Unfortunately, the mayor's vision — which feels about 1,000 days too late — is so light on substance that it's hard to see how LA's megaevent future materializes
Where are all the Olympic and Paralympic venues? How do they intersect with Metro's 28 by 28 projects? What legacy improvements are being made by the city of LA? You'd think, 1,000 days out, the answers to these questions would be consolidated in one official place. But over the past year, many of my Los Angeles megaevent geospatial questions have been answered by this dutifully updated StoryMap maintained by Nick Franchino, GIS manager for the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning. A self-described Olympics fan who knows the importance of good maps and good data, Nick took it upon himself to create the ultimate games-related resource on his own time — and now uses his tools to support some projects in his capacity at the planning department as well.
Nick has been at the County for 25 years (!) with a team that handles geospatial work for all unincorporated areas. That currently includes supporting fire rebuilding efforts for communities affected by the Eaton and Palisades Fires. Similar to disaster recovery, Nick will talk about why jurisdiction matters so much as events are concurrently happening in a dozen cities across the region (as well as at least one other state). And Nick will also discuss the use of digital twins in Olympics planning, emphasize the need for open data, show how to build your own map featuring games-relevant content — and take our suggestions for what other datasets he should include.
Grab lunch and come nerd out with us!
Torched Talks with LA County GIS manager Nick Franchino Wednesday, November 5 12 to 1 p.m. PT
📣 Torched Talks is an ongoing series of conversations with experts on topics facing LA in its megaevent era. It's free and open to all — simply join the Zoom to watch. If you can't make it, don't worry! I'll post the recording here when it's over
🎟️ Torched also hosts in-person tours, and a very exciting one is coming up very soon — here's a hint — but you must be 🔥🔥 subscriber to get first dibs on tickets. Upgrade today to get on the list and get some cool new stickers
