Hardly a day goes by without the announcement of a new dire circumstance for local economies. The stories include layoffs, hidden effects of the economic downturn, growing pockets where local effects are visible, and fewer opportunities and services for citizens to maintain their quality of life.

Online cartographers using web 2.0 map tools have chronicled the downturn by mapping images of localities, visualizing data sets that show the trends and eliciting citizen volunteered information to catch the impacts.

Here is a collection of a few online maps that illustrate the economic transition in the U.S.

1. Map of Newspaper Layoffs - While the relative number of layoffs in the news field is low, the impact is large and growing. A number if cities will lose their daily papers, and many others will see that local news is no longer prioritized.

2. Where is the Milk Cheapest? - This map sponsored by WHYC in NYC asks volunteers to a non-organic quart of milk, head of iceberg lettuce and six-pack of 12 oz beer in New York City.  Price differences are pretty dramatic; for example Han's deli charges nearly 2.5 times the price as does Fairway for the same quart of milk. Such variation underscores the challenges the many people have in balancing time-distance-cost economies.

3. Foreclosure Maps - A proliferation of maps depicting foreclosures and other real estate value changes are show homeowners, customers, and real estate professionals the trends by location. The one we highlighted from USA today illustrates the uneven nature of the localized impacts, with just 35 counties representing the vast majority of numbers of foreclosures. Trulia.com's heat map shows home pricing on a local basis, also revealing uneven nature of housing, both on a national and local scale.

Michele Masucci
ITSRG - Temple University

We're pretty excited here at the corner of Broad and Oxford Streets. Over the last few weeks, we've watched the final demo of the old strip mall Progress Plaza to make way for the new and LONG promised grocery store in North Philadelphia. 

Progress Plaza has a long and storied history on North Broad Street. Progress Plaza, the brain child of Leon Sullivan, a Baptist minster, civil right leader and social activist, was the nation's first black-owned and developed shopping center.

It has served as a field trip for the students involved in ITSRG's BITS program as they explore and document their community. One of the students favorite stories about Progress Plaza has been how the Leon Sullivan got the project started in the 1960s. 

Sullivan suggested the development of the strip mall to address two major needs he saw in the community. First, the need for black-owned businesses and the need for jobs.

The story goes that when Sullivan approached the chairman of the bank to request a construction loan. He was told that Sullivan needed some equity and  to, "think about it," and come back in two, three of four years. Sullivan then presented the chairman with $400,000 in cash raised from the community.

The shocked bank chairman quickly changed his story and told Sullivan he could work with him. The strip mall opened to the community in 1968 and has been home to a variety of stores and  community services since its opening.

The story always brings a smile and a laugh to the students faces and a new appreciation for the plaza and the sometimes hidden treasures found in North Philadelphia.

Today, Progress Plaza is currently undergoing a 16-million dollar renovation. The plaza is soon to be anchored by a 42-thousand square foot Fresh Grocer. Earlier this year, it served as a campaign stop for President Obama.

Caroline Guigar
ITSRG - Temple