Fantasy Map: Chicago El Overlaid On New York City
A bit of whimsy for you today from Reddit, brought to my attention by Twitter user @GordonWerner. The El has been flipped both horizontally and vertically, then rotated to fit Manhattan’s street grid, but the scaling is totally accurate. It looks like The Loop is placed in the area directly below Central Park. A few things from this: it’s actually kind of scary how well this fits; and it’s astounding just how dense the New York subway’s lines really are (shown here in white).
(Source: Reddit)
For a hodgepodge of transit map reviews and imaginative new designs, check out Cameron Booth’s web site. I think that my favorite component of the site is — by far — his mapping of the U.S. Interstate highway system in the style of a subway map (shown above). Though it’s a schematic design that would be difficult to use while driving, it certainly makes it easier to remember which Interstate you would need to take in order to get from City A to City B. A friend of mine has the whole system memorized and can tell you exactly which routes you could take to get between any two cities in the U.S. I’ve wanted to be able to do this for a long time, and Mr. Booth’s map may make it quite a bit easier.
Mr. Booth also has a tumblr called transitmaps.tumblr.com. Check it out. I think it’s the first tumblr I’ve decided to follow.
For an interesting map of Chicago’s L from 1897, check out this site:
http://www.bigmapblog.com/2011/elevated-trains-in-chicago/
It’s really interesting to see where the L used to run, in part because it’s so similar to where it runs today. The part that I find most intriguing is the Paulina connector and the spur that ran west to the Humboldt Park area. Wouldn’t it be great if a cross-town L was still around today? Instead of going into the Loop and back out, we could have a more direct route between Pilsen and Wicker Park. At least there’s still the Damen bus…
