Archive for Mark Bjelland
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Population Change in U.S. Metropolitan Areas, 2000-2010
This map reveals a wealth of stories. Explosive growth in places like Austin, TX, Boise, ID, Charlotte, NC, Las Vegas, NV, McAllen, TX, Raleigh, NC, and Riverside, CA shifted the center of population southward. Deindustrialization led to actual numerical decline in Buffalo, Cleveland, Dayton, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Toledo, and Youngstown. Hurricane Katrina reinforced the ongoing pattern [...]
Where’s the Snow–in the Northwest
While southern Minnesota has had a relatively warm winter with little snow cover, things are quite different in the Pacific Northwest. Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation patterns have been in the La Niña pattern. While El Niño features warmer than normal ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, La Niña features cooler than [...]
Gusties Intern at City of Saint Peter
Geography major Stephanie Korba ’12 did a January Term career exploration under the supervision of Mr. Todd Prafke, the City Administrator for Saint Peter, MN. She researched pawn shop fees in other communities and presented her results to the City Council. She also researched access charges for connecting new developments to sewer, water, and electric, [...]
See the world in a grain of (Californian) sand
William Blake starts his Auguries of Innocence with the line, “To see a world in a grain of sand.” Well, perhaps you can see the world in a grain of sand–if that grain happens to be from California. You see, according to some Hollywood executives back in the 1920s, California can offer geographical facsimiles of [...]
Young Cartographers Develop New Minneapolis Skyway Map
In a world of google maps and foursquare, some wonder about the future of cartography. Well, some geography students are rediscovering the value of skillful, thoughtful map-making. Recent University of Wisconsin graduates have formed a company called “Carticulate.” They’ve landed work redesigning skyway maps for Minneapolis and transit maps for Asheville, NC. You can read [...]
Geography Makes You Smart
British neuroscientists have shown that the brains of taxi drivers grow when they study for their taxi license exam. To be licensed to drive the classic black London cabs, cabbies have to pass a test demonstrating knowledge of the complex network of 25,000 winding streets and 20,000 landmarks in central London. The recent study showed [...]
Alleys Full of Houses in Vancouver
In the more desirable neighborhoods of Vancouver, the alleys are lined with little houses. Technically called “laneway houses” (Canadians use the term “lane” rather than “alley”), they are part of Vancouver’s eco-density and affordable housing strategies. Eco-density is the idea that higher density cities support transit use and a smaller per capita ecological footprint. In [...]
The Shrinking Worlds of Youth
The British newspaper The Daily Mail has an article about how the rise of traffic and fears for safety have shrunk the area in which children are allowed to roam on their own. See the differences between generations on the map. One interviewee wonders whether the rise in standard of living hasn’t been offset by [...]
International Geography Competition
The National Geographic Society sponsors an annual international geography competition for teenagers. The 2011 competition was hosted by Google at their California headquarters. Teams from different countries vied for prizes with the Russian team beating the second place Canadians on this question: Name the country that receives 90 percent of its export earnings from a [...]
Geographical Mysteries: Washington State Coastline
Take a closer look at this map from City-Data.com. Something strange is happening north of Blaine, Washington. The land seems to… well, it just drops off rather abruptly into the Pacific Ocean. And it all seems suspiciously rectilinear. Plus, off to the west, there lies an unnamed island with a northern border that also displays [...]