Mapping neighborhood boundaries and context

Map 1 on page 7 illustrates how to represent neighborhood boundaries and the surrounding context on a map, with simple explanatory notes. This map shows the Washington Square West neighborhood in Center City.

Boundary: Using major streets, the boundaries of Washington Square West would be Walnut Street, South Street, 13th Street and 8th Street. However, as noted above, often the use of major streets as boundaries overlooks the fact that both sides of the street are a unified area and should be included. Therefore, in some cases the boundaries shown on the map use secondary streets adjacent to major streets as boundaries to include or eliminate streets that are of different character or use than the neighborhood. For example, the map uses Watts Street as the western boundary rather than Broad Street.

Surrounding Context: The surrounding context is indicated by the names of adjacent neighborhoods or by identification of certain major landmarks or areas. For example, the Society Hill neighborhood is immediately to the east, the South Street commercial corridor immediately to south, the Center City commercial district along Walnut, Chestnut and Market streets is immediately to the north, and the Broad Street/Avenue of the Arts corridor is immediately to the west. All of these adjacent areas have some influence on the neighborhood.Special features in the context area are indicated by numbers on the map and identified in a key. These are places that are important to the neighborhood and include Washington Square, two supermarkets, proximity to The Gallery and the Market Street, Broad Street and PATCO subways and the Market East Regional Rail station.

How do you map your neighborhood boundaries and context?

Create a map of the surrounding boundaries and context of your neighborhood using the Washington Square West map as a model.

• Use a City Planning Commission base map and mark on it the boundaries that you think define the neighborhood.
• Then for the surrounding area indicate the names of adjacent neighborhoods or other uses or activities along the boundaries.
• Also locate major institutions, transportation or other places whose proximity is important to the neighborhood.
• Number those on the map with a key giving the name, address and type of use if necessary.

The maps you create do not need to be computer-generated as are the maps in this guide. Carefully done hand-drawn maps can convey the same information.