Where does Google Maps place your city center?

[Docere]

For "Toronto ON" it's the intersection of University and Dundas, just north of City Hall. The intersection looks like this:

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.6548154,..._ep=EgoyMDI2MDYwMy4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Some distances from this center point:

To City Hall 450 m (1476 ft), 6 min walk



To King and Bay (Financial District) 1.2 km (0.7 miles), 17 min walk



To Union Station 1.3 km (0.8 miles), 18 min walk



To the CN Tower 1.7 km (1.05 miles), 24 min walk



To Queen's Park (Ontario Legislature) 1.2 km (0.7 miles), 18 min walk

[UrbanImpact]

For Fort Lauderdale, it's Broward Blvd. and US-1: https://maps.app.goo.gl/MzmcKF86q3VsXFaZA

I suspect there are a lot of cities with their google center at US-1 or close to it on the USA's east coast. Miami is another one.

[Steely Dan]

Google maps puts the "center" of Chicago at Lasalle/Washington in the the loop:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chicag..._ep=EgoyMDI2MDYwMy4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D


It's not the worst choice in the world, considering that intersction is at the SW corner of City Hall, but it's still an odd one given that the 0,0 of Chicago's expansive and hyper-rigid cartesian coordinate address grid has been at State/Madison for over a century now:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chicag..._ep=EgoyMDI2MDYwMy4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

[PoshSteve]

Cleveland's is fittingly on Public Square, right at the foot of Terminal Tower. Spot on for the center of the city, and a beautiful view!

https://maps.app.goo.gl/5n2qdPxdStdAyDdR6

[muppet]

Trafalgar Square, London -where the commercial, royal and governmental districts meet






More specifically the Charles I statue behind Nelson's Column is traditionally where all distances are measured from, Google Maps included

[craigs]

I must be doing this wrong. How are you guys figuring out where Google puts the center of your cities?

[Comrade]

Yeah I'm with craigs over here - are we talking about where the map puts the city name and just zooming into that location? If so, for Salt Lake:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/dgg5sjLPyRfd7iDG7

[muppet]

Yep, type in the name of your city then zoom

[craigs]

When I enter "Los Angeles" and zoom in, it shows me an area within the City of Santa Monica.

[Docere]

I just did a search for Los Angeles CA to Beverly Hills CA.

"Los Angeles CA" is at Spring and Temple streets right by City Hall.

[MolsonExport]

Dundas Street and Wellington Street in London, Ontario. Not that anyone would care.


https://www.google.com/maps/place/London..._ep=EgoyMDI2MDYwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

[Docere]

University and Dundas is (as seen in the link in the OP) a rather unremarkable intersection. But it is a pretty good marker of the "center of activity." It's a "convergence point" near the civic squares (Nathan Phillips Square at City Hall and Sankofa Square at Yonge and Dundas), Yonge St retail, the financial district, the Discovery District (medical), Osgoode Hall, Queen's Park (provincial legislature), the University of Toronto etc. Also Toronto's growth skews westward and northward so makes sense to have it somewhat north and west of City Hall and the Financial District. But certainly nobody sees the intersection itself as a destination.

[LuluBobo]

I don't think it's the same answer for everyone.

I've gotten three different locations in Toronto when I refresh and hit the zoom in button

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by Docere

I just did a search for Los Angeles CA to Beverly Hills CA.

"Los Angeles CA" is at Spring and Temple streets right by City Hall.

Yeah, I just assumed that the "center" was wherever Google Maps decided to put the name of the city.

I also get Spring and Temple... which is interesting. I would think it would be Main and 1st Streets, because that's ground zero Los Angeles City's as well as unincorporated Los Angeles County's block numbering system originates: 100 N. Main Street, 100 S. Main Street, 100 E. 1st Street, and 100 W. Main Street all intersect here. Some other incorporated cities in LA County also use this block numbering system; other incorporated cities in LA County use their own block numbering system.

This is why, for example, in the western San Fernando Valley, you'll see addresses like 22346 Sherman Way or whatever, because it's that far from 1st and Main.

Just out of curiosity, I notice Google Maps puts the "Pasadena" label in front of its city hall (E. Holly and N. Garfield) and not where its block numbering system originates (Fair Oaks Ave. and Colorado Blvd., the heart of Old Town Pasadena, Pasadena's original business district). Unlike LA, which has 100 as the originating address, in Pasadena, it's just 1.

For the town I live in, South Pasadena, Google Maps puts it at the intersection of Fair Oaks and Mission, several blocks east of the historic town center, where the South Pasadena Metro Rail Station is.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Yeah, I just assumed that the "center" was wherever Google Maps decided to put the name of the city.

I think most the time it'll be the location of the city hall.

[xzmattzx]

For Wilmington, it is 9th & Market Streets, just a block south of Rodney Square, the center of Downtown.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wilmin..._ep=EgoyMDI2MDYxMC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

[hauntedheadnc]

For Greenville it's Court Square. Specifically, the intersection of Main and Court streets.