Alex B. Hill
@alexbhill.bsky.social
Dir. Data & Community Research. WSU Professor & Coordinator, Geospatial Learning Community. Author, Detroit in 50 Maps & Great Lakes in 50 Maps. Mapping on DETROITography.com, Detroit Free Press, Model D Media, and Great Lakes Now alexbhill.org
Mapping Flint: Out-of-State Property Owners
Mapping Flint: Out-of-State Property Owners
In 2016, I attended the Congress for New Urbanism event in Detroit, where data and tech startups were excitedly asking about the potential to buy up Flint real estate post-water crisis. I was surpr…
mappingflint.com
Discount bundles on allllll published 50 Maps books: 10% off if you buy one, 20% off if you buy two, 30% off if you buy three, 40% off if you buy four, and 50% off if you buy five. Stock up for the holidays!
I wrote about public libraries as spaces of civic solidarity, common knowledge, and public infrastructure — all endangered by commercial and federal saboteurs
Extralibrary Loan: Making the Civic Infrastructure We Need
Amid a war on public knowledge, libraries are pushing outward, enlarging the commons through new configurations of civic and creative life.
placesjournal.org
Event: Detroit GIS Day 2025 We are very excited this year to have Sharon Cornelissen as our keynote speaker this year. She is director of housing at the Consumer Federation of America and soon-to-be published book based on her dissertation work: “The Last House on the Block: Black Homeowners,…
Event: Detroit GIS Day 2025
We are very excited this year to have Sharon Cornelissen as our keynote speaker this year. She is director of housing at the Consumer Federation of America and soon-to-be published book based on her dissertation work: “The Last House on the Block: Black Homeowners, White Homesteaders, and Failed Gentrification in Detroit.” Check out the full list of panels, lightning talks, and workshops!
detroitography.com
Event: #Maptime Fall 2025 Series WHEN: Mondays, starting September 15th, from 12-4PM WHERE: Prentis Building Fishbowl, Wayne State University, 5201 Cass Ave. WHAT: Come co-work on your mapping project, get support learning GIS, or just chat about maps! RSVP: Let us know you're coming!
Event: #Maptime Fall 2025 Series
WHEN: Mondays, starting September 15th, from 12-4PM WHERE: Prentis Building Fishbowl, Wayne State University, 5201 Cass Ave. WHAT: Come co-work on your mapping project, get support learning GIS, or just chat about maps! RSVP: Let us know you're coming!
detroitography.com
I am such a fan of this kind of reporting -- and so well done! Congrats, @detdocumenters.bsky.social and @kobylevin.bsky.social. (Full disclosure: I did a deep dive on food prices in Detroit for Slate when Whole Foods opened in 2013.)
Detroit Documenters@detdocumenters.bsky.social · 12mo agoEarlier this summer, we sent 20 Detroit Docs around the city to document the situation with groceries — their availability, quality and prices. Read our four-part series to find out what they discovered! ⤵️ outliermedia.org/cheapest-gro...
The Mercator Projection was never supposed to be a standard for showing people what the world looks like and it's quite bad at that. Switching to Equal Earth is a good call even if I think some of the rhetoric is hyperbolic. www.reuters.com/world/africa...
African Union urges adoption of world map showing continent's true size
The African Union has backed a campaign to end the use by governments and international organisations of the 16th-century Mercator map of the world in favour of one that more accurately displays Africa's size.
reuters.com
Detroit By The Numbers: July 2025 Data Roundup I'm so excited that Detroit By The Numbers will be a new monthly segment on the Authentically Detroit podcast! We'll highlight significant data and numbers from the past month for Detroiters! Listen to the July Data Roundup 62 percent of active voters…
Detroit By The Numbers: July 2025 Data Roundup
I'm so excited that Detroit By The Numbers will be a new monthly segment on the Authentically Detroit podcast! We'll highlight significant data and numbers from the past month for Detroiters! Listen to the July Data Roundup 62 percent of active voters are aged 60 or over (BridgeDetroit). If you need to check your voting options and polling place visit…
detroitography.com
Where’s my polling place? Search new online tool to see voting location The Vote Detroit tool was created by Detroit activist Alex Hill in partnership with the Detroit Democracy Project and EngagedMI.
