[GOVT] Cartography

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Cartography

Among many of the wild, irresponsible promises that we made during the campaign, the parties of this wonderful coalition Government agreed that it was about time that high-quality maps were available for printing.  These days, there's software that allows anyone to make professional-grade maps at home, and that's what we're aiming for.  These maps will be made available for free to download, and for a small fee (cost of printing and postage) we will even send them to you once they're ready.  You'll be able to put up a fun piece of Talossania that will inspire fun conversations and whimsical delight.

I'm in the process of learning how to do this using QGIS, but I thought I'd also ask if anyone had any experience and would be interested in helping with the project.  If so, please contact me at your convenience.

For everyone else: soon you'll be able to find your canton on the map!

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Update: the boundaries are built, and I need your help with a few things

Well, as often happens, I got a lot deeper than I thought.  I've got all sixteen GTA cantons built as actual map geometry, straight from the text of Lexh.K.1 laid over OpenStreetMap street data. The good news: they fit together perfectly -- no gaps, no overlaps, and the outer boundary comes out right. Most cantons land within a few percent of the acreages listed on the wiki.  This is all despite the annoying number of diacritical marks in all of this.

The less good news: building them exactly as the law reads turned up some places where the law, the wiki, and reality don't agree. If you know anything about any of these -- old maps, old Ziu debates, census tract history -- please chime in. @Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC , you figured a lot of this out -- any thoughts?


1. Areas that trade places

In three pairs of neighboring cantons, the two areas add up correctly but the split between them is off. That means the line between them in current law isn't where it was when it was measured.

• Abbavilla and Flúvia Montevúdio. The law (Lexh.K.1.1-1.2) puts Abbavilla east of N Maryland Ave and Flúvia Montevúdio west of it. Built that way, Abbavilla is about 225 acres and Flúvia about 156. The wiki says 157 and 222 -- almost exactly backwards. Either the wiki table has the names swapped, or the law does. Which is it?
• Cüféir/Cooper and Vilátx Fréiric/Frédéricville. About 19 acres out of place, with N Van Buren St as the dividing line (Lexh.K.1.6, K.1.13). Was the old line somewhere else -- maybe a block east, on Jackson St?
• Las Înaltàns Maxhéstici/Majestic Heights and Port Maxhestic. About 35 acres out of place along N Lincoln Memorial Drive (Lexh.K.1.7, K.1.15). Same question: where did the old line run?

2. Where does the River end and the Sea begin?

Port Maxhestic and the national boundary both run along "the River" and "the Sea," but nothing says where one becomes the other in the harbor. For now I've drawn the river due east from its mouth to the lakeshore. Is there any precedent or tradition on this?


3. The Dún Cestour carpark road

Lexh.K.1.16 runs the Dún Cestour/Maritiimi line along "the unmarked road at the southern edge of the carpark" near the Water Tower. It isn't on any map I can find. Anyone who knows the spot -- a description, a photo, a pin on a map -- would be a huge help.


4. Divided roads

Several boundaries follow boulevards with medians (Kenwood, Lincoln Memorial, Lake Drive). Does the line run down the median, or along one side? The law doesn't say. I'll default to the median unless someone knows better.


5. Small textual fixes

• Lexh.K.1.6, K.1.7 and K.1.13 say "E Wisconsin St." The street is East Wisconsin Avenue.
• Lexh.K.1.7 calls it "N Lincoln Memorial Boulevard"; Lexh.K.1.15 calls it "Drive." It's Drive.

Once I've heard back, I'd like to roll the answers into one tidy-up bill so el Lexhatx matches the ground. Thanks, all.  And if no one chimes in after a reasonable interval, then I will just make some decisions and figure it out.