Alan McConchie

New post: our basemaps got some refreshed water details thanks to our partners at @stadiamaps.com! Check it out on the blog: stamen.com/refreshing-n...

Learn about the OSM cartography landscape in this presentation at #SOTMUS2026: youtu.be/gIMXE9hHagg?... 🦩 🦩 🦩 #basemap #cartography #OpenStreetMap #OSM #StateoftheMapUS

I wrote a recap of the SOTMUS2026 conference for the @stamen.com blog:

I love this idea of natural comparisons between #ProportionalRepresentation and non-PR countries around the world, noting that it's almost like having a scientific control group: * Ireland (PR) vs UK * Germany (PR) vs France * New Zealand (PR) vs Australia www.fairvote.ca/23/07/2026/h...

How can #Cascadia increase its fiscal autonomy? Creating state public banks in Oregon and Washington. North Dakota, a deeply red state, has the only public bank in the US and it pumps billions of dollars back into the local economy: www.cascadia-journal.com/cascadia-sho...

New on the blog: "On Sin," in which I meditate on cartographic ethics, and invite discussion on a thorny problem: how we might decide if or when the inaccuracies embedded in a #map cause it to become unethical.

"... between 1989 and 2025, the top 0.1% increased its share of household wealth from 8.6% to 14.5%, while the top 1% as a whole climbed from 22.8% to 31.9%." Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/americas-wealth-distribution-1989-2025/?mc_cid=c41c17f241&mc_eid=ba878cf8b5

New work! "Mapping Boston’s Curbs: Designing a Public Interface for the City’s New Curb Lab" stamen.com/mapping-bost... #Boston #SmartCities #OpenSource #OpenData #Urbanism

Hey cartographers and map-adjacent people, take our quick survey! We'll be sharing our results at the upcoming @osmus.bsky.social "State of the Map US" conference next month. #cartography

These diagramatic maps of the “decade volcanoes“ are glorious. All by Catalina Plé: www.catalinaple.com/home/decadev... 🌋

In case anyone missed it, at @stamen.com we're conducting our first-ever "Cartographic Design and Development Workflow Census". If you are someone who works with maps or geospatial data this short survey might be for you! Bookshelf pic "for the algorithm" :) stamen.com/2026-carto-c...

Stamen is working on a research project about the existing map design & development tooling landscape: what tools people use, where there are gaps, and how workflows could be improved in the future. If you have 10 minutes, please consider filling out our census here! forms.gle/ZWt2m2Yq3o5C...

Nobody asked, but hey we just enabled HTTPS on Pretty Maps, an old project from 2010 by Stamen alum Aaron Straup Cope (@thisisaaronland.bsky.social). Amazing that it still works! Enjoy it here: prettymaps.stamen.com #ttmprettymaps #prettymaps #maps #cartography #design #flickr

New tutorial post on the blog: "Urban Relativity," discussing my method for comparing city populations with their surroundings, which I sometimes use to help decide which cities to show on a map, and which to leave off. somethingaboutmaps.wordpress.com/2026/03/23/u...

Hey #WashingtonState & especially those in #WhatcomCounty: Call the legislative hotline today at 800-562-6000 in support of SB 6346, the Millionaires Tax. Now it needs a vote in the state House, but Rep. Alicia Rule of the 42nd LD so far is against it. washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/03/04/h...

New video explaining #ProportionalRepresentation from @sightline.org www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PWe...

Very excited that there's another season coming of the excellent #podcast "The Future of Our Former Democracy". If you want to understand the social context of the electoral reforms that I keep going on about, this podcast is a great listen! #RankedChoiceVoting play.megaphone.fm/jje8qgvlr3ih...

Immediate action needed today to help #RankedChoiceVoting in Washington State! Call the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000, and leave a message for your House Representatives that you strongly support bringing HB 2210 (the VOICES Act) bill to the floor before Tuesday's 5 PM cutoff!

🏁 The race is on! Can we count on each of you to ask 3 friends to sign in PRO for the Millionaires Tax? Let's show lawmakers that we're ready to balance our tax code and fund the necessities! Send your friends this link ➡️ https://investwanow.org/sign-pro-millionaires-tax

Another action to help #RankedChoiceVoting in Washington State: If you're a Washington voter, sign in "pro" for SHB 2210 before its hearing at the House Appropriations Committee tomorrow (Thu Feb 5) at 10:30am app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Testifie...

My friend Nathan Carnes generated a full set of #BellinghamWA maps using #OpenStreetMap data and the #MapToPoster script by Ankur Gupta. View and download them here: bellingham-maps.nathancarnes.com Make your own here: github.com/originalanku...

