App: A bike map and guide for Chicagoland

Consider this: You like to use the Chicago Bike Map but you don't always carry it with you. You want to be reminded of where the bike lanes and trail access points are. But you do carry your smartphone with you, all the time. 

In April 2012 I launched my first-ever app, the Chicago Bike Guide. It works similarly to the "Chicago Bike Map" (the City's printed one) in that it shows the presence of on-street bike lanes, multi-use trails, and train stations. It works like Google Maps, though, where you can pinch and zoom to interact with the map. 

Divvy, train stations, directions, The Chainlink, Twitter, points of interest, it's all right here. 

Available for Android and iOS. 

Routing on the Chicago Bike Guide

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on July 24, 2012 at 9:20am
Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on July 24, 2012 at 9:27am
Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on July 24, 2012 at 9:37am

Thanks for pointing that out. I added it to my Press page. The Mayor's Twitter account linked to Chicagoist yesterday. 

Permalink Reply by rb on July 25, 2012 at 1:34am

Thanks for making this app (and fr the free d/l.)

I used it last night for a route to see the Who doc. Very useful. I can't provide more detailed feedback at this point but I will with more use.

Thank you!

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on July 25, 2012 at 6:08am

The map will be updated soon with the following new bikeways, as they are complete or under construction:

  • Wells Street, buffered bike lane between Chicago River and Chicago Avenue
  • Halsted Street, buffered bike lane between Wellington and Diversey
  • Wabash Avenue, buffered bike lane between Roosevelt and Harrison

I'm taking suggestions for additional points of interest. They should not be commercial (look at the current list in the app). 

The update will also include the latest versions of PhoneGap (Cordova), jQuery, and jQueryMobile. These JS files will be minified in an attempt to speed up performance (although the app runs at a great speed on iPhone 4S; I haven't seen it run on iPads or iPod touches). 

Cross posted.

Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on July 25, 2012 at 6:52am

I did a bicycle tour of historic places in Uptown this summer, You can add those:

Hutchinson Street Historic District - 600 W. Hutchinson Street, Chicago, IL 60640

Peace Garden - 4200N Lakefront Trail Chicago, Illinois 60640

Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary - 200 (??? Rough address) W Montrose Harbor Dr, Chicago, IL 60640

Aragon Ballroom - 1106 West Lawrence Avenue, Chicago, IL 60640

Essanay Studios - 1345 W Argyle St, Chicago, IL 60640

Permalink Reply by Richard on July 25, 2012 at 7:22am

+1 Android.

Any chance you'll open source the code? Perhaps some folks form the community would jump in.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on July 25, 2012 at 7:45am

The Android version isn't happening for now. I'm having problems with the Android SDK/Eclipse IDE/Android emulator (mostly the emulator) and I'm going to devote more of my time to furthering the app's development. The app is platform agnostic, but I have to wrap it with iOS or with Android and wrapping it with Android is a problem right now. 

If anyone's an Android developer, I have questions. 

I would considering making this open source if I could still make sales. 

Richard said:

+1 Android.

Any chance you'll open source the code? Perhaps some folks form the community would jump in.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on July 25, 2012 at 7:45am

I will take these into consideration. I probably won't do the history district as that's a "line" and not a "point". What is Essanay Studios?

Gene Tenner said:

I did a bicycle tour of historic places in Uptown this summer, You can add those:

Hutchinson Street Historic District - 600 W. Hutchinson Street, Chicago, IL 60640

Peace Garden - 4200N Lakefront Trail Chicago, Illinois 60640

Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary - 200 (??? Rough address) W Montrose Harbor Dr, Chicago, IL 60640

Aragon Ballroom - 1106 West Lawrence Avenue, Chicago, IL 60640

Essanay Studios - 1345 W Argyle St, Chicago, IL 60640

Permalink Reply by Richard on July 25, 2012 at 7:54am

I've worked with Phonegap before. Can you set up a bit bucket (private code repository)?

Permalink Reply by Tom Kompare on July 25, 2012 at 7:59am

It's a place of historical significance for the American movie industry. I used to live around the corner from it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essanay_Studios

Steven Vance said:

What is Essanay Studios?

Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on July 25, 2012 at 8:15am

These are my notes from the tour:

Essanay Studios 1345 W. Argyle

 

  • The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company building - silent film studio.
  • Best known for producing Charlie Chaplin comedies of 1915.
  • Founded  1907 by George K. Spoor and Gilbert M. Anderson,
  • Originally on Wells = Peerless Film Manufacturing Company / August 10, 1907, name changed to Essanay ("S and A")
  • Essanay's first film, An Awful Skate, or The Hobo on Rollers (July 1907) starring Ben Turpin (then the studio janitor), produced for only a couple hundred dollars, grossed several thousand dollars in release. Result: The studio prospered and in 1908 moved here
  • Stars: George Periolat, Ben Turpin, Wallace Beery, Thomas Meighan, Francis X. Bushman, Gloria Swanson, Bebe Daniels, Tom Mix, Ann Little, Helen Dunbar, Harold Lloyd, Lester Cuneo, Florence Oberle, Virginia Valli, Edward Arnold, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Rod La Rocque.
  • Studio co-owner Gilbert Anderson starred as "Broncho Billy" in westerns
  • Louella Parsons was a screenwriter - became Hollywood gossip columnist.
  • Both Co-owners received Oscars - George Spoor in 1948 and Broncho Billy Anderson in 1958
  • Chicago's weather and popularity of westerns forced Gilbert Anderson to take part of company to California
  • The Chicago & new Niles studio still produced films for another five years – more than 1,400 titles in 10 years
  • Produced first American Sherlock Holmes (1916), first American A Christmas Carol (1908), first Jesse James movie, The James Boys of Missouri (1908).
  • Some of world’s first cartoons (Dreamy Dud was the most popular character).
  • After – Building hosted firma that produced industrial films, a non-profit television corporation and the Midwest offices of Technicolor.
  • Now St. Augustine's College; the main meeting hall is named the Charlie Chaplin Auditorium

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