Columbia according to Google Maps

Google Maps has tossed its hat in the jurisdiction definition ring by recently highlighting the border of the place a user types in, whether it's city, county, or zip code.

In many cases, this is fairly straight forward.  Baltimore, for example, has specific boundaries where Baltimore City ends and Baltimore County begins and that

But Google has gone beyond jurisdictions that have solid boundaries and waded into the somewhat murkier territory of unincorporated areas.

Did somebody mention Columbia?

To be fair, Columbia's a weird example.  If you define it by zip code (21044 - 21046), you'd get a different map than if you define it by CA-assessed property or areas that are subject to New Town zoning, where you'd get a map that would include parts of Ellicott City and Clarksville but would omit some areas on a parcel-by-parcel basis.  Then you have people's nebulous ideas of where Columbia ends and where Ellicott City, Clarksville, or Elkridge begin and end.

Be that as it may, here's Google's stab at what Columbia is.

I would have just embedded the map here, but the Columbia outline didn't show up on that for some reason.  Feel free to explore the actual map here.

Doesn't look too bad at first glance.  Route 108 is the northern/western boundary, Guilford Road and the Patuxent (yes?) form the western/southern boundary.

The eastern boundary is totally wonky, though.  Closer look:

It's a little hard to see, but we're looking at the dotted line.  Apparently at the intersection of 108 and Tamar Drive, the line cuts through a subdivision (zoom in at the link above to confirm!), around Columbia Crossing and part of Snowden River Parkway, and apparently one side of Snowden but not the other as you move further south.   Very odd.  It doesn't seem to follow zip codes lines as 21045 follows Waterloo Road around until 175.

I guess the line had to be somewhere, right?  But it's interesting.  This is more than simply a few pixels-- it's distinguishing a place where people live and along with that place comes an identity, in theory.

It's funny how maps shape the way we perceive things.  Think back to learning about map projections, and how Greenland dwarfs Africa in the Mercator projection, even though in real life, Africa is seventeen times bigger.  Tools like Google Maps (or any maps) can command authority, and we assume they reflect reality in some sort of objective sense.  Y'know, even if that's not the case.  I mean, anyone who's relied on Google Maps in the past has likely been led astray at least once in their lives.

(Via and spun off of a post by Nate Berg at the excellent Atlantic Cities blog.)