6 Intriguingly Shaped Communities As Seen On Google Maps
The introduction of mapping applications such as Google Maps (undoubtedly the most popular example of all) and their subsequent widespread use around the world has resulted in an enormous amount of people taking up an interest in an interactive view of the world which previously was very difficult to obtain. There are millions of incredibly interesting sights to experience which, when living at ground level as we do, are rarely seen in the flesh.
As an example, here are some intriguingly shaped communities which take on a new appearance when viewed from the air, along with those same areas pinpointed in embedded maps. Take a look around.
Trails West, Arizona
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(Above) To begin, here’s a small mobile home community called Trails West just outside Tuscon, Arizona. The interesting thing about it is the shape as there aren’t many towns or communities with such a distinctly triangular boundary.
Sun City, Arizona
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(Above) Sun City is a planned retirement community in Arizona which, due to its design and hundreds of identical houses, offers an incredible view on Google Maps. Dozens of tightly knit roads snake around the area and a even form a couple of huge circular neighbourhoods.
Ixtapaluca, Mexico
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(Above) The town of Ixtapaluca in Mexico is full of low-income housing identical to the examples you see in the photo above, resulting in rows and rows of cookie-cutter homes which resemble a cartoon-based community. From above, the area is just as uniform and equally as fascinating.
Bourtange, Netherlands
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(Above) The beautiful star-shaped village of Bourtange was originally built as a fort in the 1500s, the shape chosen due to its highly effective defensive qualities. Today it houses a village and museum and looks incredibly unique, especially when viewed from the air. There are a few other similarly shaped villages around the world but none as defined as this one.
Harborwalk, Texas
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(Above) Developers in Galveston decided to build a planned community on the wetlands in Galveston and came up with a strange design where houses sit on rings of land which, from above, resemble concentric ripples on the water. At the moment the town is still under development, hence the numerous gaps where homes should stand.
Palm Islands, Dubai
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(Above) The award for Most Eccentrically Shaped Community has to go to Palm Islands in Dubai, an incredibly ambitious project which will, if ever completed following the financial crisis, consist of 3 separate palm tree shaped islands off the coast. Work on the first island began in 2001 and can be seen on Google Maps. The size and scale of the project is astounding.
This post was put together by our writer/blogger Shaun Usher AKA deputy dog. Sorry it’s a little bit off topic but IMO what it lacks in relevance it makes up for in awesomeness.
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June 12th, 2009 48 Comments
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June 12th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Nice collection of interesting places of the world! Amazing!
June 13th, 2009 at 3:38 am
I liked the “Bourtange, Netherlands” It’s green. And very nice star
June 13th, 2009 at 8:40 am
http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&q=53.016667,7.183333&ie=UTF8&source=embed&ll=55.681553,12.597799&spn=0.03518,0.11158&z=14&iwloc=A
June 13th, 2009 at 11:12 am
[...] Via link fra Neatorama fant jeg en link til bloggen Seoco som har lagd en liste på 6 Intriguingly Shaped Communities As Seen On Google Maps. [...]
June 13th, 2009 at 11:42 am
[...] Via länk från Neatorama fann jag en länk till bloggen Seoco som har satt samman en lista på 6 Intriguingly Shaped Communities As Seen On Google Maps. [...]
June 14th, 2009 at 3:04 am
What about Naarden in The Netherlands? Looks kinda like Bourtange.
June 14th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Unusual shapes indeed. The Google maps views are amazing.
June 14th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
[...] Įdomus miestų išplanavimai [...]
June 14th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
[...] wrzucił link na Flakera przez FlakerBar przed chwilą Teraz ogladam: seoco.co.uk/…intriguingly-shaped-commu… Bourtange, Netherlands – byłem tam
wykup reklamę [...]
June 14th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Palm Islands – my favourite
June 14th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
@szuman that one has had the most clicks.
Hello to everyone from Wykop.pl, thank you very much for visiting my website. Feel free to say hello.
June 15th, 2009 at 7:45 am
An interesting shaped city I visited while living in Italy is Palmanova, http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.905191,13.31217&z=16&t=h&hl=en
June 15th, 2009 at 8:46 am
A gdzie zatoka czarwonych świń w Warszawie?
June 15th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Real amazing, especially palm island!
June 15th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
[...] yay for public art! (also, take a listen to ‘orange barrels’ if you get the chance.) intriguingly shaped communities, thanks to google earth — i’ll take dubai, please…everyone’s got a [...]
June 16th, 2009 at 2:27 am
[...] nossos países e cidades em detalhes que, do nível do chão, seriam imperceptíveis. Como exemplo aqui estão algumas comunidades espalhadas pelo mundo, cujas formas são absolutamente curiosas e ganham uma nova aparência quando [...]
