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What's New in Community Maps (August 2018)

By Shane Matthews

Through the Community Maps Program organizations contribute their local geographic content which is published and freely-hosted by Esri. Everything from basemap layers such as parks and trees, to imagery and stream gauge data can be contributed.

Detailed large-scale basemap layers and high-resolution imagery shared to the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World are what set Basemaps in ArcGIS apart from other mapping APIs.

When I speak with local governments, regional council of governments, universities and other like organizations that provide their local authoritative content through the Community Maps Program, I tell them to let the basemaps on ArcGIS Online truly reflect their communities. I encourage them to empower themselves and contribute to a trusted foundation that helps them accomplish their work, helps them create better web maps and applications, and deliver better resources to their citizens. Below are a few examples of how these maps can be transformed when ‘local-knowledge geography’ is added.

The left panel in the images that follow illustrate content supplied through the Community Maps Program. Click on the images for the best view.

Bardstown, KY
Bothell, WA
Gillette-Campbell County, WY
Pasco, WA
Dover, DE
Rutherford County, TN
Umatilla, OR

Latest Release

This month 48 communities have shared new and updated map layers in support of Esri’s expanding suite of high-performance basemaps and imagery services. Map layers include aerial photography, boundaries, buildings, owner parcels, parks, points of interest, trees, and similar large-scale features that enhance our foundational information sets for the world to use.

Tour our newest communities by clicking the interactive Story Map below.

What's New in Community Maps (August 2018)

How does my organization contribute?

It’s easy! The Community Maps Program works with authoritative GIS data contributions to build the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World consisting of reference and thematic maps covering a wide variety of topics. Community Maps Program contributors participate by sharing data to one or more of the following categories.

You can begin contributing by registering here!

Upcoming Webinar

Personalize your maps with vector basemaps

Ready to take your maps to the next level? Vector tiles enable dynamic cartography and provide the flexibility to create your own basemap style. In our September 6, 2018 webinar, we will show you how to use the new ArcGIS Vector Tile Style Editor to personalize your maps. We’ll also walk you through an inspiring gallery of creative map styles that incorporate new map features and labels.

Register for the webinar here!

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