Navigation Challenges

With being lost such a widespread thing you think there would be all kind of possible solutions for the masses. While there are many solutions out there the core issue comes from figuring out where you are vs where you want to go. Most people will try this visually by looking at their surroundings and some will use some form of map and most surrounding ski resorts are more artistic representations vs actual reality. This is a location question pure and simple.

One notable quote we heard on the chair while looking at the resort map was, “I can never follow these trail maps when they stretch them. I can’t relate to it and find where I am let alone lunch.” Others mentioned they wanted a more realistic version including topo based markers they could follow. Both things do not exist on the trail map of today.

How do you help people overcome their navigation challenges? We suggest making their location easier to understand. Helping them trace their tracks from starting point to ending point. The faster you can do this the faster you can project forward to the next step.

We do this with standardized skimaps that have consistent markings and true world scale and directions. Also being GPS enabled knowing where you are is just a button push away at any time. All making where to find lunch much faster and easier. Leave the challenges on the mountain up to the terrain in front of you, not in how to get to it.

Find out more here.

Legal Descriptions

So what is a legal description? According to USLegal it’s “Legal description is the geographical description of a real estate property for the purpose of identifying the property for legal transactions. A legal description of the property unambiguously identifies the location, boundaries, and any existing easements on the property. A legal description of the real estate is usually provided in a deed, mortgage, or other purchase document. It can also be obtained from a county recorder, tax assessor, or similar official.” Basically it’s the basis for land ownership in the USA so it impacts a lot of things. Especially when they are old and impact items current day.

Really old descriptions can be from the 1800’s. Here is one from 1911.

And a slightly newer one from the 1980’s

So what do these look like? Do you have the original plat that was recorded with the description?

If you do not, OR if you want to see where several of these legal descriptions are in relation to one another we can plot them out for you. Seeing everything together in one map on an aerial is the easiest way to relate to the project.

This is also known as a meets and bounds description from a known point in what is known as “calls”. Several of these “calls” are strung together to describe the boundaries of a piece of land. Some descriptions can be pages long with some complicated angles and curves. Some can be as simple as the NW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 S 1/2 of section 9, Township 6 S Range 2 East.

If you know what all of that means and want a better way to view it or you would like some help making sense of it all, drop us a line we are more than happy to help decipher it all for you. Contact us

Optimizing Union Election Locations

We were contacted by Food Workers Union whose members *(numbering in the thousands) covered multiple states and hundreds of locations. The Union wanted to optimize poling locations for their upcoming elections. They wanted targeted locations within a certain distance and drive time of each store. The Union also wanted to keep crowds to a minimum so an upper limit of members per poling location was added.

With this information, we analyzed the location patterns of the data and provided a draft of preferred sites. We provided information in both map and excel form so the union could see the results and make revisions. With the preferred revisions from the union, we re-analyzed the preferred locations and finalized the process.

The end product was a large format PDF map of all locations and an excel list of selected locations. The map included all locations with the selected sites highlighted. Distance rings and drive time areas around each of the selected sites. Along with a resulting Trade Area used to calculate the max members per location.

Using this geographic analysis of Union locations and the associated membership numbers we successfully streamlined the poling location selection process. Optimizing the entire process for all involved.

We can perform this geographic analysis (or additional queries) for your Union or local membership as well. Let us know how we can help.