
A map showing the steepness of streets (2013) - Tomte
http://www.tobyeglesfield.com/a-map-showing-the-steepness-of-streets/
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StreakyCobra
This kind of visualization can be really useful for impaired people. I can
guess that street steepness is an important concern for people in wheelchair,
a few degrees more and it become impossible to move. And even if topographic
contours may be considered as the gold standard, it is often barely readable
for big cities: I consider myself good as reading map, but being able to see
steepness of street in cities is hard and requires a lot of mental work.
Providing this kind of easily readable map for tourists would then be useful
for mentally impaired people, which is even more useful as mental and physical
impairments frequently come together. I would go further and compare this with
metro maps: if they are not represented on traditional topographic maps it is
for a reason: readability. And the proposed method offers a good readability
of steepness for people needing this information.

So yes, having this kind information available is nothing new. But no, it's
not reinventing the wheel as other people may have suggested here.

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Doctor_Fegg
Similar posting discussed recently:
[http://blog.systemed.net/post/10](http://blog.systemed.net/post/10)
(discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17632378](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17632378)).

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btbuildem
Interesting approach, but I am a little confused by the finished maps. For
example, on the Queenstown one from top-left: you're going down Gorge, left on
Hallenstein to corner of Weaver: one minor hill to overcome. Had you stayed on
Gorge to make a left on Weaver, there's a major hill to climb to arrive at the
same corner. Is the map inaccurate in respect to heights? Does the perspective
skew distances?

I wonder if another approach could be more effective: keep the standard 2D
projection, and use something like a colour gradient or vary street width to
indicate street slope.

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24gttghh
I would think the head-on perspective of the map precludes the gentle down-
slope of Gorge St between Hallenstein to Weaver from being displayed. Here I
would say the down-slope of Gorge St to be implied by viewing the other
incline markers that are presented. Indeed, a contour-map seems to concur this
point:

[https://www.google.com/maps/@-45.0276901,168.6623366,15.5z/d...](https://www.google.com/maps/@-45.0276901,168.6623366,15.5z/data=!5m1!1e4)

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thechanger
Great design. One thing I feel is missing which I’d like to see in the key -
gradient percent of the hill (Blue: 2-4%, Orange: 5-7%, Red: 8+%).

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captainmuon
Is this actually an elevated map? Or is it just a 2D map with triangles tacked
underneath? For example, on the Queenstown map, right center, does King Road
go up and down? Or does it curve to the side? Is Hallenstein Street drawn a
few pixels further up the y axis because it is higher up the hill? I do like
the idea and the aesthetics a lot though.

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beloch
Q: Why not just use a topo map? People who have problems with steep hills have
probably learned to use a topo map to avoid bad routes. Give them the sort of
map they're used to looking at instead of something totally new.

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algorias
I have health issues that make avoiding steep streets important for me. The
problem with topo maps is that it's a pain in the ass to read them, specially
in areas with lots of features, such as cities.

I like color-coded height maps, they can give you an intuitive feel for how a
city lies on top of its terrain. It's very hard to make out moderate slopes
though, e.g. if the city has high hills. I would most prefer a color-coded map
showing the gradient.

Incidentally, if anyone has pointers to where this kind of map could be
obtained (mostly for european cities in my case, but any resource would be
helpful), I would appreciate it. Right now, I just try my luck with google
when visiting a new city.

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jonathantm
Google-maps directions—set to cycling—gives gradient info. I don't use that
feature regularly—and not for accessibility planning|assessment—but if you
haven't checked it out, it may be worth a look.

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hasa
Height contours of topographic maps have existed more than 100 years.

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arethuza
Actually, almost 250 years:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiehallion_experiment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiehallion_experiment)

