URBANE

Toronto. The Big T. A place just beginning to understand its own identity.

Toronto is always comparing itself to others. This time, why not compare Toronto from within? The Urbane team worked with Toronto locals to try and decipher the city’s many neighborhoods and translate them into easy-to-understand terms. It’s a city that deserves to appreciate itself more, and has a diversity like no other.

Boston, Mass. So many students, so many outsiders, and even more so many Green Lines. How can the average visitor ever figure out your windy, twisty streets of navigational chaos? At Urbane, we have settled the dust on the social maze that is Boston. Just remember to not experience what Charlie experienced when he forgot to pay his exit fare - he never returned, and his fate still unlearned! Let’s go Red Sox.

Washington, DC. Your complex fabric of diagonal streets, circles and lobbyists make for a city that’s difficult to easily approach. In the wake of the shutdown, many think that DC is just about politics. We think it was about time to internalize the heated discussion and reveal that DC isn’t just about those folks on C-SPAN Capitol Hill.

It’s your fixie bike and pandas, too.

Vancouver. Everyone’s partying like it’s still 2010, yet outsiders still think that all there is to the city is totem poles, green-glass condos, and naked hippies dancing on a steamy, foggy beach (wait, maybe this is partially true). In this map, we take an in-depth look at the complex fabric of neighborhoods that make up one of the most livable cities in North America.

As Stephanie Georgopulos points out, “A combination of egocentrism and overzealous real estate agents has led to an overabundance of Manhattan neighborhoods.”

We were inspired by her article and made a map to display some of her findings. Manhattan, instantly understood.

Portland, Oregon. What a city. What a unique city and a truly special city. It's the largest city in Oregon and a city of profound cultural influence on the rest of the country and even the world. Is there another city that is really its own adjective? Brooklyn is a borough, not a city. Besides, Brooklyn really has become "Portlandia," not the other way around. As the 28th most populated city in the country, Portland isn't just a sleepy, coffee-fueled hub of the Pacific Northwest. Portland is a force. Yet, residents don't mind if the rest of the world ignores them. They don't need the restaurant scene to get even more articles written about it. You have to wait long enough for Ox, Pok Pok, Apizza Scholls...the list goes on. 

We're living the London Dream—or as we were told about Islington, the leftie dream. What a town, what a capital, what a country. To outsiders, London is opulent and overwhelming from Big Ben to Tower Bridge to Buckingham Palace with several gaps to mind in between. Then again, it's a frustrating city to those (including the founders of Urbane) who have multiple times attempted to watch the Changing of the Guard and had the rain cancel it. Is it a daily thing? London is a chic city. It's a changing city. It's a diverse city. It's a truly special city that is unlike any other. And yet there is so much that is new or unknown. Shoreditch is now the hipster paradise after years of neglect. Harrod's is as vast as ever...but St. John and the Spitalfields Meat Market are the focus for eating and food shopping. O.k., the West End still is the place for a show. All the world remains a stage, especially in Southwark. And Notting Hill is still Hugh Grant territory. But where do goths and Gilgamesh co-exist? Does the city really now have more gastropubs than pubs? Whether arriving on Eurostar via the most beautiful railway station (anywhere?) or Heathrow Express, hop on the tube or a double decker bus or ride a bike with Mayor Johnson, and enjoy the wonders of London. It's calling louder than ever.

Austin - Keep It Weird and Hook 'em Horns! There are so many happenings in this town that truly is deep in the heart of Texas, whether it's music, art, technology, or just plain politics - your town has it all. Maybe one day Rick Perry will even sing a duet with Willie Nelson at The Carousel. We love the juxtapositions of this place - liberal urban beliefs surrounded by conservative state politicians (the old blue pea in a bowl of tomato soup analogy is bizarre but true), banks adjoining music clubs, and one of the few places we can think of where Longhorns proudly roam next to car dealerships (especially those plastic ones along Interstate 35!). 

MAPPING THE 305: MIAMI

Ah, Miami - picture-perfect beaches, sculpted bodies, and Latin American flair. We just can't get enough of your hot and humid days, but we just can't stand that expressway traffic near the airport! Visitors have so much to say about South Beach and its nearby collection of islands, but what about the communities around it? We wanted to give our shout out to the capitol of Pitbull and Gloria Estefan by presenting Miami neighborhoods in greater social detail. We can already feel ourselves sailing within the waters of Biscayne Bay!

Wait, remind me where is Manhattan? In just a New York minute, Brooklyn has emerged as the Borough of the Moment, while the Island of Manhattan seems as distant as Staten Island. Brooklyn has achieved that rare status of not just being a place but...it's also a verb. An adjective. A state of mind. A way of life. Do you have your own chicken coop in the backyard or spend $4 on each cup of coffee? Yep, that's Brooklyn. But Brooklyn of course is far more than just D-I-Y Land and as our map shows a colorful array of subway lines in every direction. The Nets & Islanders, L Train (ugh that word "hipsters," had to include it) and skip-stop trains, toxic floods & the Cyclone, pizza & borscht, brownstones & gentrification left and right, welcome to Brooklyn. Don't forget the flannel shirt.

URBANE MAPS + Alden Olmsted

If you haven’t seen the parchment version of the Urbane Alden Olmsted Map!

California artist Alden Olmsted, inspired by Urbane’s popular ‘socially descriptive’ maps, has created his own version of their San Francisco design featuring his unique hand-drawn style.

