The community of East Somerville, MA created an interactive map to tell the stories of their town. It shows everything from bus stops with shelters, to places where people feel unsafe. Audio clips and photos from community members are also shown.
In 2005 a group of East Somerville community members came together to gather data and stories about their town. They then took this information and incorportated it into an online interactive map through which people can learn about the community. The map shows a variety of information, from locations of mailboxes and community gardens to areas where residents like to hang out.
The main idea of the project was to tell the story of the community through a map. Places of community significance were defined through interviews with residents. The map also presents audio clips from community members and photos of certain spots.
This project has no clear point of conclusion. Somerville Community Corporation and East Somerville Neighbors for Change hope to gather feedback and identify what things about East Somerville are important to the people who live there. This information can then be used to develop the community in a way that is in line with the community's values.
The process began in 2005 when a group of community members, interns, and the Somerville Community Corporation came together to collect information about East Somerville. This information was then used to create a 5'x6' map which was later made interactive and put on the web.
There were four parts to the process
1. Collecting Stories from Community Members
25 residents of East Somerville attended workshops to identify places that held significance to them. In the workshops they learned how to use different media such as recorders and digital cameras to capture the character of the places that were important to them. These stories and photos can now be seen by clicking on the camera or headphone icons on the map.
2. Surveying Residents
The team surveyed 274 community members to find out where community members shop, what kind of transportation they use, how much people spend on rent, what kind of physical activities they do etc.
3. Observation
Members of the team walked around the town noting locations of mailboxes, trash cans, etc.
4. A Day in East Somerville
On August 25, 2005 team members observed 12 spots around East Somerville and took note of how many pedestrians, cars and bicyclists went by during different times of the day.
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