Since the introduction of Google Maps I have never understood why people use them (besides navigation for cars). I'm really not an urbanism or FOSS zealot or something, but their design is simply unusable. Besides the streets or roads grid it doesn't give you any understanding of the area. Everything is just plain gray or green with no buildings or structures until you zoom in very closely. It's really bad in Europe, but it seems to me to be just as bad in the US. Like for example take this place in Dallas. And the same spot on Openstreetmap. (Pic. 1 and 2) I can imagine a stadium is a visible landmark even for someone sitting in a car on a highway. But if it weren't for a POI you couldn't tell there is a stadium and other structures looking at Google Maps. It looks rather like an empty park.
It's even worse in smaller towns in Germany. E.g. take the town of Clausthal-Zellerfeld in the Harz mountains. In Google Maps it is simply a green plane with a street grid on it. (Pic. Nr. 3) Only when you zoom in very closely, the actual buildings and structures get displayed. Openstreetmap is by far not perfect (above all because it is often outdated), but it gives you a proper understanding of the area, including industrial and recreational areas. Like a map should. At least you see a town! (I am not asking for much.😄)
Google Maps is a navigation tool (for cars), not a map app. It is only good if you need to be told where to turn right or left until you arrive at your destination. But if you want to get an idea of the geography of a place or an area, it's of no help.
And then it turns out Google Maps basically masks all the pedestrianised areas a.k.a. most of the areas to go in a city? How is it even usable outside of a car?
(Sorry for the long post.)
#googlemaps #openstreetmap #osm