Where’s my polling place? Search new online tool to see voting location
The Vote Detroit tool was created by Detroit activist Alex Hill in partnership with the Detroit Democracy Project and EngagedMI.
bridgedetroit.com
Find Belt's @alexbhill.bsky.social, author of Great Lakes in 50 Maps, at Detroit Book Fest! detroitbookfest.com/detroit-book...
DBF x DPL live talks: Mark Crilley, Dr. Ricky Ross, Curtis Chin, The AstroTwins, and more! (Friday, July 18th, 2025) – Detroit Festival of Books
DBF x DPL live talks: Mark Crilley, Dr. Ricky Ross, Curtis Chin, The AstroTwins, and more! (Friday, July 18th, 2025) Detroit Public Library Detroit Festi
detroitbookfest.com
Map: Analysis of Speed Hump Efficacy in Detroit detroitography.com/2025/06/09/m... by @tedtansley.bsky.social
Map: Analysis of Speed Hump Efficacy in Detroit
Check out the interactive version of this map: by: Ted Tansley, Data Analyst The city of Detroit has been installing thousands of speed humps all around the city in the last couple of years, but ar…
detroitography.com
For a span of less than three weeks in 1998, Lake Champlain tasted greatness.
A look back at the 18 days when there were six Great Lakes
In March 1998, Lake Champlain had a taste of greatness.
milwaukeerecord.com
Welcome to the world, Great Lakes in 50 Maps!!! 🌊https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/collections/50-maps/products/9781540270009 @alexbhill.bsky.social
Great Lakes in 50 Maps
The largest freshwater system on Earth, like you’ve never seen it before. The Great Lakes region is home to one-tenth of the United States’ population, and one-quarter of Canada’s. Even if we remember...
arcadiapublishing.com
In 2020, the City of Detroit filed three high-profile lawsuits targeting some of Detroit’s most notorious slumlords and speculators. Five years later, it dropped them with no settlements, no explanation and no public announcement. 🤔 So ... what changed?
Detroit dropped slumlord lawsuits against notorious speculators
The City of Detroit quietly dropped slumlord lawsuits against Michael Kelly and Stephen Hagerman without notice or settlement.
outliermedia.org
Check out our interview with map-maker and author Alex B. Hill! Great Lakes in 50 Maps comes to stores and mailboxes near you June 3rd, and it's on sale till pub day. 🦆 beltpublishing.com/pages/interv...
Event: Detroit Data Forum: Health Data and Assessments Welcome to our Data Forum where we will discuss City, County, and Hospital health assessments in Detroit. Join us online for lunch-and-learn filled with insightful discussions, tips, and tricks on all things related to the data. We’ll be…
Event: Detroit Data Forum: Health Data and Assessments
Welcome to our Data Forum where we will discuss City, County, and Hospital health assessments in Detroit. Join us online for lunch-and-learn filled with insightful discussions, tips, and tricks on all things related to the data. We’ll be joined by the Tiffani Stewart and the Detroit Health Department team releasing their latest Community Health Assessment (CHA), Katerina Stylianou sharing the most recent Wayne County health assessment results, and…
detroitography.com
New interview with author and cartographer @alexbhill.bsky.social is on Belt's site now --> beltpublishing.com/pages/interv...
"Cartographer Hill delivers a diverting compendium of 50 different views of the 'vast inland freshwater seas' along the border between the U.S. and Canada... Readers will be able to while away the hours with this one." -PW beltpublishing.com/products/gre... @alexbhill.bsky.social
Great Lakes in 50 Maps
By Alex B. HillJune 3, 2025 The largest freshwater system on Earth, like you’ve never seen it before. The Great Lakes region is home to one-tenth of the United States’ population, and one-quarter of ...
beltpublishing.com
Map: The Geography of Voting in Detroit Voting in Detroit is not known to be easy and the numbers of voters reflect that difficulty. Election Day confusion is well-known and documented even amongst regular voters. Polling places have changed and in some cases changed again. In 2020, the City Clerk…
Map: The Geography of Voting in Detroit
Voting in Detroit is not known to be easy and the numbers of voters reflect that difficulty. Election Day confusion is well-known and documented even amongst regular voters. Polling places have changed and in some cases changed again. In 2020, the City Clerk noted that some 40,000 Detroiters were subject to a polling place update two weeks prior to the election.
