Natural Neighbors

An experiment to map out natural neighborhoods.

Areas that this can encompass include:

1. National:
2. Parks
3. Monuments
4. Forests
5. Wildlife refuges
6. Historic sites
7. Seashores
8. Lakeshores
9. Grasslands
10. Wildernesses
11. State
12. Parks
13. Wildlife areas

Execution

1. git clone this project.
2. cd to the project.
3. Start a local web server, e.g., ruby -run -e httpd . -p 8888.
4. Load localhost:8888 into your browser (preferably Chrome).

Data

Gathering data has been a challenge. The approach I've worked out so far is:

1. Open Google Earth.
2. Reduce noise by disabling all layers except Parks/Recreation Areas, et al.
3. Right-click a landmark and choose Save to My Places.
4. Organize saved places into folders, e.g., State Parks, National Parks, etc.
5. Right-click a folder and choose Save Place As....
6. Save the places as a KML file.
7. Use Ogre to convert the KML to geojson.
8. Tidy the JSON via JSON Pretty Print.
9. Add the file to the project.

Credits

The idea took root after seeing this image and the code for the project sprung from this example.