The Map Room

Adam Bentley’s map of an imagined future rapid transit network for Ottawa and Gatineau has apparently generated a lot of online buzz; on Spacing Ottawa, he discusses the map’s inception and reception.

Google’s Street View has launched in 11 Canadian cities: Calgary, Kitchener and Waterloo, Halifax, Montréal, Ottawa, Québec, Toronto, Vancouver, and Squamish and Whistler (these last two almost certainly for the upcoming Olympics). Equally large cities like Edmonton, London (Ontario), Hamilton and Winnipeg are apparently not yet available. News coverage: CBC News, National Post. See also Google Maps Mania and Google Earth Blog.

Also today, Street View also came to Prague (Google Earth Blog, Google Maps Mania).

An earthquake hazard map of Ottawa developed by scientists at the Geological Survey of Canada and Carleton University shows which parts of the city are more at risk from seismic shaking. “Those areas with thick pockets of Leda clay under them, including parts of Carp and Orléans, are likely to experience more shaking, and as a result, more damage in a major quake,” says the Ottawa Citizen. “Those parts of the city built on bedrock, such as Kanata, are expected to suffer fewer effects.” The Citizen got first dibs on the map; I haven’t found it yet on the Earthquakes Canada site.

Also of interest: Natural Resources Canada’s map of recent earthquakes and the Atlas of Canada’s Significant Earthquakes and Seismic Hazard map.

The City of Ottawa has announced a map (PDF) of its upcoming road, bridge and sewer construction projects (around here, we call construction “infrastructure” for whatever reason). The map’s a bit unwieldy: several years’ worth of construction, indicated by year and type, on a single sheet.