This article definitely gives you an appreciation for the growth of technology. The birth of the Geographic Information System (GIS) has been a tremendous help in urban planning and design. There’s so much one can accomplish by using this amazing technology. It allows one to gather data from different sources to get all types of work done. I must admit I have never heard about GIS before reading this article nor did I know what GIS meant. This article has given me a better understanding of GIS and the types of companies that benefit the most from using it. Research institutions, environmental scientists, health organizations, land use planners, businesses, and government agencies uses GIS to develop and enrich our communities making it a better and safe environment for everyone.

I discovered during 1776- 1820 in Vinegar Hill there was not much technology available in the community. During those time people found it difficult to create and construct new projects for the community such as buildings, schools, and parks. There were no resources or equipment available to store or save materials and documents such as blueprint of buildings and important government documents. It was very hard to capture things because people did not have the proper writing materials and resources to grasp the view and different scenario that was happening during that time. However, I found out what people did to compensate for their lack of resources was drew on maps in specific areas to store important information. These maps were very few and limited because they did not have the technology to duplicate them.

The information we were unable to capture was the farm plot shown on the old maps. We will be able to access these documents by visiting the library archives and requesting the specific documents or though the internet where it is more easy and convenient. Other information that was not available to view was the State Documents that show the development of Urban Renewal and the people who started it. I believe the reason these document were not available is because they got damage or destroyed over a period of time, making it difficult to keep together and display in the library archives or posted on the internet.

I would say Loingsigh definitely used the RECAP criteria in his research about the Irish community. He surely proved his grandparent’s story to be true and accurate with current and updated information he researched. After reading Loingsigh’s article the first thing that came to my mind was how the Irish was connected to Brooklyn’s Vinegar Hill, the Navy Yard, Brooklyn Heights know as DUMBO and the Whiskey War that begun in 1869. We have also used the RECAP criteria in our research to get to this point of learning about the Irish community that played such a significant part in the history of these famous places in Brooklyn.