Author Archives: Andy Woodruff

About Andy Woodruff

I grew up as a regular visitor to Boston, my mom being a native (a BU alumna from Malden), and became an area resident when I moved to Cambridge in 2008 after finishing graduate school in Wisconsin. That's a lifetime short of being a real "local" by the standards around here, but I'm doing my best. I think I can at least imitate the Boston accent better than most people from my home state of Ohio. My day job is being a partner in Axis Maps, where we do custom interactive cartography and also sell typographic map posters. Sometimes I also post things on my personal site, too. Cartography is more than a day job, though; I've been exploring Boston by mapping it since I got here—by foot, bicycle, train, and study. There's hardly a better way to learn about and appreciate the city.

Where not to park in Cambridge

Posted on July 11, 2014 by

tl;dr — don’t park anywhere Map and data enthusiasts on the north bank of the Charles, there are two things you should know: 1. City of Cambridge GIS data, for a long time only available on a shiny disk for … Continue reading →

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Maptime!

Posted on June 25, 2014 by

Hi, Boston cartografriends! This is just a quick note to let you know about Maptime Boston, a monthly mapping event that kicks off tonight. It’s about building an open, collaborative learning environment for open-source mapping technology. Maptime is now a … Continue reading →

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Spring map rundown

Posted on April 9, 2014 by and

We’re still alive, maybe! It’s been tough to find time lately for major Bostonographizing, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been seeing some good maps and spitting out a few small ones ourselves. Here, briefly, are some assorted maps and … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 2 Comments

The turkey menace

Posted on November 28, 2013 by and

Happy Thanksgiving, Boston. Today is the day. Today we make a stand against the horde that threatens our fair city—the vicious, evil turkeys! They have invaded our streets, they have stood in our way, and they have gone after our … Continue reading →

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MBTA map redesigns

Posted on September 11, 2013 by

Remember the MBTA map redesign “competition” from the summer? Well, looks like a good number of people were glad to surrender the rights to their work for free, and we the public now get to vote on six finalists. (But … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation | Tagged | 7 Comments

Mapping Hubway availability

Posted on July 23, 2013 by

As an occasional Hubway user, I sometimes feel like some kind of transportation gambler. There’s a risk with each trip. Will docks be available where I’m going? Will bikes be available when I want to return, and docks available back … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation | Tagged | 1 Comment

Neighborhoods as seen by the people

Posted on June 27, 2013 by

UPDATE! We’ve got a new and better version of the neighborhood mapping project! Head on over to bostonography.com/hoods! Below is a map that has been shown off a bit recently, both on Twitter and by me at a couple of … Continue reading →

Posted in Projects | Tagged | 7 Comments

Live MBTA bus speeds

Posted on May 30, 2013 by

‘Tis the season to revisit and update some of our past projects. You may remember the map from November 2011 showing 24 hours of GPS location data from MBTA buses, colored according to their speeds. (A local adaptation of maps … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

A plow, now!

Posted on February 15, 2013 by

Remember that time last weekend when it snowed a whole bunch and we all waded through four-foot drifts to get out of the house, went skiing down city streets, or else enjoyed lots of bacon and beer in the comfort … Continue reading →

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Bostonhenge

Posted on January 8, 2013 by

New Yorkers want to own everything. Even the sunset once in a while: you may have heard of the phenomenon known as Manhattanhenge, when the setting sun aligns with Manhattan cross streets. It occurs twice a year—really four times if … Continue reading →

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