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SPUR Lunchtime Forum: Mapping the Bay Region

"How we understand and visualize our region is shaped by the very maps and images we use to represent our environment. Familiar maps of urbanized areas often fail to distinguish between cities and suburbs or detail the connections between them. The ubiquitous BART map, for example, does little to show how to connect with other transit systems. GreenInfo Network’s Larry Orman, former executive director of Greenbelt Alliance, along with Mike Reilly, manager at Stanford University Spatial Analysis Center, and Brian Stokle of NelsonNygaard, examine how the various approaches to mapping the Bay Area influence our definition of the “region" itself."

“How we understand and visualize our region is shaped by the very maps and images we use to represent our environment. Familiar maps of urbanized areas often fail to distinguish between cities and suburbs or detail the connections between them. The ubiquitous BART map, for example, does little to show how to connect with other transit systems. GreenInfo Network’s Larry Orman, former executive director of Greenbelt Alliance, along with Mike Reilly, manager at Stanford University Spatial Analysis Center, and Brian Stokle of NelsonNygaard, examine how the various approaches to mapping the Bay Area influence our definition of the “region” itself.”

Photo of Michael Rhodes
Michael Rhodes is a former reporter for Streetsblog San Francisco. He lives in the Mission Dolores neighborhood and is a graduate of UC Berkeley's Department of City and Regional Planning.

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