What Google Maps Can Tell You About a City’s Walkability

Sometime last year, Google Maps started highlighting little areas in orange on their 2D maps.

As a giant geek and fan of Google Maps, I immediately noticed the enhancement and jumped to Google’s blog to find their post detailing the updated look. The post describes these as “areas of interest,” or “places where there’s a lot of activities and things to do.”

For true nerds, Justin O’Beirne takes an incredible look at the data that feeds this function — and the various reasons Google’s investments in Maps over time have uniquely positioned the company to provide such an advanced, beneficial feature.

As a fan of the useful walk (and urban exploration), this Google Maps feature is my favorite way to find a City’s best streets before I visit.

Chicago’s interest areas, as defined by Google Maps algorithm. [The orange overlay can be hard to see, so I emphasized it here.]

A fun exercise — take a look at some traditionally built cities and notice their expansive streets with endless “activities and things to do” —

Google Maps’ Areas of Interest in Amsterdam

Google Maps’ Areas of Interest in Rome

Now, compare to your local metropolitan areas:

Google Maps’ Areas of Interest in Des Moines

Google Maps’ Areas of Interest in Iowa City

…well, then.

Technical aside: embedded maps are all scaled to the same zoom level.

I find this exercise a bite-sized — yet fascinating — take on the traditional development pattern. Enjoy!