My Idea of Heaven: Place, Part II

My Idea of Heaven, 8x8" ©2011 K. Hambric

I once saw a photograph of an intersection in Seattle.  On each corner was a coffee shop.  This is my idea of heaven.  Imagine the smell.  Fragrant of memory and of promise.  A brew of stories.  Caffeine!

I love cities.  Most of my vacations are centered around cities. 

I love maps of cities.  I used to draw fantasy city maps.  Others drew maps of fantasy lands (after they had read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, of course).  As a child I would create city maps out of just about anything:  paper and pencils, dominos, Tinker Toys, clothes pins, game pieces, empty cartons, building blocks, and probably 200 other items. 

My goal was to become a city planner.  I wanted to design cities from the bottom up.  From scratch.  All new.  Later I realized that was impossible.  Like plants and people, cities grow.  From towns.  From villages.  From a settlement of a handful of houses, a blacksmith shop and a general store (and/or a saloon).  Out and up.  Neighborhoods form, grow, and often, eventually die.

While I love to be in a city with a map, most of the time I have to be content at home with a map.  What do I do with surplus computer time?  Head to GoogleMaps.  Zoom in.  Zoom out.  Where do I think the rich people live?  Could those large masses in the central city be a convention center (replacing what was thought to be a declining neighborhood)?  Does that mass of restaurant, coffee, and shopping icons indicate a vibrant urban node, perhaps gentrified?

. . . I can smell the coffee now. . 

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