Vanmaps: Vancouver Never Looked Like This Before
On a tip from a fellow Vancouverite and map-junkie, I took a gander at Vanmaps [link], a municipal map site run by the City of Vancouver, and freely available for use by the general public.
Think of it like Google Maps on steroids.
“Sure, I’ve seen satellite photo maps before — that’s like soooooo 2004,” you may be saying, but what if you actually want to trade out the 2006 satellite photo for a 2004 photo? No problem. Or even all the way back to 1994 to see what’s changed in 13 years? No problem there, either.
What about a topo map? Not impressed? Okay, what about the choice of 1, 2, and 10 metre resolutions?
Still not impressed? Add fire hydrants. Property boundaries. Shoreline changes over time. Traffic lights. Recorded graffiti incidents (that one is really fun for downtown — Granville Street practically glows in the dark). Even infrared satellite photography.
What are you still doing around here?!? Go play!
Yes! Now I can revise my SimCity 3000 version of Vancouver exactly according to scale. Thanks, Matt!
PS: I wasn’t being sarcastic. I really am that geeky.
I actually didn’t doubt you. I was thinking, “Hm, that actually might be kind of fun.”
Perhaps we could build the Evergreen Line and see if all of Port Moody and Coquitlam really turns into an instant slum, as the naysayers claim it will.
I’m sure it’s nice. All I get, with either Safari or Firefox, is “your platform isn’t supported.”
VanMap does support a variety of browsers including Safari and Firefox. See http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/vanmap/setup/index.htm for First Time User information and http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/vanmap/setup/compatibility.htm for browser compatibility information. Lots of people are using VanMap successfully with those browsers.
Thanks.
Jonathan
Netscape Navigator? Did I time warp back to the 90’s?
I still don’t see a firefox plugin.