I woke up this morning to a cool interactive from NYT (hat tip to Big Picture Blog) with a map of every building in America. Just type in any town or city that you are interested in and you see a satellite view with the outlines of every building in that area. You can hook your students by telling them they have been hired to be economic development sleuths. They will be using satellite views of their community to figure out what drives their local economy. 

So, for example, here's a satellite view of the suburban neighborhood that I grew up in northern NJ:

What does this aerial view tell me about my town?

• An amazing amount of open space right in the center of town that was shaped by geography including a meandering stream (Tenakill Brook), "the Nature Center" and a wide expanse of baseball/softball playing fields (Wakelee Field). 
• Like many towns, train tracks split the center of my hometown. It's interesting to see the density of homes on the left (my neighborhood) while the buildings on the right hand side are both larger and spaced further apart. signifying larger lot sizes (and likely higher real estate values). As in many towns, train tracks (in the center of town) served as a dividing line with neighborhoods developing differently on each side of them. Of course, having a newspaper route in neighborhood where homes were more densely packed meant I could get 50 papers delivered in 30 minutes and have time for the daily pick-up basketball or baseball game at the field. 
• What were the largest buildings in our suburban town? Schools. The lower left is the elementary school where I walked 4 blocks to kindergarten. The high school sits in the upper left of this image and the middle school is on the other side of the tracks in the center of the image. 

Wow, that was a nostalgic trip! I hope you enjoy your own trip down memory lane. Back to how your students might use this. 

Have them hone in on their neighborhood/town:

• What do you notice about how buildings are clustered in your town? How are housing developments structured? Is it similar throughout the town or are different neighborhoods identifiable based on the different levels of housing density? Is there lots of open space? Well-organized street grids? 
• How does geography impact your community (hills/mountains, streams/rivers, forest/open space)? How has this impacted development?
• What are the largest buildings in your town/city? How are those buildings used (educational, office/commercial, social services)? 
• Do you think your town/city was built with a plan in mind or does growth look more haphazard? 
• Does the layout of the streets in your town/city make it easy/difficult to navigate? Explain. 
• What can you tell about the economy of your city/town from this "birds-eye" perspective? 

Once they have analyzed their own neighborhood/town/city, have them look at a neighboring town and do a comparison with a similar set of questions. I would love to also hear other ideas you have on how you might use this interactive. Send them along to [email protected]

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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