The best way to find the neighborhood that best suits your trip
The system is very simple, democratic and entertaining. Each color is used to distinguish six types of neighborhoods and areas in each city: hipster, tourist, business, rich, student, business and normal. The objective? Help the traveler choose the area of each city that best suits your interests or, at least, to know if the neighborhood chosen for a stay is in accordance with the wishes and expectations. This was the starting point of Peter Levels, a prolific digital entrepreneur -in his Bio he boasts of having created 12 startups in 12 months- and an inveterate traveler who was tired of doubting which location was the right one for his trips.
And so he launched, a few weeks ago, ** the Hoodmaps website, ** a simple interface that uses three elements that are well known to all internet users: Google Maps, the most democratic and crowdsourced interactivity, and the colorful . The first is the starting point from which each user paints the neighborhood they want taking into account the category that is closest to its essence according to his opinion. In case of conflict, the color that more people have selected prevails. In addition, it offers the possibility of add brief comments about the place that gain in importance and size if they are approved by the rest of the users. Those labels that have more approval and in a short period of time are defined as ' hot', a kind of touristic and urban trending topic.
The different colors of Madrid categorized by Hoodmaps
In every city (today, there are already almost 1000 cities/regions registered with different levels of interaction) the number of people who have expressed their opinion is indicated, helping to give credibility and relevance to the final result. The resulting maps, for now, are quite reliable. In Madrid it is distinguished as hipster both Malasaña and Lavapiés, while the most touristy areas are the center and the proximity to the Paseo del Arte. Businesses are confined to the AZCA and Cuatro Torres area, while the most popular label is the one that reads 'GAY ZONE' over Chueca.
For his part, and n Barcelona, the most affluent areas stand out, such as Pedralbes or the more alternative ones such as Sant Antoni or Gràcia. However, as soon as you leave the most visited areas, the opinions decrease and the map is less precise. Another feature that Hoodmaps offers is creating your own map without the need to share it or start from what has already been done, a perfect application to show a guest the best tricks and areas of your city in an interactive way that is very easy to identify.