Modeling Our Local Communities

As I was thinking about what we should be doing with KML, I came upon Google's community modeling initiative using Sketch-Up. I thought, "We need to develop a collaborative initiative to begin modeling Utah's communities", then I discovered that Google has already created a model of the Utah State Capitol., the thing that I thought should be first on the to-do list. So, now that the first thing is done, we can start on the next. Well, then I discovered that quite a few more are already done, including The Gateway Shopping Center, Deseret National Bank Building, the Salt Lake Public Library, the Energy Solutions Arena, the Salt Palace Convention Center, the Wells Fargo Center, even the New Harmony Library. Someone has also modeled many of the buildings at Utah State University. So, that gives us a good start. The next step is to set up local collaborative city modeling efforts like these. When this is complete, we will be on our way to enabling the creation of a more virtual world. Here are the steps to begin. I have photos that I have been collecting of many Utah government buildings, so I'll get started soon.

City modeling of some of my favorite places:

• Madrid
• Prague
• Boston
• Sevilla - I like this model of the Torre de Oro
  
• Murcia
• Barcelona

This map gives you a great tour of where the most recent modeling activity is happening.