US Poverty on Google Maps

The Guardian newspaper has published a Google Map of U.S. Poverty in 2011 based on data from the U.S. census.

The map, created with the help of Google Fusion Tables, shows the percentage of individuals living in poverty in each state. The map also shows the percentage of the population in each state living without health insurance and the median income in each state.

Restricted Zones in London on Google Maps

The Manifesto Club has released a Google Map called Banned in London which shows the location of 435 special zones in the UK capital where certain, otherwise legal activities, have been banned.

The map allows the user to select to view 5 different categories of banned activities on the map; protesting, drinking alcohol, leafleating, dogs and gatherings of groups. If you click on a highlighted area on the map you can learn more about the reasons behind the ban and other details such as when the ban started and when the ban might be lifted.

The Full Frontal Google Map

Full Frontal 2012 is a one day JavaScript conference being held in Brighton, UK on the 9th November.

The Full Frontal map of conference, workshop and hotel locations has used the Styled Maps feature of the Google Maps API to create a unique monochrome style. This unique style is complemented by custom map markers which also reflect the pixellated design of the conference website.

The conference locations are also listed down both sides of the map. The markers and listed venues interact with each over, so if you mouse-over a marker its listing is highlighted in the sidebar or if you mouse-over a listing the map centres on the location on the map.

Saving Advertising History with Google Maps

Reclame Erfgoed is an awesome Belgium website that is using Google Maps and Street View to locate and document vintage hand painted wall advertisements. The hand painted advertisement has now obviously been replaced by mass produced billboard advertising so it is a great idea to try and document (and hopefully) save the few remaining examples of hand painted wall advertising.

The submitted Street View images include forward and back arrows so it is possible to quickly navigate to the next or previous submission. The site also includes a map and a location search box so you can  find submissions by location.

CO2 Emissions on Google Maps

Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) is a database of information about the carbon emissions of over 60,000 power plants and 20,000 power companies worldwide.

The CARMA website uses the Google Maps API to map the highest CO2 emitting power plants, the highest emitting power companies and the highest emitting power sectors worldwide. The maps all use the same simple color-coded map marker system to indicate the levels of CO2 emissions, with red indicating that a plant, power company or sector produces a lot of CO2 and green indicating low levels of CO2 emissions.

Kickstarter Projects on Google Maps

ThingsWeStart is a Google Map of Kickstarter projects.

The map allows users to browse Kickstarter projects by location which gives potential donors a different way to search for projects in which they might invest. Now donors can use the ThingsWeStart map to find a cause that is in their neighborhood.

It is also possible to search the map not only by location but to filter the map markers by category.

Tracking Non-Native Plants with Google Maps

The Environment Agency and the University of Bristol have released a new smartphone application and website to help track invasive non-native plants in the UK.

The Plant Tracker app allows anyone to take and submit geo-located photographs of non-native plants that they find. Each submitted report is then added to that plant species' own Google Map. The Google Maps show the distribution of reports submitted for each plant.

Data collected by the PlantTracker app is also added to the national recording scheme for vascular plants run by the Botanical Society of the British Isles.

Planning a Road Trip with Google Maps

Furkot is a handy road trip planner, that can not only help you plan your route but can also suggest points of interest along the way and hotels for your overnight stops and destination.

The hotel suggestions on Furkot are very useful. Users just need to click anywhere on their route to indicate a stop and a handy circle tool appears that can be dragged to define the search area for your overnight hotel. Suggested hotels are then displayed on the map and listed in the sidebar.

As well as helping the user find an hotel Furkot can also display trails and hikes from EveryTrail, Wikipedia entries of POI's along the route, outdoor places listed on Foursquare, deals from Yipit and electric car charging stations.

The Google Maps of the Week

Designer Peter Smart travelled 2517 miles to try and use design to Solve 50 Problems in 50 Days.

Peter used Google Maps to document his journey and the work he completed along the way. As you might expect from a designer the created map looks fantastic. The map uses the Google Maps Styled Maps feature and custom map markers to create a truly unique look and feel.

The map can be filtered to just show markers relating to 'problems', 'interviews' and 'narratives'. These markers can then be sub-categorised by the type of design problem Peter was trying to solve at each location. 


Google Maps and, in particular, Google Maps Street View has an incredible appeal to the marketing managers in the automotive industry. I don't think there is a major car manufacturer left who hasn't run some sort of Google Maps based marketing campaign.

This week BMW launched BMW Vagviarna, a competition to find a BMW car hidden somewhere in Sweden, using Google Maps satellite imagery. Hyundai also got in on the act by releasing a Google Maps Street View application that allows you to virtually test drive an Elantra on the streets of your choice.

The Driveway Decision Maker allows you to enter any address and watch a Hyundi car drive the streets of your neighborhood and park outside your house using Google Maps Street View. Once you've viewed your animated test drive you can even enter a sweepstake to win a real Hyundi Elantra.

Panoramas of Greece on Google Maps

HellasPanorama is a collection of 360 degree panoramic photos of restaurants, cafes, beaches and other locations in Greece.

It is possible to navigate to the different panoramas by selecting a marker on the overlaid Google Map. The panoramas are also organised by category in a sidebar menu.

As you interact with each panorama the current point of view is also displayed on the map, the point of view indicator on the map rotating as you rotate the image.

Also See

Thessaloniki 360 a photographic guide to the Greek city of Thessaloniki