H&M, new techniques to make alternative neighborhoods

The project of creating alternative neighborhoods though the uses of GIS has always been what 'Crossing the Line' project has aimed to achieve. The direction of the projec tnow of 'Crossing the Line' is still rooted in the same intent of generating these new alternative neighborhoods, but through different techniques and a better understanding of the lines themselves. How do we create alternative definitions of neighborhoods different multiple techniques, scales, infrastructures to determine more provacative reformation of the city? This new form of investigation has driven much more interesting results, though techniques of looking more implicitly at neighbohood lines interesecting with streets, parks, etc, letting us ask the question, what is the machine doing for our intent to develop new 'hoods?

Images of a Zone-Team Yellow

When we began this project we chose to focused in on signage as a concept for the way one can understand this section of the city. By using GPS enabled photographs, twitter, and foursquare we were able to start to understand the way signage, and the types of signage that are found in the area. This area has a number of forces on it, there is a current move by the City of Syracuse, as well as Syracuse University, to gentrify this area. Within the last few years this area has become known as the SALT(Syracuse Art, Life and Tech) District. The aim was to start changing the area by creating artist spaces within the Near West Side that would help reinvent and breathe new life in, much like what occurred in SoHo. In addition the School of Architecture held a competition for three new houses that have since been built, moving higher income families into the area. Initially we began to map the area as a series of moments that are based on a precise location and orientation to achieve a better understanding of what people experience. From this we now begin to question the relationship between the current population and the incoming population. In addition we question how these two groups manifest themselves within the context. Based on the fact that the majority of posts and foursquare occurrences were based upon our foray into the area one can see that this is not an area typically visited by those outside the community. The way each group manifests itself is obvious by the signs they use to present themselves. The graffiti of the current population contrast the clean letters of the Lincoln. By going through and further documenting this change and starting to include information from GIS that starts to showcase the changing population.

E. Genesee Panoramic- Team Red

The panoramic strives to capture the culture of the neighborhood that may not be realized through a virtual media.

Wireless map- Team Red

The map lays out wireless signals that are present in the area that we analyzed. The strength of the signal is represented by a color (key in the upper right hand corner). In addition, accessibility is noted by either "locked" or "unlocked."

Mapping Preference - Team Blue

This image is how Team Blue looked to combine the many different kinds of data collected, including Tweets, FourSquare checkins, Yelp reviews, GPS locations, streetscapes, and zoning information. At first when looking at all of the data it seemed overwhelmingly different; however, when laid out in comparison to each other, we were able to see some interesting trends.

The thing that stood out to me the most was that one side of our zone was much denser with social media activity than the other. Restaurants receive more attention than shops or other businesses - but the main factor missing from our data is time. Because we collected all of our data between Friday and Monday, we did not see if the trends differed from weekend to weekdays.

Another thing which stood out to me from the Antoine Picon lecture was the idea of mapping as a new form of personal expression. By focusing on these forms of data, our mapping becomes a new lens into the apparent inequalities of internet presence in downtown Syracuse. The map is now much more subjective because it is based on feelings towards particular places. Can this subjective knowledge affect how we objectively view the city?

Mayor of the Private

We've discussed social media and digital mapping in terms of the alternate realities they present. Networking and informational sites such as Facebook, FourSquare, twitter, and yelp, with the new alliances and networks they create, also have the potential to alter the perception and experience of space. For example, frequent check-ins to or reviews of a particular restaurant or business may increase/decrease the number of people visiting the service. The site for Team Orange of the TdMS spring 2011 studio encloses a predominantly residential community, making most of the discernible character inaccessible. However inward this information may be, the semi-private character of personal apartments is now broadcast through the various social media and digital mapping networks we are currently studying.

The adjacent map illustrates the network of Facebook and Four Square users that reside within the site. Their addresses are not provided directly, as would a white pages or Syracuse University directory. Each node categorizes the sex of the Four Square mayor, the street address, and the "place" of this data retrieval.

Does the exercise of creating this map reveal anything about the space of the site or the socio-spatial network of Facebook or Four Square?

• More females check-in to their respective place of residence, perhaps providing the illusion that there are more women living in certain areas.

• The perception of personal residence, a notably private space, may become clouded with the publicity of the location through social media networks. This seems even more likely with the naming of personal residence or addition of comments to Four Square locations. Checking-in to a restaurant and an apartment are treated with equality in the digital realm, but how will the prevalence and increasing popularity of social media sites alter the separation of public and private in the physical world?

• Lastly...mayor of the private? When Four Square attributes political nomenclature to users frequently checking-in to a given location, even a residential apartment, are they also relating characteristics of power to the mayor and the space? For an apartment building, the mayor may represent a larger body of residents, but this power shifts in real-time with the number of residents that check-in. Again, I wonder how this socio-spatial community and its associated characteristics could shift the perception of the physical space...

Weapons of Mass Consumption: Navigating the City through Social Networking/Media Devices

Emerging is a parallel map for a navigation of economy. This is the preferred image of representation of the Armory Square neighborhood in downtown Syracuse: Live, Work, Play. The Armory Square web site illustrates these 3 tangents through a rotation of a few generic/placeless images. How then does one measure character of place?