Why Make Chat Maps?

If you walk down your street, you can see all the buildings and the monuments, but if you do not know the story behind this building or that monument, you can not understand the meaning of that stuff to the people who live there. Chat Maps are created to uncover and share the stories behind the neighborhood, helping people understand their significance to the local community.

How Do I Make Chat Maps?

1. Sit down with a family member or neighborhood
2. Use a mobile device to record their stories
3. Drop pins on a digital map for each story
4. Upload the map to Chat Maps

Who Uses My Chat Maps?

• Community support groups organize story tours for children and newcomers to help them understand the beliefs and perspectives of local residents.
• A entrepreneur plans to launch a new business in your neighborhood and aims to make it relevant to the existing community by incorporating local stories into their business plan and building design.
• A local political representative seeks to understand how to make a decision that impacts your neighborhood. To do this, they draw on local stories to tailor their proposal to the community’s needs and values.
• Neighbors can identify and document recurring needs in the community, share their stories, and advocate for change with their elected representatives.