With Manhattan Elsewhere, Jason Kottke updates Bill Rankin’s Errant Isle of Manhattan using Google Maps and Google Earth (Rankin used MapQuest). The idea is to play off the differences in size and density; in both projects, it’s very surprising to see how small Manhattan is compared to other conurbations.

Depending on your vantage point, Manhattan seems either very big or very small. On [a] complete map of the New York City area, Manhattan is dwarfed in size by the other four boroughs and surrounding megopolis. But for someone on the ground in Manhattan, the population density, the height of the buildings, the endless number of things to do, and the fact that many people don’t often leave their neighborhoods, much less the island, for weeks/months on end makes it seem a very large place indeed. This divergence sense of scales can cause quite a bit of cognitive dissonance for residents and visitors alike.

Blog entry; MetaFilter. See previous entry: Radical Cartography.