Hello, OpenStreetMap!

I’m about to write a post covering the community-building effort behind the Great L.A. County Building Import.

But first, an introduction is due.

My name is Jon Schleuss and I’m a reporter and graphic artist at the Los Angeles Times. I spend a lot of time making maps and analyzing data to find better ways to tell new and different stories.

I’ve been at the Times for about three years now. I’ve built maps showing where L.A. County’s homeless live, where L.A. City’s soft-story buildings are, where you can afford to rent or own based on your income and where the dirtiest streets are.

Before moving to the big city I lived briefly in Seattle working at the Seattle Times there. I’m from Arkansas and put in time at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and KUAF 91.3 FM, an NPR-affiliated station in Fayetteville.

techlady and Data411 introduced me to editing OpenStreetMap in 2015 and I’ve been a fiend every since.

My hope is to strengthen the southern California community, using the Times as a labratory and promoter of open-source work.

When I’m not mapping or at work I’m making pies and reading, programming or at the racetrack.

More to come soon!