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OP here. This idea was from looking at this map. https://www.wearedorothy.com/collections/music/products/u-s-a-song-map-open-edition https://www.wearedorothy.co

OP here. This idea was from looking at this map. https://www.wearedorothy.com/collections/music/products/u-s-a-song-map-open-edition https://www.wearedorothy.com/collections/music/products/u-s-...

jen729w 7y ago
It’s beautiful, and reminds me of an idea that I had ... hint ... hint. I live in Melbourne, Australia. Idle Googling led me to the discovery that someone had rated – as in on Maps, with stars – a tram stop. A municipal function, a concrete slab, a place you must necessarily and unavoidably go if you want a tram. Rated. People! Crazy. So I want a map that, at the level of ‘Melbourne’, aggregates the Google review for everything in view and gives the entire city a score. Then as I zoom in, eventually to the tram stop, I see the ratings of individual things. Ultimately I suppose you’d be able to zoom out to the world and see its Google review score.
- onychomys 7y ago
  That would probably just end up being a map of economic conditions in any given section of town. The seedy parts will be lower rated overall (even if there's a highly rated ethnic food joint or whatever), while the swanky parts will have nicer things. That's my guess, although I think you should still do it, because I might be totally wrong. And interesting patterns might still appear even if I'm right.
  - RandallBrown 7y ago
    Even if it is just a map of economic conditions, that's a useful thing to have. I could imagine it being a great way to find "diamonds in the rough" too where certain places are much higher rated than the places around them.
  - komali2 7y ago
    If it's based only on Google reviews I think it'll be static. For example, the taco Bell in my hometown has 4.5 stars on Google because it's one of the only restaurants in the area.
- stirner 7y ago
  > Ultimately I suppose you’d be able to zoom out to the world and see its Google review score. “Music, a mode of creative expression consisting of sound and silence expressed through time, was given a 6.8 out of 10 rating in an review published Monday on Pitchfork Media, a well-known music-criticism website.” [1] [1] https://entertainment.theonion.com/pitchfork-gives-music-6-8-1819569318 https://entertainment.theonion.com/pitchfork-gives-music-6-8...
- mannykannot 7y ago
  > Ultimately I suppose you’d be able to zoom out to the world and see its Google review score. Mostly harmless?
schoen 7y ago
Huh, it looks like the author of that older map might not have realized that "Pennsylvania 6-5000" is about the telephone number of a hotel in New York City (whose telephone exchange was named after Pennsylvania Station, which was named after the Pennsylvania Railroad, which was named after the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_6-5000_(song) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_6-5000_(song) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEnnsylvania_6-5000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEnnsylvania_6-5000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Pennsylvania https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Pennsylvania https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Station_(1910%E2%80%931963) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Station_(1910%E2%... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Railroad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Railroad
- dsr_ 7y ago
  I'm amused that in the blowup of New York State, Canajoharie is called out. I lived in upstate New York for about 15 years and would not have been able to identify the town -- until a few years ago when They Might Be Giants wrote a song with that title. http://tmbw.net/wiki/Canajoharie http://tmbw.net/wiki/Canajoharie
- tashi 7y ago
  "Washington Bullets" isn't about Washington state either, which seems like a thing he'd be likely to know, so maybe he wasn't trying to be that strict.
  - dfxm12 7y ago
    The map was designed to make money, not to be a historical record.
- jen20 7y ago
  This is also the reason the well known 1940 swing song of the same name recorded by the Glen Miller band - after the phone number of the Pennsylvania hotel on 8th Ave whose ballroom they regularly played.
- dredmorbius 7y ago

OP here. This idea was from looking at this map. https://www.wearedorothy.com/collections/music/products/u-s-a-song-map-open-edition https://www.wearedorothy.com/collections/music/products/u-s-...

jen729w 7y ago

It’s beautiful, and reminds me of an idea that I had ... hint ... hint. I live in Melbourne, Australia. Idle Googling led me to the discovery that someone had rated – as in on Maps, with stars – a tram stop. A municipal function, a concrete slab, a place you must necessarily and unavoidably go if you want a tram. Rated. People! Crazy. So I want a map that, at the level of ‘Melbourne’, aggregates the Google review for everything in view and gives the entire city a score. Then as I zoom in, eventually to the tram stop, I see the ratings of individual things. Ultimately I suppose you’d be able to zoom out to the world and see its Google review score.

onychomys 7y ago
That would probably just end up being a map of economic conditions in any given section of town. The seedy parts will be lower rated overall (even if there's a highly rated ethnic food joint or whatever), while the swanky parts will have nicer things. That's my guess, although I think you should still do it, because I might be totally wrong. And interesting patterns might still appear even if I'm right.
- RandallBrown 7y ago
  Even if it is just a map of economic conditions, that's a useful thing to have. I could imagine it being a great way to find "diamonds in the rough" too where certain places are much higher rated than the places around them.
- komali2 7y ago
  If it's based only on Google reviews I think it'll be static. For example, the taco Bell in my hometown has 4.5 stars on Google because it's one of the only restaurants in the area.
stirner 7y ago
> Ultimately I suppose you’d be able to zoom out to the world and see its Google review score. “Music, a mode of creative expression consisting of sound and silence expressed through time, was given a 6.8 out of 10 rating in an review published Monday on Pitchfork Media, a well-known music-criticism website.” [1] [1] https://entertainment.theonion.com/pitchfork-gives-music-6-8-1819569318 https://entertainment.theonion.com/pitchfork-gives-music-6-8...
mannykannot 7y ago
> Ultimately I suppose you’d be able to zoom out to the world and see its Google review score. Mostly harmless?

schoen 7y ago

Huh, it looks like the author of that older map might not have realized that "Pennsylvania 6-5000" is about the telephone number of a hotel in New York City (whose telephone exchange was named after Pennsylvania Station, which was named after the Pennsylvania Railroad, which was named after the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_6-5000_(song) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_6-5000_(song) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEnnsylvania_6-5000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEnnsylvania_6-5000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Pennsylvania https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Pennsylvania https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Station_(1910%E2%80%931963) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Station_(1910%E2%... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Railroad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Railroad

dsr_ 7y ago
I'm amused that in the blowup of New York State, Canajoharie is called out. I lived in upstate New York for about 15 years and would not have been able to identify the town -- until a few years ago when They Might Be Giants wrote a song with that title. http://tmbw.net/wiki/Canajoharie http://tmbw.net/wiki/Canajoharie
tashi 7y ago
"Washington Bullets" isn't about Washington state either, which seems like a thing he'd be likely to know, so maybe he wasn't trying to be that strict.
- dfxm12 7y ago
  The map was designed to make money, not to be a historical record.
jen20 7y ago
This is also the reason the well known 1940 swing song of the same name recorded by the Glen Miller band - after the phone number of the Pennsylvania hotel on 8th Ave whose ballroom they regularly played.
dredmorbius 7y ago