MAP Center - What's New Archive
Dec. 31, 2002 We have a new server. It took less time than I thought but it's done and now the MAP Center has a Linux server to replace the (almost) seven year old AIX box. Hats off to that machine which served so well for so long. Now we'll see if the new one can do as well.
Dec. 30, 2002 Updated Floodplain Map Links: The USGS has new links for real time river gage data. All of our links are now up to date.
Dec. 18, 2002 Planned service interruption: The (almost) seven year old server has done a great job but it's time for an update. Sometime Monday morning (12/30) it will serve its last page and a new Linux server will replace old faithful. It should only take fifteen minutes but you know how those things go. The changeover is delayed, perhaps until Jan 1, 2003. That's the way things go.
Nov. 23, 2002 Revised (finally) the About Us section of the site. There are new photos and a campus map as well as an updated locator map. So we are now super-officially located in Marie Luksic Hall.
Nov. 9, 2002 Added Keystone Opportunity Zone maps to the DCP map section of the site.
Oct. 17, 2002 Did some housekeeping and updating on the site. The DCP section was rearranged. DCP building inventory and overview maps are updated to the present. Added a "What's New" archive - link is at the bottom of this page.
Oct. 3, 2002 Updated the Wilkes-Barre Downtown Map to reflect changes in the city landscape over the past two years.
Sept. 16, 2002 The Center has finally arrived in its new home, Luksic Hall, on the King's College campus. Over the summer it was necessary to "hole up" in temporary quarters but now we can unpack the boxes and get back to work. It will take a few days, at least, and then the Web site can be brought up to date and we will get on with our work. Apologies for leaving this site off since last Friday 9/13. I forgot to change the server's IP address. Duh. Friday the 13th indeed!
July 3, 2002 New Business Map data and presentation for NE PA. Thematic maps for 12 NAICS categories are combined in a single slideshow format.
June 14, 2002 Charts showing population growth rates and factors (Region and County) updated with 2001 estimated data. Population tables updated as well.
May 28, 2002 Regional and county employee distribution charts updated to show County Business Pattern 1999 data.
May 17, 2002 Expanded the Bear Creek Village Comprehensive Plan section (in Community) and changed its URL. New maps and new terrain models have been added and all previous CAD data is now in GIS.
April 2, 2002 New section in Community: Diamond City Partnership GIS & Mapping Project. The Center developed a GIS for downtown Wilkes-Barre and is cooperating in an effort to establish a community dialog with the DCP.
April 2, 2002 New county reference maps. The title map for each county has been redone to show shaded relief and more detail. Select "Counties" above and then "Reference Map" from the navigation window. The Site Map has a direct link for each county's reference map.
March 12, 2002 Added a table to show percent distribution of NLCD classes in each county as well as NE PA and PA.
March 7, 2002 Enhanced land cover characterization with a new series showing National Land Cover Data for the region and each county. The former series was maintained for comparison.
February 18, 2002 New section in Community titled "Photographic Essays" which is adapted from material originally created for the AHR site. Great photos!
February 18, 2002 Added a section to King's GIS, Environmental Studies highlighting maps created for an erosion mitigation project undertaken by the students for the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company.
February 4, 2002 Update on Bear Creek Village Comprehensive Plan and excerpt from the Plan Questionnaire
January 23, 2002 New sections in Community: Wyoming Valley 3D terrain model and a pictorial guide to model building (a must see).
January 2, 2002 Added terrain maps of the Wyoming Valley and the Wilkes-Barre area. This is a continuation of our 3D mapping project for the site.
December 13, 2001 The Community area has a new format. We added sections on Bear Creek Village planning (don't miss the 3D models), US-L Watershed Web Site home page and complete Map Gallery.
December 6, 2001 Added a new series - relief maps. Go to the COUNTIES section and check the relief map button on the selector map. Then pick a county to see its elevation/drainage relief map. This is the first in a series of surface modeling maps we intend to add to this Web site.
November 17, 2001 Updated regional data for population ages and race. The Census Bureau has just released county level demographic data which shows how Northeastern Pennsylvania has changed since the 1990 Census.
June 18, 2001 Added a link to a census tract boundary map for each of the county thematic map sections. This was done to clarify the differences between the 1990 and 2000 boundaries as well as the distinction between census tract and minor civil division boundaries. Example
June 13, 2001 The county thematic map sections are now in a "gallery" format. All twelve themes are viewable from a single window. The new maps use the TIGER 2000 line work for boundaries. The "Notes" link provides details on the maps and the data sources for them.
April 4, 2001 Added regional and county maps showing population changes since the last Census. See note of caution on the 2000 Census numbers.
February 28, 2001 Change in presentation format for regional county business pattern charts. The "gallery" format reduces page changing by placing all the charts in a single "window." This method will be used in other areas of the site in the near future.
February 12, 2001 Added a section on visioning communities. The process now under way in Wilkes-Barre is the first entry in this section. We believe the effort to vision and plan communities will expand in this region in the not too distant future.
February 5, 2001 Regional and county business sections updated for 1998 County Business Pattern data. Charts have changed from SIC to NAICS classifications for industries.
January 23, 2001 The political section of the site is updated for the 107th U.S. Congress and the 2001 State Assembly. All maps are new and there are now links to all State Representatives as well as State Senators.
January 22, 2001 Completed work on major sections using a new format. Updates of most charts and maps will be done over the next few weeks. Links to sections that have been moved or renamed will be automatically redirected to the new links. For the best overview of the site's current layout see the site map.
November 10, 2000 The MAP Center hosts King's College GIS Day. The event signals the beginning of integration of GIS into the King's curriculum.
Note: Change in graphics format Change to portable network graphic (png) format. Beginning with the 5/1 update of business charts and now including 6/26 update of unemployment charts all graphics will be in png format. This replaces the gif format used previously.
May 1, 2000 Business charts updated for latest (1997) County Business Pattern data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Payroll & Salary data and trends updated as well. The Business section of "Region" features these new charts and graphs.
April 25, 2000 Regional, national, and county population charts updated to 1999 estimated data from the U.S. Census Bureau. These include age, birth-death, migration, and growth rates for counties and the region.
October 15, 1999 The MAP Center's project on I-81 and the Civic Arena passes the torch to the official Northeastern Pennsylvania Arena and Convention Center.
July 27, 1999 Added thematic maps in Region Population Changes and County Demographics to illustrate the changes in population from 1990-1998. In addition, we have added a Minor Civil Division (MCD) reference map for each county. Both of these projects should enhance understanding of the demographics and political subdivisions of the region.
June 17, 1999 The Counties section now has a navigation panel that opens as a separate window and allows easier access to county sub-categories. The navigation panel appears at the top left of your screen.
July 9, 1999 Recreated maps for Arena & Exit 46 and Watershed Study. Added links to USGS measuring stations at Forest City, Danville, Sunbury, and Wapwallopen. Added map for Wapwallopen Creek measuring station.
Apr. 21, 1999 Introduced new section, PA GIS Consortium to replace the "Services" section of this site. The material in the Services section remains intact and is available through this link only.
Apr. 8, 1999 Updated political maps and tables for the 1999 Pensylvania Assembly and the 106th U.S. Congress.
 
