I’ve been meaning to get this one online for a while. Visualizer Ben Fry of Cambridge, Mass. has created a map of the contiguous United States using only streets. All 26 million of them. It’s fascinating as the streets reveal complex geographies such as mountain ranges and show the general development of the country. No other data was used in the map, only streets, so cities become dark dots with lighter areas representing rural or undeveloped terrain. Geography becomes clear since most roads follow the contours of the land.
Louisville can be seen as the lower vertex of a triangle (with Indy & Cincy) directly below Michigan. A white patch under Louisville represents Fort Knox where there are few roads. Â Frankfort and Lexington can also be seen in the larger map (after the click) directly east of Louisville.
Click through to see a blown-up map of the Midwest and Appalachian region where Louisville can be seen in more detail and be sure to check out Ben Fry’s All Streets project page for more regional maps of the U.S.
- Ben Fry: All Streets (Official Site)
