Abstract: The immediate cosmographic environment may hold the key to understanding the formation of the Milky Way, M31, and the entourage of dwarf galaxies that inhabit the Local Group. In order to address the issue of environment in the local area we must accomplish two important things: 1. We must first properly map and chart the local cosmography and 2. we must attempt to understand how, via numerical simulation, this unique structure has affected the formation and evolution of galaxies within it. Constrained simulations are used for this purpose. In my talk I will explain the process involved in such studies and what the future holds in store.