Using Google Earth
Another format to show the 2005 land uses has been developed. These are “kmz” files that open in Google Earth. These can also be downloaded from the website discussed above. You will need Google Earth to open these files. The freeware version of Google Earth can be downloaded from http://earth.google.com/. Since some of the “kmz” files are large, follow the steps below for best viewing results.
- Download and unzip the “kmz” files into a directory of your choice.
- Open Google Earth, type in “colorado springs, co” in the Fly To tab on the left and hit Enter. After Google Earth zooms in on Colorado Springs, continue zooming in until you are looking at a half dozen square blocks.
- On the menu bar at the top of the window, pull down the File tab and click on Open. Browse to the directory in which you saved the “kmz” files and select the file you want, click Open and be patient. The larger “kmz” files take several seconds to open. As the files open, Google Earth will try to zoom out to cover both Teller and El Paso Counties. If opening the larger files (residential or developable) use the cursor and zoom control to stop this action. This will make the file open faster. Once open, the land use polygons will be overlaid on the Google Earth aerial photos. You can zoom in or out and move around the region much as you can in a GIS file or other online mapping utility.
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