Do you have more maps than you need in your car?

[Cardinal]

Michaelskis posted this question in another htread, and it's one that I think deserves its own.

I have the usual maps of Wisconsin, Illinois, Milwaukee and Madison in the glove compartment. They are supplemented by the AAA map of the Cnetral States, a map of France, and a National Geographic map of the Pacific Ocean floor. While I have yet to use these last two, it gives me great comfort to know they are there.

 

[jordanb]

I sure don't.

 

[SGB]

another AAA map junkie

I've got the following AAA maps in my car:

1) New York State
2) Vermont & New Hampshire
3) Northeastern U.S.
4) Ontario, Canada
5) Ottawa, Ontario

Maps by others:
5) Tompkins County, NY
6) St. Lawrence County, NY

Do I use these often? No. I occasionally use the NY map if I'm going someplace new, which is a rarity.

Mostly they just take up space in the handy front door map pockets.

 

[michaelskis]

Hmmm lets see

Berks County PA Map Book
PA Map
OH Map
WI Map
2 Michigan Maps
Illinois Tourism
3 City of Reading (one I made and two to burn)
Sault Suite Marie MI
Upper Michigan Tourism
PA Tourism
and the a US Atlas

 

[Planderella]

No, but I certainly have my share of other junk in my car.

 

[biscuit]

Maps currently in the car:
Pennsylvania
Allegheny County, PA
Green County, PA
Ohio
West Virginia
Monongahela River Trails Map
Maryland
Washington, DC
Virginia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Oconee County, SC
Georgia

I think that's it. I really should clean out my car.

 

[OhioPlanner]

Louisiana
Texas
Mississippi
Dallas
Eastern US

Of course, I don't have an Ohio map in the car. I discovered this last week as I was somewhat lost. I haven't shifted my map collection since I moved north 2 years ago.

 

[donk]

NB. Use the detailed office map book and photocopy what i need, plus a tourist version from 5 or 6 years ago.
Halifax-buy a new one every trip. I think I have 2-3
Moncton - my nemesis, I get lost there pretty much every time I go there
Ottawa-not used in 2-3 years
Eastern US - a few at various scales
Quebec - just in case traffic in montreal is bad and I have to get off the main highway to travel.

Mass- for visiting friends and trying to figure out if I want to apply job or not.

More and more I use mapquest for these things.

 

[JNA]

Illinois & Shawnee National Forest
Indiana & County
Kentucky & Land Between the Lakes (LBL) Trails
West Virginia
Maryland
Ohio
Pennsylvania
New Jersey

 

[Plannerbabs]

In the Golf: Indiana, Indianapolis, and Northern Great Britain (for a road trip I'm planning someday). In the Subie: Illinois, the Dakotas, Portland and Seattle, New York, Pennsylvania, and assorted topo maps. Plus in both cars, a bunch of coffee cups rolling around, a yoga mat, and a dog collar for the next stray I come across. You just never know when you're going to need to teach downward dog to a wayward dog in North Dakota, so it's best to be prepared.

 

[Big Easy King]

I only have a map of the New Orleans area, inclusive of surrounding areas, in my truck. I've had it for years and it's torn and crusty. I can't get rid of it though.

 

[otterpop]

Can a planner/geographer have too many maps?

Currently I have in my car maps of Montana, Wyoming, Cody, Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Tetons, the Montana Gazeteer, BC. and Alberta, Idaho, North and South Dakota, Helena-Great Falls. Hey I even have a National Geographic map of the West Indies, but have no immediate plans to drive there.

 

[SlaveToTheGrind]

Ever since I was young buckaroo, I have always been intersted in maps. My parental units subscribed to Nat'l Geo. which had several maps included every year. I loved looking at them, more so than trying to find naked women on the pages. Of course now it may be different, hey each have their beauty. Anyway, this love of maps and geography I think is was pointed me towards the planning profession, hell, it wasn't for the $$$.

 

[kms]

RIght now, there is a map of Maryland in the car; I plan on visiting someone there soon. I keep the road maps in a file drawer, filed by state, including tourism info. I have another Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio. I keep an US atlas/road map, a Pennsylvania Gazeteer, lots of local topo maps (but not the local quad). The walls near the kitchen have a world map, a US map, a PA relief map, a PA counties map, 4 8x10 PA resource maps and a map of town. Those on the wall are for the kids to reference, and they do.

 

[tsc]

ahhh... the highways around us are like a plate of spaghetti..... they cross and wind all over each other..... always have:

Hagstrom Street Map
NY Thruway Map...
crumpled up NJ map....

 

[Chet]

I would say yes - you never know when a raod trip is going to happen!

2 Wisconsin state maps
1 illinois state map
1 madison map
2 milwaukee maps of differing details
2 chicago maps of differing details
US map east of Mississippi river
US map west of Mississippi river
USA Road Atlas (big bound one!)
Georgia highway map
Florida highway map
Michigan entire state highway map
Michigan UP only highway map
Minnesota state highway map

 

[nerudite]

I have the Rand McNally Road Atlas that kicks around in my car and/or in my house, depending if I'm on a trip or planning a trip. Now that I'm settling in to Edmonton, I'll probably see if they have a "Thomas Guide" type of map to the city. I never left the house without one in Los Angeles... it's the only way to find places in a city that huge. Otherwise, I download maps off the Internet these days.

 

[moose]

I just have the pertinent maps in the car (Portland, Oregon, Washington), but I have a whole drawerful of maps in my desk at home (covering ALL of California, and much of the western US)

 

[PlannerGirl]

Lets see...
Map of downtown DC
Map of DC (all of it)
Arlington map
Nova Map
Maryland Map
North Carolina map

Yes i use all of them-i STILL get lost in this damn area!!

