The problem is when I first saw the red labels.. I thought they were buildings and it was strange for me.

Ways I think you could improve:
Maybe using the displacment filter for a slightly older look?
Turning down the fill on the hard lines or something similair?
Replacing that damned red text that I can't read. Maybe black and if you have to a outer glow of white? (Or you could list the places on the side with just black or something and have numbers to signify the area's it is in. And, have the numbers in the area's if that makes sense.)
Maybe a slightly more indication of pathways?