The Baltimore Green Map Project was initiated to provide geographically-linked information about local resources and to map progress toward creating a healthier, more sustainable environment in Baltimore City. Its goals include consciousness-raising and constituency-building for environmental stewardship activities and political advocacy. The more people value and use the existing environmentally-oriented educational, recreational, economic, social, cultural, and civic resources, the more they will grow and prosper. Read our Map the Positive! blog for more about why we do what we do.

Baltimore, Maryland is a city of 640,000 people. Its four urban watersheds are all feeders to the larger ecology of the Chesapeake Bay. Restoring the health of the Bay is a hot regional topic. Eventually we hope to map all four watersheds.

Our first print project, the Jones Falls Trail Green Map, made its debut on September 21st, 2008 at the Jones Falls' Rally for the River! a festival that turns the northbound lanes of our interstate highway over to strollers, bikers, roller bladers, etc. for a Sunday celebration. We printed 10,000 copies. This map covers the entire Baltimore City portion of the watershed. The centerpiece is the trail, partly built, partly still under construction. An inset map of Druid Hill Park, our largest urban park, has 50 listings within the park itself! We hope to help the trail be successful as a commuter and recreational path as we illustrate the many resources that can be accessed by using it. These maps have been created in partnership with the Jones Falls Watershed Association and the Baltimore City Department of Recreation & Parks.

Next we partnered with Towson University on the Towson Green Maps graphic design studio in Spring 2009. Students created five wonderful themed maps. The university administration chose to print 10,000 copies of the campus map to distribute at the start of the Fall semester. We will expand our campus mapping project next academic year, working with other members of the Baltimore Collegetown Network.
Spring 2010, we did neighborhood-scale and youth mapping projects in one diverse and very resource-rich neighborhood. Fall 2010, we published a stand-alone map of Druid Hill Park. 2011 saw formation of a Board of Directors and registration as a Maryland Not-for-Profit Corporation. We are raising funds to do more projects and doing lots of public speaking promoting Green Mapping. All the while we've been making great use of Open Green Map, getting lots of site nominations and kudos. Thanks, Green Map System!