detroitography.com
Have 20% of the world's freshwater in your backyard? Grab a nice cold glass and pre-order Great Lakes in 50 Maps. 🥤☺️Refreshing. beltpublishing.com/products/gre... @alexbhill.bsky.social
Great Lakes in 50 Maps
By Alex B. HillJune 3, 2025 The largest freshwater system on Earth, like you’ve never seen it before. The Great Lakes region is home to one-tenth of the United States’ population, and one-quarter of ...
beltpublishing.com
Check out last month’s newsletter! April was a busy month, with lots of updates and news to share. Here are a few summaries, but make sure to read the April Newsletter in full! glos.org/news-events/...
“Save Science Now” is a new initiative created by @ucsusa.bsky.social to raise awareness and highlight support for scientific research in the United States. Learn how you can #SupportScience and pass it along to others in your life: buff.ly/fYmAfaR #GeoSky #ScienceMatters #GeoSky
Take a long look at the watershed between the US and Canada, find all the lighthouses, track how the birds fly, spot monsters, and more from @alexbhill.bsky.social. Pre-order now and get your copy first (and tell your libraries and bookstores to order)
Great Lakes in 50 Maps
By Alex B. HillJune 3, 2025 The largest freshwater system on Earth, like you’ve never seen it before. The Great Lakes region is home to one-tenth of the United States’ population, and one-quarter of ...
beltpublishing.com
Event: Detroit Regional Transit Fantasy Support Group with TRU Join the annual and unofficial Detroit Regional Transit Fantasy Support (DRTFS) Group. Come see the great transit fantasy maps of the Detroit region and make your own! Propose people mover expansions or subway tunnel routes. Rocket…
Event: Detroit Regional Transit Fantasy Support Group with TRU
Join the annual and unofficial Detroit Regional Transit Fantasy Support (DRTFS) Group. Come see the great transit fantasy maps of the Detroit region and make your own! Propose people mover expansions or subway tunnel routes. Rocket buses or rail lines. We'll focus the evening with Transit Riders United (TRU) sharing steps we can all take to improve mass public transit in the Detroit region.
detroitography.com
This is an EXCELLENT article. I teach statistics to public policy students & tell them that data are essential for making the world a better place. We need good data to assess the state of things, see how things have changed over time, & evaluate if policies work. www.propublica.org/article/trum...
Trump’s War on Measurement Means Losing Data on Drug Use, Maternal Mortality, Climate Change and More
By slashing teams that gather critical data, the administration has left the federal government with no way of understanding if policies are working — and created a black hole of information whose con...
propublica.org
EPA has a new mission under Trump and a downsizing looms. What are the consequences? “What is happening today is far more dangerous than past attempts by new administrations to rebalance EPA priorities,” a former EPA exec says. www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/04/expe...
Experts explain criticality of regional EPA office | Great Lakes Now
Cultural connection to the region allows EPA staff to bring value to the Great Lakes, former EPA executive Dave Ullrich says.
greatlakesnow.org
Detroit by the Numbers: State of the City 2014 - 2025 detroitography.com/2025/04/07/d...
Detroit by the Numbers: State of the City 2014 – 2025
by: Ted Tansley, Data Analyst Mike Duggan’s tenure as Mayor of Detroit has been focused on data. The number of residents in the city, number of demolitions, number of jobs brought to the city, numb…
detroitography.com
For National Library Week, we can't recommend enough @shannonmattern.bsky.social's 2014 essay "Library as Infrastructure." A decade on, it remains a potent argument for libraries as social, technological & intellectual infrastructure — part of a critical network of institutions buoying public life.
Library as Infrastructure
Reading room, social service center, innovation lab. How far can we stretch the public library?
placesjournal.org
Map: Little Village Detroit detroitography.com/2025/04/04/m...
Map: Little Village Detroit
This new arts focused effort claims to be attempting to bring the redevelopment of Detroit beyond Downtown. The effort is spearheaded by the Library Street Collective owners Anthony and JJ Curis, w…
detroitography.com
