News

A Map of Possible Futures
I tried to make long complicated decision trees with different subheadings but I found this narrative style to be more useful. It’s a good exercise to see that there are different possibilities and to also imagine how some of them will feel. Let’s face it: The Map Center is probably not gonna make a ton of money. I’m doing it because I think it will be fulfilling more often than it will be obnoxious bullshit. You can optimize a business for growth, for sales, for numbers, but at the end... Read more...
Budget Cuts and the End of the Line
Well, the budget cuts come for us all, in the end. For the past year I've been a contractor for Amtrak where I've been working remotely from my desk at The Map Center. I've effectively been doing two full time jobs: one that keeps the lights on and one that I hope will one day. Thanks to aggressive federal pressure, there just isn't the budget to keep me on for another year at Amtrak so now I'm down to just the one job: the one that doesn't come with an... Read more...
State of the Map Store: August 25 2025
“Still, thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me!The present only toucheth thee:But Och! I backward cast my e’e,          On prospects drear!An’ forward tho’ I canna see,          I guess an’ fear!” — Robert Burns On September 31 2023, I took a redeye flight from San Francisco to Boston. The next morning I got on an MBTA commuter train to Pawtucket, walked from the station to my new apartment, met my landlady, got my key, left my clothes that I’d wear for the next few weeks until my shipping unit arrived, and then... Read more...
State of the Map Store: December 6, 2024
People who love to visit the Map Center will often pause as they leave and ask me, quietly, cautiously, how is the business doing? To the people who truly know and appreciate maps, The Map Center is a rare and precious thing. There are no more than a few map stores in the world even remotely like it. It’s also in a delicate and precarious position. Certainly no one sets off to make it rich selling maps these days but the reason that there are so many map lovers and... Read more...