Livehoods.org, a project built by a bunch of computer science nerds from Carnegie Mellon University, aims to provide some human-level insight about how neighborhoods in San Francisco (and New York and Pittsburgh) organize themselves. By letting their fancy-sounding machine learning algorithm analyze tweets and Foursquare check-ins, their system attempts to reveal dynamic neighborhoods that exist outside of made-up real estate boundaries, based on the places locals like to frequent. Except, we already knew all this stuff. more ›

Given San Francisco's love for whimsical maps and individually frosted miniature cakes, this was bound to happen at some point. Using map tiles designed by Stamen Design using data from Open Street Map, Cups and Cakes Bakery created this edible map of San Francisco on a variety of cupcake flavors. The final masterpiece was individually wrapped in little paper cups and unveiled at last weekend's WhereCamp Geoconference. more ›

We received this handy-dandy map under the heading, "Speak Out, San Francisco!" in our inbox yesterday outlining the Redistricting Task Force's current proposed new boundaries of San Francisco’s 11 supervisorial districts. (View a larger JPEG of the map, or download the PDF here. Aren't we helpful?) The task force has been having ongoing Community Outreach Meetings where the public can present their own redrawn maps for consideration. Draw yours now on RedrawSF! (We tried drawing a big heart and a peace sign, but it just ended up looking like a big blob.) more ›

Created by Gothamist cofounder and noted street art aficionado Jake Dobkin, GrafRank shows which graffiti artists are going up in San Francisco and Oakland, and which areas are popular for their work. The chart, complete with links to Flickr searches showcasing vandals cum artists, have rankings for... more ›

Working yet again with the Naval Research Lab, Google unveiled their first real-time weather layer to go with Google Maps. The weather feature will show current temperatures and conditions around the world. This makes the 11th layer one can implement while using maps, with traffic and transit being the most popular. Give it a try, won't you? more ›

According to this geographically noteworthy Quora answer, the diving line between Northern California and Southern California has been declared. The line, it seems, goes right through San Luis Obispo. Lucas J Meeker, who created the dividing line, notes: "[T]here is an X factor here which is that the coast from Lompoc to Carmel is generally referred to as the Central Coast, and as a result could be considered somewhat of a floating barrier. You might see the occasional 'bro' in this region repping a 'CenCal' vinyl decal on his lifted truck. He is most likely from the Fresno area, if not from Paso Robles/San Luis Obispo." more ›

Jen and Omar from These Are Things, a mapmaking design team in Columbus, Ohio, just finished working on a map of San Francisco. Lovely, yes? more ›

Billed as a monthly celebration of biking, this Friday, Jan. 7, San Francisco Bike Party rolls out its first ride of the year. This ride meets at 7:30 p.m. at AT&T Park, starting at 8:00 and ending at Civic Center. Exactly what is S.F. Bike Party, you ask? Let's see: SFBP is new and meant "for all riders of different ages, types, and skill levels to enjoy." Exactly what is S.F. Bike Party, you ask? Let's see: SFBP is new and meant "for all riders of different ages, types, and skill levels to enjoy." more ›

Burrito Justice devised this whimsical yet ramrod pristine map of San Francisco parks and neighborhoods - including the noted blogger's personal mission in life: the recognition of La Lengua - which can be yours for the holidays. Inspired by Kyle Sluder’s SOAS (Seattle on a Sheet), The Islands of San Francisco comes in three sizes: 23″ x 23″ ($25), 15″ x 15″ ($16) and 11″ x 11″ ($11). more ›

Very Small Array put together this curious map of the states as named by Google's autocomplete on Friday. When looking up California, they ended up with Prop 19, the state's marijuana initiative. (On Saturday afternoon, while logged in and out of Google, we got "California DMV" as our top result. Go figure.) more ›

by Andrew Dalton more ›

Eric Fischer created this map (click to enlarge!) based on race and ethnicity. He explains, "I was astounded by Bill Rankin's map of Chicago's racial and ethnic divides and wanted to see what other cities looked like mapped the same way. To match his map, Red is White, Blue is Black, Green is Asian, Orange is Hispanic, Gray is Other, and each dot is 25 people. Data from Census 2000." more ›

For their Fall Arts Preview, 7x7 has produced yet another kooky neighborhood map, this time using the theme of phrenology, and like, human tendencies? Or something? Anyway, we live somewhere in the vicinity of Cautiousness and Love of Sex, but we have no goddamn idea what Veneration is doing anywhere near the Marina. [7x7 via SF Citizen] more ›