Prints, Canvas, T-Shirts, Mugs and Totes available

URBANE MAPS + Alden Olmsted

California artist Alden Olmsted, inspired by Urbane's popular 'socially descriptive' maps, has created his own version of their San Francisco design featuring his unique hand-drawn style, available in both full color and parchment varieties. 

Prints, Canvas, T-Shirts, Mugs and Totes available

Many people fail to realize that San Francisco only represents 800,000 citizens in a 7 million plus metropolitan area. We think San Francisco is suffering from a housing crisis because newcomers have no clue how awesome the rest of theBay Area is! We de-mystified the Bay Area's nomenclature mysteries for you to understand one of the most beautiful urban regions in the world.

Brotherly Labels, Brotherly Love

Philadelphia, your citizens get completely degraded by the hit TV show that has hit American televisions everywhere, and your pronunciations and accents drive the rest of the country crazy. But we know you have seen it all and can stand up to anything, including this latest map. By the way, you want that "one wiz wit?"

Viva Las Vegas indeed, Elvis. Thank you, thank you very much. For better and oftentimes for worse, there really is no city like Las Vegas. Now hold that thought for a moment. The "Las Vegas" 99.9% of the world imagines isn't actually even part of the city of Las Vegas. It's really part of the unincorporated town of Paradise, Nevada. The real "Las Vegas" from an official standpoint is the area surrounding the usual tourist and casino concentrated area. So when you're landing at McCarran International Airport, attending a class at UNLV, sipping a cocktail in the MGM Grand, playing poker at the Wynn, and watching the Bellagio evening fountains performance, you're not even inLas Vegas. That's it. No more gambling. We're going home and want a refund. Las Vegas, whatever is really considered Las Vegas, is the 31st most populated city in the country. Columbus, Jacksonville, and Indianapolis, among many others, have much higher populations. But their tourism revenue isn't exactly Vegas. For our first Las Vegas map, which also happens to be our first map project since landing in Las Vegas this month as part of the Downtown Project and Vegas Tech Fund's Progression Labs program, we decided to concentrate on the roughly 9.5 miles between Interstate 215 to the south just below the airport and Downtown Las Vegas (the REAL Downtown) to the north. No, no, no. For the last time, the Strip is NOT Downtown Las Vegas. City Hall is on South Main St. between Clark and Lewis. Besides our opportunity being actually in the region to conduct thorough research first-hand, our map also received extensive local input from Las Vegas residents on and off the Strip, some working at the heart of it all in casinos, while others work in Downtown and see the Strip a handful of times a year. Just by reading the map's analysis of Las Vegas, you get the quick flavor of how casino greatly differs in design, theme, and socioeconomic level. There's a big difference between the Bellagio and the Luxor, and it's not just Italy and Egypt. You get the new City Center with its sparkling venues like Aria, Vdara, and the Mandarin Oriental. Then across Las Vegas Boulevard is a McDonald's, a Walgreens, and a Hawaiian barbeque spot. When you're walking down the Strip, you'll meet a lot of interesting people. A LOT of interesting folks, all times of day. The majority will be your regular tourist in awe of all the other interesting folks they're seeing. I've only walked by one Elvis impersonator in my time here, so that might be more of a movies or tourism office image of the Strip. But yes, the casinos are casinos. The Eiffel Tower looks just like the real thing, though a bit smaller. You might be in the middle of the Nevada desert but the Mandalay Bay "beach" is awesome. The Panorama Towers look fit for millionaires but really are the home of well, look at Interstate 15 and Harmon on the map. On the Strip, you're walking from Venice to Rome to Paris to Egypt to New York to a three star family castle that is not fit for a king. And then there's the rest of Las Vegas. If you think the Strip is quite the character show, spend a little time at the Fremont Street Experience (and get a "heart attack" while you're at it). Industrial Road that runs along Interstate 15 really fits its name. You could also call it Gentleman's Club Drive. Hey, this is Sin City, they should do that. But this is also a city. It's a city in the desert with an enormous reliance on cars. That means pollution and water issues are exponentially amplified. Add the ever-present cigarette smoke and you'll be dreaming of a pure, tropical island (ah, the Mirage!). In future maps, we'll see the rest of the 'burbs like affluent Summerlin, comfortable Henderson, and even go hiking or boating or stand-up paddleboarding at the beautiful outdoor venues of Red Rocks, Lake Las Vegas, and Lake Mead. Wait, lakes? They're man made. Parks? On this map it looks like there are three green spaces. Look closer. They're all golf clubs. Nice try. This is casino land first and foremost. And then there is a city continuing to grow and striving to improve outside of them. There is excitement here for the future in Vegas that hopefully won't stay here. In the meantime, it's Las Vegas. It's the desert. It's a fantastic town and also a "parking lot wasteland." Indeed, Viva Urbane Las Vegas. 

At Urbane, we know that describing the social environment of your cities isn’t just limited to cities in Canada and the United States. We want to begin our mission of discovering the many ways that urbanites see their own cities throughout the world.

Our first international project begins in Mexico City (otherwise known by locals as DF) – one of the world’s biggest cities, but a city with a horrible reputation in the media. We want to show a different side of the city, however – a side of the city where lavish mansions challenge Hollywood, apartments rival those of Asia, and world-class museums host amazing Aztec artifacts that can never be found in Italy. We’re big fans of Mexico City, ourselves, and created a map that encompasses citizen input with a bit of research and typical Urbane love.