Lab 3

View Finding the Nature in LA: Outdoor Daytrips from UCLA in a larger map

We all know Los Angeles to be a place of great culture, the "home of the stars". Yet, while we do have a lot of celebrities, sometimes it's hard to even see the stars in the night sky. Los Angeles is not known for its natural, outdoor community and experience. Many people who move to Los Angeles feel like they can't get out. Its cars, cities, and smog are wherever you go. Well this map will hopefully help alleviate some of that claustrophobic feeling, as it provides some nice day trips to get out into nature in the LA area.

Neogeography in general is user-centric, meaning that the user can input what he wants to see. On one hand, this helps to create specialized maps that users interested in that topic can see. On the other hand, because there is a human component, sometimes the maps can be less precise and all-encompassing with their information. Also, I feel that the average person does not know that neogeography maps exist and do not know how to search for them (I didn't know anything about them before this class). One nice potential about neogeography is that it is open-source and anyone can use it. It is not controlled in terms of use and distribution by any organization, like how the government controlled GPS technology until recently. Another pitfall of neogeography is that it can be used by amateurs who might not always know what they are doing. A positive of neogeography is that it is flexible and anyone can use it how they want. Neogeography is a tool that can be used in both positive and negative ways.