel from your elbow (San Francisco) to your wrist (Los Angeles) - 380 miles if it actually gets built. 

If you cut Alaska is almost 2.5 times larger than Texas, but the state has less road mileage than Connecticut and only slightly higher than New Hampshire. Alaska also has a population smaller than South Dakota.  Also despite having ~31,000 Brown bears - or 95% of the brown population in the United States -  the state has relatively few bear attacks.  When looking into the bear population statistics, I felt like I had stumbled upon a case of citogensis. Fortunately, I at least found this study from the 1980s that did a population density analysis of brown bears in Alaska ... time to extrapolate data!

I highly recommend you check out the road data if only to realize how cool the Google Public Data Explorer is. Prepare to spend your afternoon comparing every public data set with moving and color-coded graphs. 

This handmap is dedicated to my Anchorage friends who hosted me with incredible grace and hospitality.  Thank you for everything.