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Idea Lab is a group blog by innovators who are reinventing community news for the Digital Age.

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Maps Worth Looking At

Knight 2007 News Challenge Winner

Gotham Gazette learned this week that two of our recent projects, Who's Running for What and The Garbage Game were listed among the notable Knight-Batten entries this year. Most notably, that means we aren't finalists. Some of the finalists, though, are pretty noteworthy. One I hadn't seen before is JD Land, which maps real estate development projects (proposed, completed and underway) in Washington DC's Southeast area. It is pretty smart stuff, and it reminded me that I've been looking for an excuse to point people to another mapping project that has really taken off:

Habitat Map is a crowd sourcing project that is designed to collect and map data about New York City's environment. They're collecting and mapping refineries, toxic plants and known spills along a tiny waterway that separates Brooklyn and Queens, but the map is open to other projects -- all you have to do is create an account and start placing your markers. And, users can edit and discuss one another's markers. Worth keeping an eye on.

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