Google Maps and satellite imagery of KW

[Smore]

the corduroy road is there, so that should help with dating...

[GtwoK]

While various buildings downtown have shown up as 3D in the past (in the non-satellite view), they have only been "extrusions", of sorts - a footprint uniformly pulled out to a specific height. These have been mostly my doing so far, as seen on a few buildings (Kaufman Lofts, 305 King, Manulife, etc). However, new, intricate 3D models have now appeared downtown. I can't figure out what criteria is being used to determine which buildings are 3D modelled - at first seemed like only the only churches. But then I noticed Market Square. and the Igloo Building. And a random house on Margaret Ave.

I'm not sure where these are coming from, but I would love to be involved in the modelling process if it were possible. Does anyone know why these buildings in particular / where thew models could be coming from? It's not Google that does it - they simply take the information that others provide them. So someone is giving them these models.

An example of the footprint extrusions I've made



The more complicated models now being added

[KevinL]

Spotted the Street View car on King Street this morning! It may well have caught me waving.

[Viewfromthe42]

Which will promptly be blurred out...

[timio]

They didn't blur out the thumbs up I gave it on Union a few years back. Perhaps didn't clue in through my car window.

[KevinL]

I expect my face will be, yes. No biggie.

[KevinL]

The standard (non-satellite) view recently got a bit of an overhaul, including a new feature that highlights 'areas of interest' in orange. This includes downtowns, dense commercial areas, or other places people congregate regularly. Here's Downtown Kitchener, for example:

[Viewfromthe42]

Well, it correctly points out that King beyond Francis is not a place people gather, and that there is no community activity/gathering/penetration into the Market area other than the market itself.

[jamincan]

I noticed on my colleague's computer with Firefox that Google Maps is serving new imagery from sometime this year. I'm not sure the exact date, but a lot of the work on Charles is complete in the image, it looks like Erb and Caroline is still open and the work in the MSF hasn't progressed nearly as much as we see now. Unfortunately, I don't seem to get the updated imagery on my computer in Chrome.

[megabytephreak]

I believe this is the 2D imagery KevinL mentioned above. You can get it in chrome by opening the settings menu and turning 3D off.

[KevinL]

The Street View imagery taken in June is now available on most spots on the map.

[UrbanCanoe]

BREAKING NEWS: Google Maps has released 3D mapping of the entire City of Cambridge. Previously only a 500m wide swath from Hespeler south to Galt was available, but now the majority of the City is visible (except for the Moffat Creek area). It appears the imaging was captured at around June 1, 2016. Thanks Google!

[GtwoK]

YES! Finally! No way the imagery is from June, though - the lot with the new A&W at the corner of Deer Ridge has barely been started.

On second look... wow, this is some suuuupper weird amalgamation of data spanning maybe a year. Go look at the Franklin / Bishop roundabout - it's still the intersection it once was, but with the ghost of the roundabout there (note the fait pink concrete dividing where the entrance / exits are supposed to be).

[Pheidippides]

Could someone update Google maps to show the Uptown area open? The Google directions are still taking you around the Uptown area. Apologies if it has been done already and is working its way through the process. Thank-you!

[Markster]

I believe that's automated data coming in from road closure apps. It seems to clear up in a couple days.