 

[nerudite]

The walls near the kitchen have a world map, a US map, a PA relief map, a PA counties map, 4 8x10 PA resource maps and a map of town. Those on the wall are for the kids to reference, and they do.

I have two walls in our new house that I'm planning on converting to map walls. I used to have this beautiful laminated US map that a dear friend gave me, which was unfortunately ruined by water damage a few years ago. I would like to replace it, because it was awesome.

 

[el Guapo]

I mapquest or yahoo when I am going somewhere anymore. Other than that, I only have the State Farm US road atlas in the brick. Most of the Central US & Northern Europe has already been committed to memory. If I have been there once I can get back again.

 

[Zoning Goddess]

Florida Atlas and Gazetteer, to ferret out all the back roads around the state.

Map of the Orlando metro area.

All other maps, guidebooks, etc. are in the "Travel/trip planning" drawer in the family room

 

[nerudite]

Yes i use all of them-i STILL get lost in this damn area!!

Try the Thomas Guides for the D.C. area. It's a very detailed atlas (probably about 100 pages long) broken down by street and address. I'm sure your local bookstore would have them... the are invaluable, and I wish they made them up here in Canada.

http://www.thomasguidebooks.com/cgi-bin/shop.pl/SID=649432135/page=thomas_guides.htm

 

[Bullwinkle]

The only maps I have in my truck are the Boise, Payette and Nez Perce National Forest Maps and a few quad sheets from the area that I where I will be hunting in a couple of weeks.

My wife's Explorer - the road trip car - has maps from most of the western states. You never know when you might need to drive a couple thousand miles.

 

[SlaveToTheGrind]

I have two walls in our new house that I'm planning on converting to map walls. I used to have this beautiful laminated US map that a dear friend gave me, which was unfortunately ruined by water damage a few years ago. I would like to replace it, because it was awesome.

I plan on doing the same thing. At a previous job, a elderly lady gave to the city planning deparment a lot of her husbands work he and done in the city (he was an architect). Included were lined back nat'l geographic maps from the 1930s and 1940s. It's interesting to see how boundaries have changed since then. I think I have all but one continent.

 

[SkeLeton]

Southern Chile road map... We rarely go farther than that on a road trip....

 

[ecofem]

Yes. Miscellaneous southeastern states, my trusty Gazetteer for Florida, a variety of topos... and a AAA map of Washington State... because you just never know when you're going to drive cross-country and need it. (Really, I'm just too lazy to clean out my car)

 

[DecaturHawk]

I have collected street maps since I was a kid and I believe that it was my love of maps that led me to my city planning career. I now own about 800 maps of cities around the world. I also collect official state highway maps from Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa (my oldest is the 1930 Illinois Secretary of State version). In addition, I collect campus maps and comprehensive plan poster maps. Love them maps. Yeah, I know it's weird.

Have about 12 of 'em in the glove box (Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, St. Louis, Metro East St. Louis, Springfield/Decatur IL, Cedar Rapids IA, a bunch of others).

If you love maps, you might be interested in the Road Map Collectors Association.

 

[steveanne]

Hmmmm....

State of Illinois
Chicago and outlying areas
Rand McNally's 2002 Atlas
Rochester, NY
Rochester Metro Area
Orlando, FL
Illinois Bike Trails Map (why is that in my car?)
Chicago Metra Map
Downtown Chicago Free Trolley Map (I'm cheap!)
various Mapquest printouts that end up in my back seat

 

[JNL]

2 map-books: one road map for the country (I live in a relatively small country), and another for more detail of my local region.

 

[mike gurnee]

Just state maps of I-70 & 64: CO, KS, MO, IL, IN, KY, WV

 

[boiker]

lame

because i rarely travel out of state and am lazy

i have:

IDOT 1996-97 Illinois map
IDOT 2000-01 Illinois map
Rand McNally 2001 Illinois map
IDOT 2001-02 Illinois map (large print edition)
IDOT 2001-02 Illinois map
Rand McNally 2001 Peoria, IL region map

 

[Tranplanner]

If I have been there once I can get back again.

Me too. I have a lot of maps, because I used to collect them when I was younger - but I don't have any in my car. Usually, I know where I'm going.

If I'm going somewhere I've never been before (out of province), I'll do some research and commit the directions to memory. It always amazes my wife that I just seem to be able to "find" any place we're going to.

 

[Chet]

I mapquest or yahoo when I am going somewhere anymore.

OOOOH Dont rely on those!

I relied on mapblast to go from Milwaukee to Newport News VA (I purchased a 1961 VW Kharmann Ghia on eBay and had to drive out to trailer it back). The diretions were fine Wisconsin through Ohio, then all of a sudden all of the "turn left" and "turn right" instructions were reversed.

Got lost in rual Penn. Heard banjos. Got scared.

Figured it out eventually, but the problem with mapblast is, you have a map of your route. Deviate from the route, and you have no map.

 

[martini]

Being a certified map geek, yes, I have many many maps strewn about in the house and the cars. What I've got, I'm not really sure, but several Delorme Topo books can be found, as well as Topos of colorado and minnesota. The requisite atlas for the US. Several Wisco maps, Minneapolis, Madison, Sodak, Nodak, Trail maps up the wazoo for many locations both west and east, plus the prized old school pull down map of the US from my wifes school she works at.

 

[The Irish One]

got to have maps. I'm not big on clutter but I do have maps in the truck that are organized in a folder behind the seat. as well as a pocket sized dictionary and first aid kit.

 

[Mud Princess]

Oh gosh yes. I'm nowhere near my car right now, so I can't list them all, but my Subaru has a ton of space in which to store things... like roadmaps. I also have one of those big DeLorme state books. I feel lost if I'm in someone else's car.

 

[martini]

This is generally how I read maps. Might be work sensitive though, depending on how touchy people are...