Distance Maps
Marcus Peabody
→MFA GD 2019
On Sunday I downloaded the outline of every building in the densely built, densely populated city that I live in, and plotted each one on a map:
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/370dd121226b4f507da16a7f5c7c75d5206451a65753f86a4b0ba2638c2bd5b0/Screen-Shot-2020-05-04-at-3.26.10-PM.png)
Then I did some bulk-maths to work out which buildings are the furthest from their nearest neighbor. Here are the ten most isolated buildings in the city:
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e70b2e2ebbee8dfd86110adb93a501c9bd03bb9f9e6c7d528fbdfdaeb6b2645d/Arrows.jpg)
JFK Airport it turns out is the place to go if you’re after four walls and a roof, with maximum distance to nearby buildings. Five out of the top 10 are here:
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/53b5017b9d1c99ddd0db515adc737e1e4efc5b7248b0566bbfbc6a21545220fd/JFK.jpg)
No better place to get away from your coughing neighbors than the end of a pier by the runway:
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/21c869fc51d441d478af144e070f86a21360544e501cdb26d2a909669209824a/Runway.png)
In a lot of ways, Rhode Island—my previous home—would probably be a better place to ride out the pandemic:
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/15dad9f91dd308365f68853ddd9df44a32da4efa305a36ee57a777dba4dfa99a/Screen-Shot-2020-05-03-at-11.44.21-AM.png)
Maybe in this rest-area just south of Wyoming, RI:
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/77ad2f6db806f0635cdaeb47f89d43d9f86d25493ea867539950661b6cffe57b/Screen-Shot-2020-05-03-at-11.47.24-AM.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/df7449ce8e4aac410fae00cb192e4d8bdac7318ad91b9ec4918d78633436b0d5/Screen-Shot-2020-05-03-at-11.53.12-AM.png)
In this clearing:
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e10f204c031f53aaba0fb440001be9ad219e0e6efc249986ece9bcb812841640/Screen-Shot-2020-05-03-at-11.58.31-AM.png)
Or of course, on an island:
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/632c3849f6314e927c9e3a09c8f0219a23f097f4ab070b1a990139000bc3ee21/Screen-Shot-2020-05-03-at-11.55.18-AM.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a2f329192618df74273f68993c8084f4f8e4bf9f4acc257379c6f11e57ddb5c8/Screen-Shot-2020-05-03-at-11.55.49-AM.png)
Being packed into a huge city is not wonderful, but realistically staying put is the best thing for this moment. For now, sitting in my closet-office and crawling around the Northeast with my mapping software will have to do.
If restrictions don’t lift soon, I will ask my employer for a computer upgrade. With a little more processing power I’ll be able to load the entire country onto my laptop at once.