The real world of Curb Your Enthusiasm

The HBO show "Curb Your Enthusiasm" starring Larry David uses countless shots of real L.A. locations. Going to UCLA, I've noticed many of these backgrounds around my own area. This map is a compilation of as many locations as I can find from specific Curb Your Enthusiasm scenes.


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Neogeography, or translated more literally, new-geography, is indeed just that. New. There are always positives and negatives about things that are "new", and this is true with neogeography. Traditional geographers seem to be generally more comfortable with the old ways. Old maps, old techniques, standard definitions and ways of doing things when it comes to the discipline they love and study. Neogeography opens a door of chaos into these standardized, traditional methods. Some forms of neogeography disregard data and facts they way that old geography cherished them. For instance, online maps like Google maps and mapquest turn traditional mapping into a more unspecific, generalized form. There is less accuracy, and less of an emphasis placed on accuracy. GPS's turn traveling into a thoughtless task.
Just last month, I went on a trip to Oregon with my dad. We had never been there before, and after we landed in Portland, we took out the GPS, inputted our hotel address in Eugene, 2 hours away, and watched the GPS screen guide us there. There was very little navigation involved, and from my experience, I can say that I don't remember names of places along the way like I might have if I had to study signs and search for our off ramp. In more personal experience, my grandpa is a retired teacher and principle and loves giving me little lessons, usually regarding a map. He has numerous atlas books and fold out maps that immediately remind me of the old geography USGS maps we've studied in lab. To me, "old" or traditional geography maps make me view the world as something much larger than neogeography. Looking at Google Earth, seeing the whole world and being able to zoom in anywhere versus looking at a 7.5 minute map which includes so much detail, for instance, buildings, elevation, and bodies gives very different impressions of our world. Thinking about how many 7.5 minute maps make up the earth make me think that the earth is a huge planet that would take years to study by quadrangle maps. Google Earth shows me the entire planet on a computer screen and is interactive.
A loss of what is considered traditional and safe and standardized seems scary and unwelcome, but the benefits of neogeography can't be ignored. These interactive online maps are giving people who would otherwise know nothing about geography a chance to explore the world they live in, albeit in somewhat inaccurate ways.