Boston, with its narrow and crooked avenues, can be hard for anyone to navigate at times, and the people often more difficult to decipher. The folks over at California-based Urbane, though, have accepted the challenge of making it easier for visitors and new residents to learn street names and neighborhood identities by creating an original map based on classic Bostonian characterizations.
BostInno spoke with Urbane co-founder and Chief of Content Trevor Felch to find out how the three-man startup began charting the streets of major American hubs like New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. – even trekking north of the border to record Vancouver and Toronto – and it turns Urbane sprung from each person’s simple love of travel.
“[Urbane] Sprouted out from how we like to see other cities rather than how others see it from a tourist perspective,” Felch began. “We combined the best of the tourist side with the best of the local side and do it also with a fun, neighborhood-nurture type of option.”
At first glance, Bostonians might not digest that neighborhood-nurture mentality. The map is an obvious play on what some might consider stereotypes, though Felch thinks ‘stereotypes’ is too negative to define what urbane does.
“The goal of the map is to be elementary enough so that the first time a tourist comes to Boston they can get a layout, and cool enough and in-the-know enough so locals say ‘hey yeah, that’s pretty cool.'”
Three cantankerous commenters, though, have already pointed out that not all Boston neighborhoods are represented and that nearby Somerville was omitted while Cambridge made the cut.
But in the specific case for Somerville, a Greater Boston city heavily populated by students and young professionals, Felch initially thought it was a suburb more tailored to families looking to plant their roots.
Cue the research initiatives.
“We looked at a lot of press, real estate, neighborhood-by-neighborhood characterizations, and highlights,” explained Felch on how Urbane compiles their data. “But with Boston in particular, a lot of friends, and even ex-girlfriends, contributed. We sent them initial templates and they responded with ‘you may want to add this.'”
It’s difficult to argue with Urbane’s logical, and rather humorous, take on Boston. Allston-Brighton is labeled as “students enjoying PBR” while across the Charles, MIT is designated by a Good Will Hunting-style equation. And of course, the rail yard bordering South Boston and Dorchester is a play on the clichéd R-less Boston accent, “Rail Yahd.”
But in a product list full of cities with populations in the millions, or closing in on such numbers, the Boston map was conceived by contributions by residents of these metropolises who specifically suggested depictions for Boston, as well as sentimental value.
Felch himself, a native to the San Francisco Bay Area, has been a Red Sox and Patriots fan since receiving his first Nomar Garciaparra jersey a lifetime ago and has visited The Hub annually since 2001. In that respect, he was able to formulate his own opinions of Bostonian portrayals. Couple that with the Sox’s recent World Series victory and Boston was simply the rational choice to graph next.
That same affection is also how he responds to those who accuse Urbane of not knowing what they’re depicting because they’re not homegrown. “People will say what they want especially when you’re not a local. But you can only really be a local to one city.”
As for what’s next, Urbane has its sights set on the Mile-High City of Denver as well as San Diego as it continues to picture coastal municipalities while beginning to move towards America’s heartland.
How is your neighborhood depicted? Do you agree or disagree? Feel free to respectfully share your insights in the comments section below.
[Map via Urbane]
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