City of Aspen mapping service sees updates

Before 2025 came to a close, the city of Aspen rolled out an update to its GIS-powered MapAspen webpage, which allows anyone to explore interactive maps with city data points. 

Map systems like this are common in local governments around the country, according to the city of Aspen GIS Program Manager Bridgette Kelly. In Aspen, this interface allows residents, contractors, architects, and other interested parties to check on property lines, learn about common traffic accident locations, see city limits, and more. 

“A lot of land planners and architects utilize (MapAspen) to download data and imagery for use in their projects,” Kelly said. “You can also just access information, you can look up who owns a particular property, whether it is owned by the city or not, you can make a map of your own by turning layers on and off.” 

The map layers that Kelly is referring to are different data points. For example, a layer may show you where property lines are, where city limits begin and end, or where short-term rental permits exist or could exist in downtown Aspen. 

The new updates, which were rolled out in November 2025, primarily focused on making the user experience on the webpage easier. Users who navigate to the site after November 2025 will find a quick map that shows commonly sought after map layers, like Aspen’s city limits, above a clickable grid of other common map types. 

“It was an updated look and feel, which gave it a more intuitive experience and made it more user-friendly for our community,” Kelly said. “We also added some new content and functionality, and we are continuously adding new content and data layers.” 

According to Kelly, Aspen’s MapAspen program came about after Pitkin County updated their own GIS-mapping system making it separate from Aspen’s in 2015. In 2017, MapAspen was launched to streamline the process for Aspen stakeholders to find the data that they needed, and also to streamline the city’s ability to efficiently process requests. 

“People would call and say, ‘Hey, can you make me a map?'” Kelly said. “Instead of taking the time to run through that process with them, it was easier to put all of the information out on one of these data portals, and have the community be able to self-serve and obtain information free of charge.” 
The City of Aspen’s MapAspen website can be found at https://mapaspen-cityofaspen.opendata.arcgis.com/.