CityLab Daily: The Map That Changed My Life

X marks the spot: Maps have a powerful hold on the imagination. Whether it’s a detailed map of a mountain range, a simplified version of a city grid, or just a stencil of a region’s borders, it’s easy to lose yourself in these visual representations of places we know or might like to discover. That’s why CityLab is launching “The Maps That Make Us,” a series of personal essays that illustrate the power of maps in shaping our private and public lives.

First up, CityLab’s Laura Bliss writes about the Thomas Guide, a 3,000-page atlas of Los Angeles County that used to sit in glove compartments all around Southern California. The Guide left a powerful impression on her even before she learned to drive—Laura writes that it was like a totem for her dad in a place where dodging traffic felt like a superpower. Now, like most L.A. drivers, she uses GPS apps like Waze to get around. But something important has been lost in the digital translation: The Thomas Guide showed the entire city in context, while today’s “egocentric” smartphone apps offer only slivers of the driver’s surroundings. With convenience, Laura writes, a common picture of the city has disappeared. Read her story: How L.A. Once Found Its Way