We all live in a Chicago rowhouse

September 15, 2006 11:17 AM

Apparently over 100 MeFites live in a rowhouse in the McKinley Park neighbourhood of Chicago. Here's a few of them; you can find many, many more by looking at the "Users nearest this user" display. Perhaps we should hold our next meetup there?
posted by Johnny Assay to Bugs at 11:17 AM (55 comments total)

Live in what? A city called Chicago?
posted by birdherder at 11:24 AM on September 15, 2006

No. They live in a Google Map. Sometimes they take the tubes to Portland. Or MeFi.
posted by dame at 11:27 AM on September 15, 2006

Thats the coordinates you get when you merely type "Chicago" into Google.
posted by vacapinta at 11:27 AM on September 15, 2006

Yeah, I was thinking that was an artifact of an old zip-code conversion or just some random 'default' spot on google.
posted by delmoi at 11:30 AM on September 15, 2006

Likewise, all San Franciscans live near City Hall

How does Google determine this location for each city?
posted by vacapinta at 11:32 AM on September 15, 2006

"Apparently over 100 MeFites live in a rowhouse in the McKinley Park neighbourhood of Chicago."

Well, no. It's actually just one guy who woke up three weeks ago with his head on his keyboard, dried coke around his nostrils, and $500 less in his PayPal account.
posted by koeselitz at 11:36 AM on September 15, 2006 [7 favorites]

Million-dollar idea, free to all comers:

Yo MTV Maps
posted by cortex at 11:38 AM on September 15, 2006 [2 favorites]

Before you could enter coordinates, you entered your zip. If you didn't manually enter your coordinates after Matt created the ability to do so, it defaults to a certain location, based on the zip you had previously entered.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:44 AM on September 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

Like in my profile, for instance- that is not where I live. I will never post the exact coordinates of where I live.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:44 AM on September 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

I have posted the exact coordinates of my apartment. You're welcome to stop by for a beer.*

visitor must supply own beer
posted by sciurus at 11:47 AM on September 15, 2006

Well, no. It's actually just one guy who woke up three weeks ago with his head on his keyboard, dried coke around his nostrils, and $500 less in his PayPal account.

dhoyt?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:53 AM on September 15, 2006

Oh, and by the way, the next meetup should be in western China, Kazakhstan or southern Russia: there's still quite a few US members who forget to add the minus sign to their coordinates, placing them on the opposite side of the globe.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:54 AM on September 15, 2006

You live really close to the freeway scirius. (Likewise, I don't live at my coordinates.)
posted by dame at 12:06 PM on September 15, 2006

Sweet! Google got a new set of aerial photos for my area. Now you can see my chicken coop, my vegetable beds, and my beach. Let me know if you're coming over -- I'll put fresh PBRs in the fridge.
posted by ewagoner at 12:34 PM on September 15, 2006

Y'know, it would be a cool web project to photograph at street level the 'centre' locations that Google uses for all large cities.

IMO, whatever.
posted by Kickstart70 at 12:41 PM on September 15, 2006

My cooridinates are accurate. But I do have a great line of sight and a shotgun. So keep your hands in the air where I can see the beer offering.
posted by terrapin at 12:48 PM on September 15, 2006

mine are accurate, but people are afraid to stop by.
posted by quonsar at 12:57 PM on September 15, 2006

I hope you have sunscreen. And don't bother with the beer. It's boat drinks and tequila here.
posted by ?! at 1:10 PM on September 15, 2006

I live in a one-room apartment with 36 MeFites, but most of them are other Astro Zombies,
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:17 PM on September 15, 2006

it was actually pepsi.
posted by sonofsamiam at 1:18 PM on September 15, 2006

You think that rowhouse is crowded, there's like 9 of us living in what is apparently a tree in the foothills of the santa cruz mountains.
posted by advil at 1:22 PM on September 15, 2006

Y'know, it would be a cool web project to photograph at street level the 'centre' locations that Google uses for all large cities.

IMO, whatever.
posted by Kickstart70 at 12:41 PM PST

You could find the closest photo on flickr.com/maps

Here's the one for Chicago - about a block away.
posted by vacapinta at 1:27 PM on September 15, 2006

ThePinkSuperhero: can I put the exact coordinates in for everyone else to see? Pretty please? I won't tell everyone you live near the TJ Maxx by the mall. Oops.
posted by Captaintripps at 1:29 PM on September 15, 2006

Likewise, all San Franciscans live near City Hall

When I checked, googlemaps put the "address" of San Francisco as 11th between market and mission, at a non-profit (veriditas) "dedicated to introducing people to the healing, meditative powers of the labyrinth".
posted by eddydamascene at 1:38 PM on September 15, 2006

Finally! A Chicago MeFi meetup in my part of town!
posted by macadamiaranch at 1:40 PM on September 15, 2006

sciurus: "I have posted the exact coordinates of my apartment. You're welcome to stop by for a beer."

