Slumlord Watch blogger Carol Ott receives Google Maps Engine grant

Baltimore Slumlord Watch blogger Carol Ott will soon add another tool to her repertoire: Google Maps Engine.
Ott, who has outed absentee and negligent landlords on her blog for five years, recently received a grant from Google Earth Outreach to use the full Maps Engine suite, which allows for cloud-based mapping, “spatial data management, cartographic styling” and more, according to Google’s website.
She plans to use the Maps Engine to visually present the data she has collected on the city’s slumlords and vacant buildings by relating them to other pieces of information, including crime data, Baltimore City Council districts in which blighted properties are located and the zip codes of various Baltimore neighborhoods.
While the grant provides access to Google Maps Engine for only one year at a time, Ott can renew her access this time next year.