Three local groups have teamed up to launch My Gainesville Map, a community project where residents can create personalized maps of the city.
The project is a three-way partnership between KKH Consulting, IndieGainesville and the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency.
Residents are asked to draw over a blank outline of the city, filling the space however they see fit.
The project is an intersection of mapping, community building and citizen art, said Katherine Henderson, head of KKH Consulting and adjunct professor at UF’s College of Design, Construction & Planning.
The idea for the project was inspired by the book “Mapping Manhattan” by Becky Cooper, which is a collection of personalized maps of Manhattan made by locals.
Henderson, who helped come up with the project, said she wondered what kind of maps Gainesville residents would create.
Henderson said the maps are meant to be a personal interpretation of the city.
“People could use their map as an opportunity to write down things they miss,” she said. “They could use it as an opportunity to talk about something they think should change.”
In fact, the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency hopes to use the maps to see what the citizens want out of the city, said Sarah Vidal-Finn, senior analyst at the agency and one of the other founders of the project.
The maps would open a conversation between the citizens and those who can change the city, Henderson said. The maps are an opportunity to express ideas for the city with a lot of people listening, including the redevelopment agency.
The maps can be downloaded from http://www.mygainesvillemap.com or picked up at Gifthorse Clothing, Persona Vintage Clothing & Costumes or at the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency.
Maps will be posted on the website, and once enough maps are collected, Henderson said she hopes there will be a public showing.
John Fechtel, a 23-year-old UF architecture and sustainability and the built environment junior, said he would be very interested in creating a map of his own.
Seeing the maps other people create would also be a great way to discover parts of Gainesville he never realized existed.
“I mean, I just discovered Burrito Brothers for the first time last semester,” he said. “There’s a lot more than meets the eye in Gainesville. You get a much more complete picture of Gainesville when you get a collective experience.”
A version of this story ran on page 8 on 9/18/2013 under the headline "Residents, agencies personalize Gainesville maps"
