Mapping Hacks

Find Nearby Things Using U.S. ZIP Codes #82

Chapter 7, Names and Places

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HACK

last;

}

}

# no extra whitespace

$addr =~ s/\s+/ /igs;

return $addr;

}

—Michael Frumin

HACK

#82

Find Nearby Things Using U.S. ZIP Codes Hack #82

ZIP Codes are everywhere, and ideal for taking advantage of “What’s near

me?” services.

Everywhere on the Web are forms asking for your ZIP Code and promising

to get you in touch with your nearest latte, sandwich, or golf course. Now

you can join the in-crowd and provide your own Location Based Services

(LBS) based on ZIP Codes.

If you know your ZIP Code, then you can figure out where you are...sort of.

United States ZIP Codes were established to help deliver the mail. They

were not optimized to ease the burden of 21st century geowankers, which is

a pity, since they provide a ubiquitous and useful label for most people in

the United States. There is a method to the madness of U.S. ZIP Codes, but

sadly for those of us with a locative bent, that method has nothing to do

with topography and everything to do with efficient mail delivery.

ZIP Codes describe arbitrary, irregular shapes and sizes. Similar ZIP Codes

tend to be close to each other, but there are places where successive ZIP

Codes are spread across metropolitan areas. Because the boundaries are

irregular, it is quite possible to be in one ZIP Code on the border of a sec-

ond ZIP Code, and to actually be closer to a third ZIP ...