From the Commonplace Book:
Much of the inspiration for deep mapping comes out of a long tradition of slowing down, walking through a specific place, and paying attention. From William Least Heat-Moons PrairyErth to psychogeography, to Denis Wood’s “Narrative Atlas” project, many of the foundational readings on Deep Mapping reference this impulse and provide models to follow and theories to think with.
The Spring 2023 class put it into practice by collectively walking and mapping the East Northfield neighborhood around Carleton College, inspired by Max Hailperin’s All of Minneapolis project, in which he set himself the task of walking every neighborhood in Minneapolis and posting an illustrated blog of what piques his curiosity and what he’s able to find out about it. He uses Google My Maps to document his efforts, and we also used this easily accessible digital mapping platform following his model.
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1st to 5th, Winona to Nevada Street
Step one of intentionally walking four blocks of Northfield directly south of Carleton College’s campus is abandoning your backpack behind a tree; my dorm was too far away, my computer and books were too heavy, and time was ticking. Step two is inviting a friend along, under the condition that they don’t distract you. My…
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5th to 9th, College to Winona
For this project, I chose to walk the four block chunk of East Northfield from 5th Street stretching down to 9th Street, constrained on the sides by College Street to the West and Winona Street to the East. Shortly after 11 am, post-class, I walked down to the start of my area at the corner…
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Graham’s Walk – Elm to Oak/Prairie, 2nd to 5th
My walk today took me all over a section of a neighborhood that I assumed I’d be more familiar with, but it turns out that I haven’t really walked any of these streets, even though my current dormitory is but a half block away from the perimeter of the zone! Nevertheless, I began my walk…
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James Brink’s Northfield Promenade
Firstly, I would like to apologize for the poor quality of the photos. Due to my schedule, I could not get to my area before sundown. Some photos do have this grainy, hyperreal effect to them. Due to the lighting in some places, I may not have been as observant as I would have been…
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Walking 7th and Fareway in East Northfield
On the 9th of April, Easter Sunday, I set out to walk the roughly four blocks of the Fareway neighborhood, starting at the beginning of the park outside of Northfield Memorial Pool. At the start of the walk, the air smelled of gasoline. A few children played basketball as I took out my notebook. On…
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Walking East Northfield
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Walking East Northfield – Washington Street and 9th Street through Woodley Street and Maple Street
As I stepped out onto the streets of Northfield, Minnesota, the gentle spring breeze carried the scent of blooming flowers and the distant sounds of chirping birds. I embarked on a stroll, starting at the intersection of 9th Street and Washington Street, eager to explore the vibrant neighborhood ahead. I began my journey, and with…
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Walking East Northfield: 5th Street-9th Street, Union Street-Washington Street
I started my walk at around 1PM on Saturday afternoon after finishing a work shift in the Weitz Center for Creativity. It was extremely nice out, and as I walked south on Union Street I saw several people out enjoying the weather (and one very cute dog) and heard plenty of birdsong. Once I reached…
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Walking East Northfield: Between Maple and Elm from 2nd Street East to Memorial Park
Monday was a glorious day for a neighborhood stroll, and I began exploring by heading south on Maple Street from 2nd Street East. I passed lots of beautiful houses on my walk, and a few of the ones closest to campus had Black Lives Matters or We Believe yard signs. The houses in this part…
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Walking East Northfield: Between Winona Street and Nevada Street, from 5th to 9th
On Sunday, April 9, I wandered along the streets of my four blocks in East Northfield. I started off my walk musing about the bright, bold paint colors on the houses when I spotted the chickens. I did not expect to see chickens on my walk. My neighborhood in my hometown looks similar to this…
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Walking East Northfield: From 5th to 9th St E, East to Nevada St.
Date: 04/10/2022 Time: Afternoon 4pm-6pm Weather: 68°F, Warm and Sunny Spring has come at quite an unexpected speed. I still remember driving in a snow storm last Friday, but now it’s warm and sunny. The entire neighborhood is bathed in sunlight, and one can only see sporadic snow piles in the shadow area. Of course,…
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Walking East Northfield: Winona to Washington via 4th, 5th, and a little bit of 3rd
I began my walk at the corner of 4th Street and Winona street, by Central Park, the bright sunny morning of April 11th. I had just left the Weitz, backpack in tow, and was looking forward to spending some time outside. I actually chose this route because I knew it was close to the Weitz.…
