A map should be worth 1000 words and more than a simple PDF

Indeed a map is worth at least 1,000 words in my mind.. I wish the mainstream media would realize this. The only reason I bring this up is because today I'm browsing through the local paper (The Colloradoan) which serves the Fort Collins area. Within the paper I see a story titled "Windsor Map shows future trails". The article rambles on about a new map the Town has created, then meanders off into discussing future proposed crossings etc... so what about the map?? Unfortunately there was no picture of a map with the article, no link to a website where a map could be found etc... pretty strange! So I investigate for myself and hit the Windsor website where a link is found to trail map - there I find a lone PDF showing what appears to be trails along with the proposed trails. I can't help to think how much more useful the article in the paper would have been by simply posting the actual map or a link and forget about all the blabber. Hopefully by the time the trails are done the maps provided online by the Town may be more informative, perhaps at the minimum served up as Geo PDFs, heck, even a Google map that provides more information, perhaps some multi-media or ?? The town does have a GIS and a GIS Dept. so seeing some form of webmapping should be expected shouldn't it? A tip for you small towns, see also some of the tools offered up by Avenza Systems , TerraGo Technologies, or Alta4 to help bring your webmaps alive or at a minimum give them a pulse!

Windsor trail map PDF... yawn! Imagine how much more effective a map with imagery as a base layer would make this. Much more is expected of local government agencies in my mind, particularly given the fine, low cost tools that are available.

Taking in Rocky Mountain National Park & The Stanley Hotel

So, it was a beautiful fall day here in Northern Colorado... what to do??? No, not go to the CSU game, although that would have been cool! Instead, I loaded up the family and we headed on up to Rocky Mountain National Park (Estes Park) to catch some Elk Bugling and pay a visit to the Stanley Hotel (ya, the place where the Shining was filmed)... I was sick as crap but still, what a great day! FYI, if you're ever in the area be sure to take in Estes Park and if you're really into learning more about elk, visit the RMEF. For topos and GIS information on the area see Larimer County GIS.



Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Census Bureau to release Fort Collins, Loveland growth rates Thursday

This is a bit of a local item from yours truly, however, I'll be interested to see what kind of growth is going on here on the Front Range. Like most places, the housing market is flat, homes take about 6-9 months to sell, but there's freaking new construction going on everywhere... quite impressive really, although I have to wonder where all the people are coming from that are eating up all the nice new homes - this place is definitely open for business and its a great place to do "geo" business from! See the Coloradoan for more


Image of Water Valley Community in Windsor, CO about 2.5 miles East of Fort Collins, CO

Comms down for a bit and update from Windsor, CO tornado

Sorry about the lack of updates but my comcast has been down since yesterday and isn't expected to be back up for a bit due to the tornado that hit about 1.5 mi east of where I am. All is cool, although the beautiful little town of Windsor, Colorado looks a total mess! Luckily loss of life was minimal here but people are pretty shaken up. Everyone seems to have a story, mine is that my wife was in a salon on Main St in Widsor huddled in a bathroom while the tornado passed and destroyed buildings about one block from where she was... needless to say she was pretty shaken from the experience. The car looks like it was parked on a driving range as a result of the hail... a few picks are posted on my flickr. Anyway, more to come later and indeed we have a renewed respect for the power of mother nature. Once again communications were a story around here as people turned to their mobiles to try and communicate with others around them. Later, hopefully I'll be back up and running soon. Later... Thanks to all the emergency responders around here for doing a great job - this is an amazing community!

Rocky Mountain Geotechnology Cluster

I just returned from a meeting of the recently renamed "Rocky Mountain Geotechnology Cluster" where we heard this morning from Joe Berry on an interesting Geo-Business Application to conduct retail competition analysis and Economic Gardening. The newly formed group (with a new official name as of today) has been established to share information about Geospatial technology companies with other professionals in the area. The idea is to promote this area as a hub of "geo" where a wealth of expertise exists. Participants are encouraged to share their experiences, network with peers, and drive the growth of Geo expertise to NOCO. A website is in development, until then those interested are encouraged to check out the Rocky Mountain Innovative Initiative at http://www.rmi2.org/ also, feel free to contact me if you want more info - I'll be glad to point you in the right direction. Companies in Northern Colorado are encouraged to take part.