Book excerpt: In this thesis we describe a number of data visualization and optimization techniques for urban planning. Many of these techniques originate from contributions to the Social Computing Group's "You Are Here" project, which publishes maps intended to be viewed as a blend between art and urban planning tools. In particular these maps and this thesis focus on the topics of education and transportation. Eventually we hope to evolve these maps into social technologies that make it easier for communities to create the change they seek.