I spend a lot of time using Google Maps and Streetview to stay updated on city development, the state of neighborhoods, and for general urban exploring. It's a valuable tool and I don't think I'd be the only one to think it deserves a thread here. It's truly fascinating to see how neighborhoods have progressed since 2007 with their time machine feature.

Anyways it looks like Google has dropped the Streetview update for the majority of the city for June-September 2017. I've also been hearing rumors that an update our cities 3D map is in the works (Currently stuck in 2014)

Interesting that they appear not to have updated Clayton. It's still showing a date before Centene construction even started. They look not to have updated Lambert either, not that changes there would have been terribly noticeable.

Looks like Google has created a new unofficial neighborhood in STL called "South Grand."



For context they created a few neighborhoods in SF and Detroit, IE the Eye and the East Cut. At least South Grand is a locally recognized name for the general area.

Context
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/02/tech ... names.html

Yeah South Grand definitely does not really fit the boundaries they have picked out, when people refer to it they are typically talking about the commercial strip and a block or two in either direction. It definitely should not stretch to the other side of Gravois!

Clayton is updated. Based on Centene construction it looks like it's from mid 2018

Most of the satellite imagery is May 6th with a random strip from Oct 16th, running from the 5200 block of Natural Bridge to the 7100 block of S Broadway. However, if you turn on the History tool on Google Earth, you can view all of the Oct 16th Imagery, which looks much better IMO. 

While we're on the topic, looks like "Father Biondi Way" made its way onto Google Maps. It's a temporary honorary name and shouldn't be on there. I reported it and said it should be changed back to S Grand Blvd. You have to jump through a couple of hoops to get to the correct interface but it's possible. Of course, if this was someone who didn't do massive damage to this city, I would have just left it. 

I think Google ran a red light at the Old Bus Station.

https://goo.gl/maps/Ptuz7D5oknCpPyQ38

nope, its green if you swing the view around to the direction its traveling. 

Oh yeah.  I was the one moving my cursor down N 13th street.  I ran the red light.  And when you move your cursor down Cass through that intersection, it's even scarier when you jump to the left lane for a head-on.  Remind me to stop using Google maps in place of a real vacation.

When might they update the satellite images? They're getting long in the tooth.

Before the era of internet mapping, how did Rand McNally or whatever get their info? Is or was there a city streets person in charge of providing this data? Obviously our maps weren't always crowdsourced in the pre-internet era.

I was just noticing that Google still shows Pine as open through the MLS stadium site. I reported it, but that kind of thing always seems to take months and numerous reports to actually update.

I'd really like if Google Maps was able to figure out which of our closed streets are fully locked down and which are open to pedestrians and bikes, but that's a tall order.

quincunx wrote: ↑

Mar 15, 2021

When might they update the satellite images? They're getting long in the tooth.

No kidding. 3D models still show BPV Phase 2 as it appeared at the very start of construction in early 2018 - foundation work and tower cranes and not much more. It's weird, because the current 3D imagery for the Arch grounds is clearly from Fair Saint Louis 2018, and by that point there was a fair amount of concrete rising out of the ground at BPV.

eee123 wrote: ↑

Mar 15, 2021

Before the era of internet mapping, how did Rand McNally or whatever get their info? Is or was there a city streets person in charge of providing this data? Obviously our maps weren't always crowdsourced in the pre-internet era.

A lot of it drew (and I believe still draws) on USGS aerial photography and mapping. At this point the two probably feed into each other, as the USGS seems to contract the photography out to private companies like DigitalGlobe now. That said, the government data is still free to everyone. And uncopyrightable. No matter how they get it. Likewise platte books. Someone has to do the work of simplifying it and making it all pretty, but the data is freely available to anyone who wants to collect it.

symphonicpoet wrote: ↑

Mar 16, 2021

eee123 wrote: ↑

Mar 15, 2021

Before the era of internet mapping, how did Rand McNally or whatever get their info? Is or was there a city streets person in charge of providing this data? Obviously our maps weren't always crowdsourced in the pre-internet era.

A lot of it drew (and I believe still draws) on USGS aerial photography and mapping. At this point the two probably feed into each other, as the USGS seems to contract the photography out to private companies like DigitalGlobe now. That said, the government data is still free to everyone. And uncopyrightable. No matter how they get it. Likewise platte books. Someone has to do the work of simplifying it and making it all pretty, but the data is freely available to anyone who wants to collect it.

I did a lot of feature extraction back a few years ago. A lot is done over satellite imagery. It’s somewhat automated now but it’s mostly crap and needs a lot of fixing and you are better off just doing it from scratch. I’ve spent a lot of time just drawing lines down the middle of roads, rivers, and power lines on imagery. Clicking corners of buildings.  I pretty much exclusively used digitalglobe imagery. I am guessing some aerial photos were used before satellite imagery was good enough to use for it. I was at least post light table. I don’t know how cartographers did it back then.

^I suppose I'm lumping satellite and aerial imagery into the same basket in my head. In the days before widely available internet imagery I got boatloads of USGS maps copied out of the Mizzou Geology library for a stupid personal project, which I then traced on my own improvised light table. The tracings lined up alarmingly well with certain commercial products, thus I am forced to assume the makers of those products had done something similar. I was deeply tempted to salvage my grandfather's light table some years back, but even for my own silliness I can't really see the point these days. It's just too big and heavy. But man . . . I sure thought about it.

(I later downloaded most of the same data as image tiles off Terraserver which I then saved to ZIP disks. I then pieced them together in Photoshop and started making a manual overlay. I think I still have those blasted things in a box somewhere. Ah, the silliness of amateurs making maps.)

I used to do a lot of backpacking in Missouri wilderness areas; I relied on USGS topographical maps to navigate off trail. It always amazed me to imagine the guys back in the day trecking around with survey equipment recording every little hidden creek and glade in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes I'd stumble onto one of their markers.