10
Chapter 1 It’s a Geospatial World Out There
preservation efforts seek to defend historic Civil War battlefield areas from
urban development. Knowing the location of the parcels of land that are
under the greatest development pressure helps in channeling preservation
efforts to have their greatest impact. With more and more geospatial technology applications becoming available, these types of geospatial problems are
being taken into consideration (see Hands-on Application 1.3: Mapping Data
Layers Online and Hands-on Application 1.4: Examining Real Estate Values Online for examples online).
Online mapping applications that combine several
types of spatial data into a series of map layers are becoming increasingly common. A good,
easy-to-use example of viewing spatial information online is MapWV, a utility for mapping various layers of data in West Virginia. Open your Web
browser and go to http://www.mapwv.gov and
then select the option for Create an Advanced Map.
Numerous layers are available for you to create a
map from—locations of cities and roads, tax district
boundaries, historic places, shaded relief of the
topography, and crisp aerial photographs. Select
the layers you want to map in West Virginia. You
can zoom to a major city (such as Morgantown), a
county, or a particular place. Tools for zooming in
and out of the map (a pair of magnifying glasses),
panning around the map (the hand), getting further information about objects (the “i” in the circle),
or resetting the view back to the entire state (the
globe) are available on the toolbar in the middle
of the screen. Examine various map layers for Morgantown, West Virginia, and see how they fit together in a spatial context (such as the hydrology
data and the shaded relief or the aerial photography with the historic locations).
Hands-on Application 1.3
Mapping Data Layers Online
Zillow is an online tool used to examine housing prices in cities across the United States. You
can examine the prices of houses for sale in the
neighborhood and see—spatially—where housing
prices change. In other words, Zillow provides online mapping related to real estate prices and appraisal. To check it out, open your Web browser
and visit http://www.zillow.com. Start with the
“Find Homes” search options, looking for houses
in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Zoom in to some of the
residential neighborhoods, and you’ll see markers
in yellow (recently sold homes) and red (homes for
sale). Selecting a marker will give you the sale (or
sold) price, along with the estimated value. When
you’re using this tool, you’re selecting a location
and examining the attributes (items like housing
price or other characteristics) that accompany that
place. Check your own local area for housing and
examine local housing prices and their estimated
values.
Hands-on Application 1.4
Examining Real Estate Values Online
Chapter 1 It’s a Geospatial World Out There
preservation efforts seek to defend historic Civil War battlefield areas from
urban development. Knowing the location of the parcels of land that are
under the greatest development pressure helps in channeling preservation
efforts to have their greatest impact. With more and more geospatial technology applications becoming available, these types of geospatial problems are
being taken into consideration (see Hands-on Application 1.3: Mapping Data
Layers Online and Hands-on Application 1.4: Examining Real Estate Values Online for examples online).
Online mapping applications that combine several
types of spatial data into a series of map layers are becoming increasingly common. A good,
easy-to-use example of viewing spatial information online is MapWV, a utility for mapping various layers of data in West Virginia. Open your Web
browser and go to http://www.mapwv.gov and
then select the option for Create an Advanced Map.
Numerous layers are available for you to create a
map from—locations of cities and roads, tax district
boundaries, historic places, shaded relief of the
topography, and crisp aerial photographs. Select
the layers you want to map in West Virginia. You
can zoom to a major city (such as Morgantown), a
county, or a particular place. Tools for zooming in
and out of the map (a pair of magnifying glasses),
panning around the map (the hand), getting further information about objects (the “i” in the circle),
or resetting the view back to the entire state (the
globe) are available on the toolbar in the middle
of the screen. Examine various map layers for Morgantown, West Virginia, and see how they fit together in a spatial context (such as the hydrology
data and the shaded relief or the aerial photography with the historic locations).
Hands-on Application 1.3
Mapping Data Layers Online
Zillow is an online tool used to examine housing prices in cities across the United States. You
can examine the prices of houses for sale in the
neighborhood and see—spatially—where housing
prices change. In other words, Zillow provides online mapping related to real estate prices and appraisal. To check it out, open your Web browser
and visit http://www.zillow.com. Start with the
“Find Homes” search options, looking for houses
in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Zoom in to some of the
residential neighborhoods, and you’ll see markers
in yellow (recently sold homes) and red (homes for
sale). Selecting a marker will give you the sale (or
sold) price, along with the estimated value. When
you’re using this tool, you’re selecting a location
and examining the attributes (items like housing
price or other characteristics) that accompany that
place. Check your own local area for housing and
examine local housing prices and their estimated
values.
Hands-on Application 1.4
Examining Real Estate Values Online