Tell Your Story
Promote active lifestyles using mapping technology
Story and Images by Dillon Rhodus
Technology is ingrained into our everyday lives. We have more information at our fingertips than every generation had before us. Utilizing mobile technology, the city of Florence, Ky., is using this to its advantage by providing interactive mapping information to its citizens. This application can also be of great value to parks and recreation professionals in sharing key components of a community’s outdoor characteristics.
The city provides numerous outdoor recreational areas for residents and visitors to enjoy. With seven parks spread over 10 square miles, the city prides itself in making sure citizens have access to nearby clean spaces for exercise and play. To highlight these outdoor recreation zones, the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) staff members in Florence’s Public Services Department created a digital, interactive map and a physical foldout map that features all 16 trails in the city. The interactive map uses the Story Map format, produced by Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI). A Story Map is an online platform that combines narrative content, images, maps, and other multimedia to create web apps. This platform offers a user-friendly interface while providing interesting and easy-to-follow information. The Story Map product is versatile and can be used to showcase projects, such as tackling homelessness in major cities or documenting the history of ancient civilizations. The Florence Trails Story Map is mobile-compatible, so users can access the Story Map on their mobile devices while walking the trails. The map offers detailed information about each trail, and also provides geographic orientation complete with a trail photo and icon indicating its location on the trail for context. The information, photos, and maps are packaged into a manageable bundle.
Create Your Own
Municipalities or counties with GIS departments can use the same tools as the city of Florence with an ESRI ArcGIS Online account, which is necessary for the project. There are many templates of Story Maps, with each offering unique, defining aspects. We used the “Story Map Journal” template that allowed us to create a comprehensive outline of each trail. This format presents the main map for focus, while including trail information—described above—on a scrolling sidebar. Other template options for the Story Map include a “Shortlist” type, where the user can organize based on certain characteristics, or a “Swipe and Spyglass” that compares imagery over a period of time.
The physical map complements its digital counterpart by featuring a large-scale layout of Florence with each trail highlighted on the front, and an individual look at the trails on the back. The map also features detailed information, such as the length and width of the trail and the type of surface. The department partnered with PocketMaps to produce each foldout map, designed to fit in a back pocket and to be used on-the-go, especially for those walkers who are out of cellular or Wi-Fi range.
It is helpful that an organization has access to GIS data that can be showcased in the Story Map. However, if no GIS data exist, walkers can create their own if they know the proper geometry. Utilizing the map tools available in ArcGIS Online is the best way to accomplish this.
Advice For Success
When beginning this endeavor, it was beneficial to go into the field to get a feel for the trails and observe the most desirable areas of the parks to include in pictures. Using a Canon EOS Rebel T4i, we snapped photos of all of the trails. We also made sure these pictures contained recognizable media so citizens would be able to distinguish certain features. Back in the office, we paired these pictures with a camera icon on the Story Map, so the viewer would know where they were taken. We made sure “parks and recreation” was the theme of the map with a particular color scheme. For the background, baby blue was used to accent the colors of the varying trails, and included the county’s numerous trees. Other important background layers include: building footprints, pavement and exterior features (driveways, sidewalks, and recreation structures), and surface water. The result is a map that contains pertinent trail information as well as a recreational design. Mild colors are best, as bright colors, such as red and yellow, can take away from the most significant parts of the map. The transparency effect has also assisted in additional customization. One can simply click on the ellipsis next to the layer in the table of contents, and use the slider to adjust the transparency.
Keeping layers at a minimum is a must as multiple, unnecessary layers can affect performance of the loading speed, especially when used on a mobile device. Originally, the Story Map had multiple underlying layers—as contours and building labels—that were later removed to increase speed. We obtained much of the data from the county GIS (Boone County) via REST endpoints that were openly published. ESRI additionally has a suite of layers for use in its living atlas in ArcGIS Online.
Promotion of a project is also a key to success. We shared the Story Map on LinkedIn, which drove up interactions to the map; it is also available on the city’s website via a link, and embedded in the webpage. In order to embed a Story Map into a website, navigate to the web app launcher on the ArcGIS Online page and select the Story Map icon. Scroll to the Story Map and click the link icon on the top toolbar. From there, select the size of the insert and copy the link to paste into any online interface. In case you are using the newest version of Story Map, you may have to manually do this by using the correct html iframe tag.
This digital interactive map has given the city the ability to share maps and recreation information in a way we have not been able to do before. The Story Map has garnered over 800 interactions so far, and the physical PocketMap was distributed at many city events and has received excellent feedback. The department’s goal is to continue to produce these initiatives as a way of connecting with the public. The Story Map product can be utilized for any parks and recreation department as a way to share interactive data with an audience while also promoting active lifestyles within a community.
Dillon Rhodus is the GIS Technician for the City of Florence Public Services Department. Reach him at dillon.rhodus@florence-ky.gov.