Mar. 29, 1999 Added a new section in the Projects Section of the site. The topic is "Flood Report" which is a self-contained, browser-based report on flood damage and mitigation studies in the Upper Susquehanna - Lackawanna Watershed.
Mar. 23, 1999 In mid-April we will replace the Services section of the Web site with information and activities related to our newly-formed GIS Consortium with Wilkes University. The Consortium plans to develop an ecological master plan for the Upper Susquehanna- Lackawanna Watershed.
Jan. 22, 1999 Post redesigned charts for 1996 County Business Pattern data which was released by the U.S. Census Bureau this month.
Dec. 1, 1998

The Watershed & Floodplain Study Now uses a Java applet for selecting links. Report problems to MAP Center Staff
Nov. 6, 1998

Unemployment rate and labor force data from The Bureau of Labor Statistics updated through September 1998. The 1997 Annual values and final revisions are also available. See "Commerce" link for individual counties, monthly unemployment rate for Scranton Wilkes-Barre Hazleton, or BLS data download form.

July 21, 1998 Added site map reference to the home page. Allows easier navigation for those interested in individual county data.
July 17, 1998 Added maps for U.S. Congressional Districts and PA State Assembly to the Region section.
July 16, 1998 Changed from HTML frames to single panel navigation bar for the top of each page. References to URL's beginning with the letters "ix" are affected by this change. For example, ixcounties.html is now /counties/counties.html.
July 2, 1998 Added 108 thematic maps in the county section of the site. The maps show population, housing, education, income, and employment sector census tract data for each of the nine counties in our region.
Apr 16, 1998

Completed migration to the HTML 4.0 standard (Transitional) and the CSS1 (cascading style sheets specification 1). Now, layout and appearance depend mostly on style sheets. Browsers that can not support the HTML 4.0 Transitional and the CSS1 specifications may not display our pages as we intend. Thus, it is in your best interests to upgrade your browser to one that supports HTML 4.0 and cascading style sheets.
Apr 3, 1998

Population estimates updated from 1996 to 1997. See "Demographics" link for individual counties and "Population" links in the Region section.

Feb 18, 1998

Architect's rendering of the planned Civic Arena and Convention Center, courtesy of the Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Jan 30, 1998

Watershed and floodplain study. Combines USGS and FEMA data to show the two watersheds in our region with links to a dozen close-up views of river stations and cities of interest. The river stations in the close-ups are linked directly to the USGS "realtime" data display of water flow and level. The map legends link to an extended explanation of terms and from there to FEMA's Map Service Center.