Do people in large cities know the boundaries of zip codes?

[rnmcd]

If not then why are many geographic searches peformed by "distance from zip code"?

 

[KLin]

I don't know.

/thread

 

[Shawn]

huh?

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Shawn
huh?

I think it has something to do with this thread.

 

[dbk]

No.

 

[NakaNaka]

Not really. Living in Manhattan, I know my zip code and the ones right near me. But not others. It's a pain when searching for a movie theater downtown on Fandango. I usually just search New York, NY and then it gives me choices to break it down further.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: rnmcd
If not then why are many geographic searches peformed by "distance from zip code"?

"distance from ZIP code" is much more useful if you live in an area where ZIP codes are very small, like cities. With a small ZIP code, the distance will likely be closer to the distance from your actual location. The boundaries aren't really important, since the distance is likely based on the center of the ZIP code.

Edit: As for why they use ZIP codes - you can buy a set of ZIP code data including lat/long coordinates for ~$100. Data for every address in the US would likely be substantially more expensive. Not to mention it's easier to just enter your ZIP code, and your ZIP code is generally sufficient to determine the closest location. The exact distance is not terribly important, an approximate distance is sufficient.

 

[rnmcd]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: rnmcd
If not then why are many geographic searches peformed by "distance from zip code"?

"distance from ZIP code" is much more useful if you live in an area where ZIP codes are very small, like cities. With a small ZIP code, the distance will likely be closer to the distance from your actual location. The boundaries aren't really important, since the distance is likely based on the center of the ZIP code.

Edit: As for why they use ZIP codes - you can buy a set of ZIP code data including lat/long coordinates for ~$100. Data for every address in the US would likely be substantially more expensive. Not to mention it's easier to just enter your ZIP code, and your ZIP code is generally sufficient to determine the closest location. The exact distance is not terribly important, an approximate distance is sufficient.

That makes sense but how do sites that (see Fandango.com) accept either ZIP or City work?

Since a city can have numerous zip codes, how does the 'distance from zip/city' know which zip code to use when a multi-zip code city is selected? Is there a centroid zip code for each city?

 

[chrisms]

I....am...the Centroid.... Zip....Code

 

[Tom]

they probably use two different datasets, one of zip codes, and one of geographical city centers. They could use a centrally located zip code, but it wouldn't be that difficult to access two separate datasets.