Loving the new "Constellation Map" view on Native Land Digital: native-land.ca/maps/constel... #NativeLand #IndigenousMapping #NativeLandDigital

Good news for #ProportionalRepresentation: "48% of adults say they would support a system where states are required to assign seats in the U.S. House in proportion to the number of votes won statewide, while 19% are opposed. 32% of respondents said 'don’t know'" open.substack.com/pub/gelliott...

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/s... Gerrymandering researcher Moon Duchin: "I think taking a hard look at the design of electoral systems could get us out of this nuclear moment. One system I’m studying is proportional ranked choice voting, also known as the single transferable vote method."

What do we map in the shadows? Our iconic Toner map style, now in dark mode! Read about how we developed "Toner Dark" and "Toner Blacklite" on the blog now: stamen.com/what-we-map-.... Both styles are available from our friends at @stadiamaps@en.osm.town here: stadiamaps.com/explore-the-....

Our pretty new train is on its way to the east coast for more tests. In 2026, Amtrak Cascades will operate 8 new trains. The trains feature a Pacific Northwest-inspired design, comfy seats, big windows, and regional food and beverages.

Beautiful map of precipitation and tree canopy height around the #SalishSea, by Dave Taylor of Pathfinder Geospatial: www.maps.com/the-soaked-c...

Hello friends! No, Maptime HQ is not "back", we are still on indefinite hiatus. But! There are still many decentralized #maptime chapters that are active around the world, so we wanted to create a centralized MaptimeHQ account to *occasionally* repost that mappy goodness. We miss you all! ❤️🌈

Our politics is as dysfunctional as ever. Voters want change, but our elections leave tens of millions w/out real choices on their ballot or a voice in our democracy. A new report from the American Academy of Arts & Sciences shows how #ProportionalRepresentation can change that. Full report below🧵

Important alert for people who like working while a light white noise is playing in the background, there is a family of whales singing next to the Moss Landing Marine Lab hydrophone right now and you should listen! radio.garden/visit/moss-l...

It was so much fun working on these fascinating brain maps for UCSF neuroscientists! Check it out:

This looks awesome: "Join us for the first ever Bellingham Subdued Saunter! A self-paced nearly 20 mile walk exploring Bellingham." givebutter.com/subduedsaunter #BellinghamWA

I just added one of these to #OpenStreetMap. Need to get these local tree experts involved in mapping! #BellinghamWA

Commentary from 25 county auditors in #WashingtonState: "Vote-at-home is the law in Washington — and it works" washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/09/16/v... #Elections #VoteByMail #uspol #USPolitics

Happy National Voter Registration Day to those who celebrate

gerrymandering in pre-warp cultures

#KPopDemonHunters #PopVsSoda

This is a big deal! #RankedChoiceVoting & #ProportionalRepresentation are in the top 5 issues that local voters care about. Voters are fed up with dysfunctional government, and they know electoral reform can fix our democracy. Now will our local elected officials pay attention to what voters want?

One of my customers had so much fun visiting the Map Center that he came back a few days later with a camera. He made this magnificent short documentary about my store, about me, and why I bother to do any of it at all. It's really lovely and I hope you watch it! youtu.be/Dj9uKpk3Idk?...

We managed to go 7 years since the last proposal to partition #California. I just updated #Wikipedia with a map of the latest Republican plan to split off inland California from the coastal counties. (And no, it's never going to happen). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partiti...

Hey #WhatcomCounty: fill out the poll for Cascadia Daily's "Citizens Agenda" and shape the questions they will ask of local candidates. In particular, I encourage you to pick #15 about Ranked Choice Voting and #36 about Gerrymandering, but there are a lot of other good topics too. #BellinghamWA

We finally wrote part 3 of Stamen's history of #OpenStreetMap (only four years after we wrote parts 1 and 2, lol). Enjoy a long read including many Stamen maps from over the past two decades, created by the amazing team of coworkers & alums I've had the pleasure of working with over the years.

Very much enjoying the #BlenderMaps in this scrollytelling piece from Reuters about the potential sale of public lands: www.reuters.com/graphics/USA... #cartography #maps #dataviz

Professional project work making it's debut!! You can now check out an interactive *generalized* zoning & land use map for almost all of Washington State. It has data up to the end of 2024. So recent municipal middle housing code updates are not captured. Still, a strong tool to check out!

Both parties are threatening to gerrymander their way to an advantage in Congress. The Fair Representation Act would end gerrymandering wars with: 🔢 #RankedChoiceVoting 👫 Multi-member districts ✍️ New redistricting rules Learn about the #FairRepAct ⬇️ fairvote.org/press/fair-r...