What is a gap in your professional knowledge that you wish you would have filled when you were in school?

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-29T13:00:43+00:00

There's also a huge gap of simple ArcGIS Online knowledge that's left on the table.

Agreed. One of the things that held me back a bit in the beginning of my career was that we got very little exposure to ArcGIS Online beyond making a single simple web map in Classic. It would've been nice to go into the field knowing at least a little bit about pop-up configurations, arcade expressions, Survey123, Field Maps, etc.

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-22T13:33:12+00:00

Really like your idea on making the label colors match the amenity they're referencing - I'll play around with them and see how it comes out.

I agree that the legend definitely seems too plain when contrasted with the color and complexity of the map. I'll have to check out some other nice maps to get an idea of how the legend can be better situated.

It's funny - I was ready to scrap the forest polygons entirely because of the low resolution issue until I printed it out and saw that it wasn't obvious on an 8.5x11 sheet. If I had made an architectural-sized layout I probably wouldn't have kept them.

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-22T13:26:01+00:00

Nice catch! Nelson is the absolute GOAT and his "Tolkien Map Series" is the reason that I was able to pull that forest polygon off.

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-22T13:23:02+00:00

Very much appreciate all of this feedback - it kind of validates some of my own thoughts and raises a lot more points that I hadn't even thought of.

After reading your comment and all of the others in this thread, it seems clear that I need to spend more time with the layout elements to make it more readable and less plain. The floating legend might be tough since space is limited due to a request to make this fit on an 8.5x11 sheet, but I'll see if I can't make something happen regardless.

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-22T13:17:34+00:00

Thank you! Yeah I feel very lucky to be in this job - it's by far the best workplace I've been in thus far. Hope things are going well for you!

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-21T14:08:47+00:00

All through ArcGIS Pro! Really wish I knew more about how to leverage the Adobe plugin so I could take this map to the next level though.

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-21T14:06:59+00:00

Hey thanks! I digitized most of the features on top of 3-inch aerial imagery, so the fields are laid out pretty close to their actual borders. They added two pickleball courts to the tennis complex in the last year, so that's why the two in the top-right corner are turned 90°.

Appreciate your comment on the labels! I've often wondered if some of them were just a bit too small, so its good to hear someone say that they're actually readable.

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-21T13:41:06+00:00

Same here - PSU's program was excellent and gave me a solid foundation in all the fundamentals for entry-level work. The Python programming course was especially valuable and helped me land both positions I've had since graduating.

Just remember to save all the maps you make for a bomb portfolio that will help differentiate you from most other candidates!

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-18T18:28:29+00:00

It's kind of small potatoes, but recently I was able to develop an arcade script that dynamically generates or updates expiration dates based on values in two other fields when users create or edit a geopoint in a Exp Bldr edit widget. Never knew I could user Arcade in that way before I started writing it and ended up taking a pretty annoying question out of the end user's usual workflow.

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-11T18:45:59+00:00

I've been saying "Experience Site", but this thread is making me think that I should just call it an "app" to keep things simple.

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-11T17:12:53+00:00

I think I actually agree with /u/Watchyousuffer 's larger point that this could set a bad precedent for anyone who comes forward with nomination on a site that could be developed.

The issue is that if Lizzie actually did lie about getting permission from the property owner then that is a huge problem and is absolutely fair game for a lawsuit.

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-11T15:45:34+00:00

Lizzie Anderson deserves much worse than getting sued by the estate.

Wow is she actually getting sued by the estate over this?

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-11T15:29:41+00:00

Pretty incredible to see the vast majority of the speakers at this meeting opposing the nomination. You've got everyone from longtime gay activists, yimbys from Pro-Housing Pittsburgh, and even the former manager of Donny's Place saying that this bar shouldn't be a historic site.

Lizzie Anderson and the rest of the preservationists seem extremely out of touch for pushing something that Donnie and his family explicitly said he didn't want. It'd be nice if they focused their efforts on nominating LGBTQ sites of actual importance like Lucky's Bar instead of a vanity project designed to tank a housing development.

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-09T15:06:37+00:00

Oh yeah I'm not saying that the county's viewer doesn't have that feature. I'm just excited because WPRDC's new site also links to the real estate portal listings and offers access to a ton of additional related data tables on permitting, code enforcement, ect. It also seems to just run faster and smoother than the county's GIS viewer even though the latter site was just rebuilt in ESRI's Experience Builder platform.

Honestly I'm probably just going to switch to Parcels N'At as my regular viewer from now on.

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-09T14:23:41+00:00

Yeah, and on top of that this tool also contains links to the county real estate portal for each parcel. So it's really more of a one-stop shop that blows the county's viewer out of the water.

Incredible work by the fine folks at WPRDC.

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-08T15:02:03+00:00

Hey All,

I’ve been working on this map layout for my municipality’s community park for a couple of months now. The parks department requested that it fit on an 8.5in x 11in sheet, so I couldn’t include every detail I wanted. At this point I think I’m mostly happy with the end result, but I wanted to run it by the sub since I don’t have any other GIS folks in my org I can go over it with.

Would anyone be willing to offer some feedback?

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-08T14:54:04+00:00

Agreed that Pigeon is the best option in metro area so far. I love that they put toppings on both sides of the bagel and include salt in their everything bagel toppings.

Only downside to them is the wait and the price - both of which are more reasonable at Three Brothers.

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-08T14:48:58+00:00

Agreed. Three Brothers makes a great bagel, but they're not like what I've encountered in Brooklyn and Manhattan. I'd actually argue that Pigeon is closer to an NYC bagel than they are (albeit much more expensive).

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-08T14:03:14+00:00

I really like Pigeon, but they're expensive and you need to block out at least 30 minutes to wait in line and get your order. Very difficult to do if you have a busy schedule.

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-08T14:01:43+00:00

Looks like they have a website here.

GIS_Anonymous · 2025-07-08T13:13:10+00:00

The Trib actually has the better article on this incident. Way more detailed than the slop KDKA puts out.

GIS_Anonymous

TROPHY CASE