The Streets of San Francisco and L.A.

This week the most linked to map on social media has to have been the History of San Francisco Place Names. And it is easy to see why; the map has a simple and intuitive interface, nicely designed OpenStreetMap map tiles and a ton of very interesting data.

The History of San Francisco Place Names is a fascinating insight into the history of the city's landmarks and streets. Click on any of the streets or landmarks marked in blue and you can find out who it was named after or where its name came from.


If we move down the west coast a little we come to Los Angeles, the city of literary angels. The Los Angeles Times has used Leaflet to create a literary map of the city. The Literary L.A. Guide provides an interesting insight into locations in the city that have featured in great works of literature.

From Raymond Chandler and Charles Bukowski to Bret Easton Ellis and James Ellroy the map features some of America's greatest writers who have called L.A. their home and / or set their work amongst the city's streets.

The map highlights the city's literary landmarks, featuring passages from a number of novels, and also shows the locations of some of the city's contemporary book stores.