June 16th, 2009 at 4:23 am
[...] estava dando uma olhada neste post e me impressionei com estes dois lugares aqui. Veja que sensacional o projeto deste … [...]
June 16th, 2009 at 5:52 am
Bourtange looks like heaven on earth. If I were to be rich in funds I would copy it for myself and a few others.
June 16th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Apparently the water in the Palm Islands is rancid because it can’t flow properly in and out to the ocean.
June 17th, 2009 at 12:29 am
Very nicely researched…Bourtange would make an excellant final hole in the ultimate golf course!!
June 17th, 2009 at 5:02 am
How about the capital of Brazil?
Google Maps view, a drawing and a photo from a real plane, as opposed to a city shaped as one
June 17th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Comunidades estrafalarias…
Si las viviendas aisladas construidas por el ‘pocero’ te parecen atípicas, es que no has echado un vistazo a las extrañas comunidades repartidas por todo el mundo….
June 17th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
[...] 6 Intriguingly Shaped Communities As Seen On Google Maps [...]
June 17th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
One unfinished project is missing: The World islands, also in Dubai. It’s quite visible in satellite view in Google maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=dubai&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=25.222801,55.171108&spn=0.079977,0.218353&t=h&z=13
June 17th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Built by Germans in now Polish city Wrocław, in a shape of an eagle:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=pl&geocode=&q=wroc%C5%82aw&sll=51.107941,17.099361&sspn=0.100234,0.2211&ie=UTF8&ll=51.109665,17.100649&spn=0.012529,0.027637&t=k&z=15
Better seen from an angle:
http://www.klimczewski.nazwa.pl/sky/eagle.gif
June 18th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
[...] Map images of strangely shaped towns around the world. The pic above is of lovely Sun City, Arizona. (SEO [...]
June 18th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
[...] 6 Intriguingly Shaped Communities As Seen On Google Maps [...]
June 18th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
[...] Islands, Dubai View the Original Post with the details of each place along with their views as seen on Google Maps. Stuff We Like [...]
June 19th, 2009 at 9:45 am
really great photos, i want live there!
June 19th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
[...] out Harborwalk, Texas. « This is why Ron Paul is a [...]
June 19th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
In Badía del Vallés (Catalunya, Spain) there is a small village shaped as Spain itself, being the streets named as the mountains, rivers, etc of our country.
See it at http://maps.google.es/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=41.509172,2.114975&spn=0.008838,0.022745&t=h&z=16, or http://fronterasblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/badia_espanya.jpg
June 21st, 2009 at 12:00 pm
[...] intriguingly shaped communities as seen on Google [...]
June 24th, 2009 at 10:24 am
I suggest some a places in Italy,
Palmanova.
June 24th, 2009 at 11:03 am
@Giovanni that one is awesome, thanks for posting
June 24th, 2009 at 11:07 am
I Love this one: Bourtange, Netherlands
Very similar to some of nintendo games
June 24th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Location Number 2 — it is a bike!
June 24th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
@Lee I see it, either that or some crazy eyes.
June 24th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Yeah, Alex MacLean has some really fantastic aerial photos of planned communities around the US. Some of them are pretty creepy, actually. On his website click “Portfolio” then “Dwelling” http://www.alexmaclean.com/
June 24th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Ah, didn’t see one of his made the list… These terraformers have taken things to a whole new level.
June 25th, 2009 at 6:00 am
[...] for 6/24/2009 6 Intriguingly Shaped Communities As Seen On Google MapsAs much as these communities are interesting to look at from above, they don’t appear to be [...]
June 25th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
[...] 6 Intriguingly Shaped Communities As Seen On Google Maps [...]
June 28th, 2009 at 9:05 am
[...] 6 Intriguingly Shaped Communities As Seen On Google Maps The introduction of mapping applications such as Google Maps (undoubtedly the most popular example of all) and their subsequent widespread use around the world has resulted in an enormous amount of people taking up an interest in an interactive view of the world which previously was very difficult to obtain. There are millions of incredibly interesting sights to experience which, when living at ground level as we do, are rarely seen in the flesh. [...]
July 14th, 2009 at 2:08 am
[...] Google Earth: El abecedario y Ciudades con formas particulares [...]
July 18th, 2009 at 4:13 am
Excellent article,well written with great reference pictures and the addition of Google map links topped the cake.
August 15th, 2009 at 10:24 am
[...] 6 Intriguely Shaped Communities on Google Maps – with aerial pics. [...]
September 25th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Very similar to some of nintendo games
January 28th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
LOL..”nintendo games”
January 31st, 2010 at 3:37 pm
Some amazing photos, I’m left wondering with a few how the people find their own house?!