Hi Belle & others,

You could put your teacher in touch with Andy Woodruff of Axis Maps, who's
done some work with crowdsourced Boston neighborhood boundaries, take a
look here:
https://bostonography.com/2012/crowdsourced-neighborhood-boundaries-part-one-consensus/

I'm remembering an earlier project by Tom Taylor using Flickr tags to
derive shapefiles but it doesn't seem to be online any longer but here's a
trace:
https://flowingdata.com/2008/11/28/neighborhood-boundaries-with-flickr-shapefiles/

Eric


On Fri, Jan 29, 2021 at 9:33 AM Bertuca, David <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> hello Belle and all, happy new year....
>
> We have worked on neighborhood mapping at University at Buffalo and from
> experience, can say that it varies.
>
> Buffalo neighborhoods, for example, are loosely defined by residents and
> not all agree. our online map of the city would receive calls asking us to
> redraw boundaries for a variety of reasons. Some wanted to keep property
> values high by cutting lower income sections out of their neighborhood.
> Others felt there was something that did not match local perceptions.
>
> We found the neighborhood boundaries to sometimes be quite controversial.
>
> My predecessor created the original boundaries by walking each
> neighborhood and talking with people. it was a long process but he was
> determined to do an accurate job. he also used books on the neighborhoods
> to compile his research.
>
> contrast this with NYC. My colleague prepared a Manhattan neighborhoods
> map and he began with a book that provided specific boundaries that were
> established. these had fixed borders.
>
> some other cities we found had fixed, or accepted boundaries. others had
> general regions that were not so concrete or distinct.
>
> your teacher may want to examine some sources for various cities to see
> how they are identified. places like Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco,
> have good research. Less populated towns may not get the same treatment.
>
> Belle, if you would like additional information on this topic,please
> contact me.
>
> As an aside, there are journal articles that discuss how Google maps are
> changing neighborhood names. their system creates new names to assist route
> identification. locals note that the names do not correspond with local
> history. it is inadvertent revision of history.
>
> David J Bertuca, Map Librarian, Emeritus
> University at Buffalo
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Angela R Cope <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 1/29/21 8:55 AM (GMT-05:00)
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Neighborhood Boundaries Research / Social Theory
>
> *From:* Belle Lipton <[log in to unmask]>
> *Sent:* Friday, January 29, 2021 7:25 AM
> *To:* [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> *Cc:* Belle Lipton <[log in to unmask]>
> *Subject:* Neighborhood Boundaries Research / Social Theory
>
> One of our teachers is designing a lesson for next week, looking at
> neighborhoods and wondering if anyone knew of books or articles that
> address these questions:
>
> Who decides the boundaries between our neighborhoods? How does this impact
> how we think about where we live? Who benefits from certain ways of
> dividing and who doesn’t?
>
> Belle Lipton
> GIS Map Librarian - Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the
> Boston Public Library
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>