2 replies to this topic

[natcase]

A friend who is editor at a planners association asks:

I’m on a quixotic search for a very specific sort of image, and I thought you might have an idea of where to look. What I’m after is essentially a cross section of downtown Los Angeles, showing structures both above and below ground—e.g., skyscrapers and highways at the top, sewers and subways below. We’ve tried our usual sources on this and come up supremely empty-handed. The city engineers didn’t really have anything either.

This might be unfindable and something we have to commission, but of course I’m hoping to avoid that…. Any tips gratefully received.

Thanks!
Nat

[Hans van der Maarel]

I reckon that if I'd have access to the relevant data (terrain, building footprints + heights, sewage and subway networks and basically anything else that they'd want on the map) I could build a list with entries like:
"200 feet from the start of the cross section, subway at 60 feet below surface"

That in turn could be converted into coordinates (that point would be [200,-60]) and then plotted. From there it's a matter of styling it.

[Dennis McClendon]

Here's one we did for the Encyclopedia of Chicago a few years ago to show the three-dimensional nature of what seems to be a very flat city: