There are better cartographers out there

This map can currently be found at bus stops all over Washington, DC. It's an advertisement for the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse, a government organization that "supports efforts to assist States and communities to promote and support Responsible Fatherhood." The sentiment is more than admirable, it's crucial: if you're a dad, spend time with your children. The poster/ad shows places where one can go out and have fun at any number of neat, free parks all over the city.

Of course, as a cartographer and a curmudgeon, I have a few gripes. The design leaves more than a little to be desired. Why are there drop shadows on the orange circles used as labels for the parks, but no shadow on the part that points to the locations? The linework used for the roads is clunky, and there are some terrible transitions from one level of road hierarchy to another (like where Virginia Avenue NW ends at the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway). The interior glow on the bodies of water and the parks seems like an unnecessary embellishment. But the biggest problem is the labeling of roads.

First, why are the quadrant labels a mix of upper- and lower-case letters (i.e. Ne instead of NE)? Second, there are many, many errors, such as North Capital Street instead of the correct North Capitol Street, and South Capitol Street is labeled North Capitol Street Ne—a double error. Here's a not necessarily exhaustive list:

• 17th Street NW label next to White House is the wrong color.
• H Street NW is labeled H St Ne.
• Cleveland Avenue NW labeled Ceveland Ave Nw.
• Massachusetts Avenue NW labeled Massachusetts Ave Ne twice.
• Rock Creek Church Road NW labeled Allison Street Nw.
• 7th St NW label too far north (falls on Georgia Avenue NW).
• New York Avenue NW labeled New York Ave Ne.
• 29th Street NW labeled 29th St N.
• 19th Street NW in Foggy Bottom labeled 18th St Nw.
• Maine Ave label obscured by Thomas Jefferson Memorial label.
• 2nd St Ne label technically straddles NE and SE.
• 13th Street NE is labeled 13th St Nw.
• Rhode Island Avenue NW is labeled Rhode Island Ave Ne.
• Why is T Street NW even labeled for the short section of it that's highlighted?
• Michigan Avenue NE is labeled Michigan Ave Nw.
• It falls off the right edge of the map, but the label on 21st Street NE appears to say 21st Sh St Ne.
• Other labels, which fell within the extent of the PDF of the poster (see link below) were cut off in the version hung in the bus shelters.

Do you see any more errors? Point them—and any thoughts on the map's design—out in the comments.

(A PDF of the map can be found here.)

"The problem with Anacostia is no metro access."

See that quote above? Megan McArdle, who blogs for The Atlantic, wrote that as a comment on an article she wrote titled "Why Are There No Houses for Sale in DC?"

To start with, her premise is false. There are plenty of houses for sale in DC. Without knowing precisely her requirements, it's difficult to tell where she has been looking, but as a homeowner in Trinidad who pays close attention to when houses come on and go off the market, I know that there is a decent inventory of homes available in our neighborhood, and in many other neighborhoods in the city.

David Garber, who writes the blog And Now, Anacostia, commented and asked if she had looked in Historic Anacostia for a home. Her reply, quoted in the title for this article, shows unfamiliarity, if not downright ignorance, when it comes to this city. Look at the map below:


View Historic Anacostia in a larger map

The Anacostia metro station is highlighted in red, and the Anacostia neighborhood is highlighted in yellow. The green line along Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue is approximately 1000 feet long. That's how far it is from the edge of the neighborhood to the Metro station.

If Ms. McArdle honestly believes that Anacostia has no Metro access, I'll gladly take her on a tour of the city to help familiarize her with its neighborhoods. Perhaps then she'll see there are homes for sale, and that maybe she needs a new real-estate agent who knows the city better than the one that hasn't been able to find her a home so far.