Travel through time with the Boston Atlas: A 2-minute look at Boston from 1775 to today

In 2000, after we sold Wildfire, I wondered what to work on next. I had already been very involved with the City of Boston, and had made a movie (see below) for the 2000 celebration in the Boston Common. I decided to combine my interest in maps with a desire to understand the huge changes going on in Boston with the Big Dig and other projects.

So I started a non-profit called www.futureboston.org, and created a new kind of mapping tool called www.mapjunction.com. The City of Boston still uses MapJunction for a tool they call The Boston Atlas. Working together, the City, the Boston Public Library, and a few others contributed a huge array of maps to the Boston Atlas. Even though the tool is over ten years old now, it's amazing what you can do with it. I love giving "maps over time" tours of various areas, and the short video (my first using www.screenflow.com) will give you an idea of what you can do with the tool.

Try it for yourself. Just click here to start the Boston Atlas already loaded with the maps you see in the video. Note that it will open with each map group opened, while in the video I had already clicked on the "-" button to make each map show as one line. Also, I put some |||| bars at the beginning to get a sense of timing of the map. Old maps are to the left. Newer have more bars and are to the right.

This is the Boston After 2000 video that was shown on the Jumbotron before the Millennium fireworks. It's fun to watch. Back then, the Red Sox were for sale, and a new stadium had been completely designed. We got the 3D CAD files, and showed where the stadium would have been. Wow, it's scary to look at this now. I remember that the previous owners had said that the original Fenway could never be made to work for a modern ball club. That it couldn't be renovated, and had to be torn down and replaced. Even scarier for me, is that I believed them.

The video also shows the Zakim Bridge, which at that time was just few (still short) concrete foundations. Few people had any idea of what the bridge would eventually look like, and we took the same 3D cad approach and modeled the bridge and showed it in place in the video. Very cool.

The movie ends with a look at what is now the Greenway. I think that the Big Dig is beginning to show the amazing transformations of Boston that were promised. 
3 responses
Bill, Thanks for the reminder of your Maps Over Time. We have barely begun to explore the power of mapping and visualizations towards urban planning and especially citizen engagement. And knowing the history-to-date is a crucial first step! --Joost
Thanks Joost. I'm going to do more of these. They are fun to produce, and the content is relevant forever!
Why is the Boston Atlas so dreadfully difficult to use?
Tried to print ALL the layers that I had set up, only it keeps telling me to "right click on a map GROUP" in order to print to a PDF, but there are no map GROUPS to click on, only LAYERS. GIS DOESN'T work this way. GIS prints ALL the layers you have turned on.
Now, if I have to put all maps, ect, in ONE layer in order for ALL of it to print, then what's the purpose of the option for so many different layers.
Often times the screen goes completely black. Often times the historical maps will not load.
Also, a little explanation on how to use it would be nice.