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MOA Maps and Data User Guide

Making the most of Anchorage's GIS data

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Accessing the Data

The Geographic Data and Information Center (GDIC) maintains Maps and Data for the Municipality of Anchorage. From the Municipality of Anchorage home page, the gallery is easily accessed from a central hyperlink. 

Look for the map icon in the central-right area of the Municipality of Anchorage main page. 

Our Municipality of Anchorage GIS hub page has useful information to help guide the citizens of Anchorage. 

Click around to see what information is available!


Finding Maps and Apps

Each app has interactive tools

Let's look at the "Address: Official MOA" app to see the common tools across all of our apps. In the Maps and Apps Galleries click the "All Maps and Apps" icon on the left side of the page.

Once in the gallery you will then see the "Address: Official MOA" tab. Click on the tab.

Tools: Left Side

The top of the app will have all the different features and tools that you can utilize. Lets start by looking at the tools that appear on the left side of the map.

Left-side tools

The top tool on the left allows you to Zoom in and out on the map. The lowest tool on the left are two arrows that allow you to change back and forth between the zoom-levels you have used.

There is a home just below the zoom button; this allows you to return to how the map was originally when you opened the map. Below the home is a feature that uses your location to center and zoom the map. This tends to work best with mobile devices.

Next there is a Search bar. This is just right of the zoom buttons and it allows you to search for a specific address within Anchorage.

Tools: Center Hyperlinks

There are three hyperlinks at the top center of the map. The first one will take you back to the MOA GIS main page. The next link will take you back to the Municipality of Anchorage homepage. The third link is the Terms of Use and Disclaimer.

Central features

Tools: Right Side

There are 8 different tools on the top right that help you make the most of the map.

Right-side Tools

The first tool on the right is button to expand the Legend. This will show what the symbols for each layer on the map mean.

Information is the next button in the row. This will provide any additional information available about the map, normally including contact information for the department that manages the data used on the map.

The icon with four squares will change the background map, known as a Basemap. The options for this are shown in the image below.

Basemap Options

Drawing is the next tool on the panel. Using this tool you can add points, lines, shapes and text to the map you are viewing. Explore changing the color and transparency as you use this tool.
Set your colors before drawing. Once the shape is drawn, you are unable to change the color or size. However, you can clear drawings or undo actions.

Drawing Tool

After marking up the map with all your drawings, or whenever you feel inclined, you can use the next icon to print your map to a PDF. 
When you click print,  you can choose to only print the map or to print a specific size page. When you select a page, a scale, legend and title are added. This can make a professional looking map in only a few short minutes. 

Print Tool
This is a sample map printed using A3 Portrait on the addressing map.

The next tool on the right side of the map is the Share button. This allows you to share the map at the exact zoom level you have the set. You can copy the URL or post to the social media sites listed.

After share, there is a button that will show you all the Layers available for the map. If the box next to the layer name is checked, that means the layer is being displayed. Below you can see that the "Addresses" layer is grayed out but checked. When a layer is grayed out it means the layer will only appear at certain zoom levels and you are not at a level that the layer will display. Try zooming in more until the layer becomes active.

The final button on the right is the Select button. Which allows you to highlight multiple attributes at a time. Once you have selected an area,  you will get the counts for each layer and can click the 3 dots to view statistics or attributes or clear the selections.

Not every map will have these tools in the same exact place but the icons will be the same.


Downloading Maps and Data

If you are in search of data and PDF maps, those are also available in a few different places.

LiDAR and Grid Maps can be accessed through the Municipality of Anchorage GIS main page. Grid maps are available as PDFs and automatically update weekly. Available grid maps include Water, Sewer, Platting, Zoning, Storm, Addressing, Street Lights, Tax Map and Wetland Atlas. Below is an example showing the Grid Maps w/PDFs.

Click on "Download" from the popup in the app to view a full-sized PDF.

All data downloads can be accessed from the GDIC homepage, found here. Formats available include FileGDB, ShapeFile, AutoCAD, Excel and KML. These downloadable data sets are the most current available, with many updated daily or weekly. There are also PDF maps available that are regularly updated and found here

Check back regularly to see what is new!

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