The latitude and longitude are accurate enough that you could specify that they actually indicate exactly where in the fridge there is space for a visitor to place said beer.
posted by Plutor at 1:40 PM on September 15, 2006

Is that a geocache in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?
posted by cortex at 1:44 PM on September 15, 2006

As long as you don't tell them I live *in* the TJMaxx by the mall, Captaintripps. And I promise not to tell them you live in the dumpster right outside. OPPS!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:55 PM on September 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

quonsar, I was in your neighboorhood last weekend. Seriously.
posted by ruby.aftermath at 2:02 PM on September 15, 2006

My exact coordinates are there and they are dead on.

Hold on.. The wife tells me we have black helicopters hovering over our condo. brb.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 2:05 PM on September 15, 2006

Kickstart70 , here's the one forDC.
posted by MrMoonPie at 2:05 PM on September 15, 2006

Let's try that again:
Here's the one for DC.
posted by MrMoonPie at 2:10 PM on September 15, 2006

I live at my zipcode's post office. They still haven't figured it out, but I think they're wondering where all the empty yogurt cartons are coming from.
posted by scody at 2:16 PM on September 15, 2006

a van.
down by the river.
that is all.
posted by blue_beetle at 2:22 PM on September 15, 2006

My coordinates are at an intersection.
posted by safetyfork at 2:39 PM on September 15, 2006

a van.
down by the river.
that is all.
posted by blue_beetle

Please, please, please...someone find a googlemaps location of a van down by a river.
posted by MrZero at 2:53 PM on September 15, 2006

I've got Opps!
posted by Captaintripps at 3:04 PM on September 15, 2006

Maybe it's a sockpuppet drawer.
posted by Phred182 at 3:04 PM on September 15, 2006

Mefites fold and store easily in closets or even under a bed.
posted by Aghast. at 3:12 PM on September 15, 2006 [2 favorites]

I live about a mile from the default Toronto location, apparently.
posted by easternblot at 3:25 PM on September 15, 2006

As long as you don't tell them I live *in* the TJMaxx by the mall, Captaintripps. And I promise not to tell them you live in the dumpster right outside.

I actually messed around with my coordinates because they said that I lived in a parking lot 500 feet behind my house and I didn't want people to think I was a literal troll as well as a figurative one. Or a homeless person who camps out in the middle of a small office park.
posted by Mayor Curley at 3:32 PM on September 15, 2006

My location coordinates are entirely accurate, but only one person has tried visiting, and no one can find the secret entrance. (Keep banging those rocks together, guys!)
posted by loquacious at 3:33 PM on September 15, 2006

Thanks to this thread, now I know that I live at the Princeton Record Exchange. CDs for everyone!
posted by amro at 3:35 PM on September 15, 2006

My coördinates are accurate, but it costs $14 to take the elevator up to visit me.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:55 PM on September 15, 2006

creeky and I live under the railway like good old fashioned hobos... pass the moonshine :)
posted by nielm at 3:55 PM on September 15, 2006

The default coordinates for Seattle actually put you out in the middle of nowhere east of Seattle. This messes up the nearness for those who have actually bothered to put in their exact coordinates. I think I mentioned this a long time ago when the mapping was first introduced, but I guess no one ever did anything about it.
posted by matildaben at 4:07 PM on September 15, 2006

amro: CDs for everyone!

*Receives small, shiny silver-coloured disc, puts on record player, places needle on disc....*

Hey! I thought you said record!
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:36 PM on September 15, 2006

My coordinates might be accurate, how would I know? I just typed in what the voices told me. The others here seem to have visitors on Tuesday.
posted by Cranberry at 4:59 PM on September 15, 2006

I've always had my location set to the middle of Lake Merritt, on the remote chance that someone would actually click on my location in my profile and find it funny. But I've recently moved from that neighborhood. Le sigh. Time to relocate to some other hi-larious place.
posted by team lowkey at 5:04 PM on September 15, 2006

There. Now I live in the Ashby BART station. Feel free to stop by for some crack.
posted by team lowkey at 5:13 PM on September 15, 2006

Ashby -- pshaw. 19th Street Oakland is where the finest, most delicate and subtle black tar can be found.
posted by gramschmidt at 7:25 PM on September 15, 2006

Team lowkey: Welcome to the neighborhood (really!) but don't think you can start unloading your crack on my turf. Ever heard of lurking for a while first?
posted by Aghast. at 7:38 PM on September 15, 2006

No wonder people are afraid to visit, quonsar. It looks like you live in a blast(ed) zone.
posted by deborah at 10:46 AM on September 16, 2006

A van, down by the river.
posted by spacelux at 3:40 PM on September 16, 2006 [2 favorites]

Thank you so much, spacelux.
posted by MrZero at 12:19 PM on September 17, 2006