Behold! A map showcasing artisan, if you will, coffee shops in San Francisco. Ooh la la, is right. We plan on making it a life goal to visit each cafe to demand they ice our double espresso and stick it in a to-go cup. (Ahem, Blue Bottle.) more ›

Tenderblog has a poll going about what exactly makes up the Tenderloin and questions whether the TenderNob actually exists. Also, is Civic Center part of the Tenderloin or not? more ›

Ever wondered what crime hot-spots in the city of San Francisco might look like in elevated map form? Of course you haven't; that's behavior for the unhinged. Fortunately, super smart guy Doug McCune did, creating loads of fun maps that, using data from the city’s DataSF website, came up with these maps that show larceny, assault, vandalism, robbery, and more. The biggest surprise? San Francisco's prostitution peaks. Anyway, be sure to check them all out. [via Eye On Blogs] more ›

Say you've taken a bike ride out to Sutro Baths, lollygagged on the sands of Ocean Beach, and then brunched at the Cliff House. It's kind of cold out there, right? A bit too nippy, really. Screw this!, you grumble. You've had enough. It's high time you cracked open that trust fund to purchase the silver Mercedez SUV of your dreams. more ›

Jeff Hunt of Muni Diaries forwarded us this beautiful map adorned with literary quotes that have shaped our beloved San Francisco, which was created by Ian Huebert. We love the whimsical typography and colors almost more than the quotes themselves. See a larger version. more ›

We randomly came across this little tidbit yesterday while searching for kid band The She's, who are performing at the Rock Make Street Festival on Sunday. The disgruntled revenge-seeker/Walnut Creek resident must have taken the time to register their gripe as a business on Google Maps, which curiously shows up at the top of the aforementioned search list, alongside various local salons and restaurants. Strange. Here's a transcript: more ›

Stamen Design, the folks behind Oakland Crimespotting, have just launched a companion site, San Francisco Crimespotting, which is a sleek, user-friendly interface that blows SFPD's clunky Crime Maps out of the water. Users can easily identify which types of crimes have taken place in their area, including the date and time of day they occurred. (We were quite relieved to see the absence of any murders or aggravated assaults in our vicinity.) more ›

Apparently, most of 11th Street (between Mission and Bryant Streets) was deleted from Google's Street View a few months ago, which was not fixed in yesterday's update. It also appears in the above graphic that 16th Street, between Folsom and Harrison, is not available either. Here's evidence from 2007 that Street View was in fact once available on 11th Street. more ›

Yesterday, Gavin Newsom announced Google maps favorites, a feature that allows you, well, to list your favorite places, which then show up on Google Maps. Ta-da. A few celebrity favorite places of note? Maya Lin likes to see fine art and Dede's crispy hair at the de Young Museum, Tony Hawk likes a magical land called Alyeska, Yo-Yo Ma enjoys dining in Beverly Hills, and one of Mayor Gavinn Newsom's favorite spots is SF General Hospital (which seems to be a very strange fetish, but to each his own.) Anyway, be sure to check out Google's new feature. It's actually loads of fun. more ›

This goes out to all the commenters who get up-in-arms about copyedit errors: Burrito Justice & Mission Mission point us to the fact that the folks at the helm over at Google Maps clearly don't spend enough time in Dolores Park. While the name "Mission Dolores Park" is spelled correctly on the main park label, it is spelled "Mission Delores Park" elsewhere on the same map. For shame. more ›

Real estate agents have always reveled in transforming a neighborhood, or a sub-section of a shitty neighborhood, through the kind of re-branding that turns a place like Hell's Kitchen in NYC into Midtown West. Well, the San Francisco Association of Realtors are releasing their latest map, which is going to affect the official listing location of every property in town, and it includes such creative renamings as Barbary Coast for the Financial District, and NoPa for that section of the Western Addition that's home to a certain popular restaurant. Apparently the realtors stopped short of including TenderNob, because we all know that's kind of bullshit (and there's so few for-sale properties there that the real estate people don't give a shit). Says Matthew Borland, the agent leading the remapping, "the changes had to reflect a true change and feel of the fabric of a neighborhood." more ›

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Some pig-- you heard us, ! -- had the unmitigated gall to go against the express wishes of Google. The nerve! Driving a Prius (oh, of course it was a Prius), some poor Google Street View recording sap was busted by the fuzz for doing some illegal, doing something evil over in the Presidio. Wonder what it was? more ›