“Hope you don’t need to use maps in our nation’s capital!” Those of you who regularly use Google Maps might have noticed that ever since late February, the addresses and directions may have been stumbling over most letter streets. Seems that a recent update of Google Maps’ address parser has broken addresses along streets with single-character names, so that it goes wild. A search for 15 E St NW, for example, gives you the generic location of 15th St NW, although if you search by name of the specific establishment at that address, in this case the Hotel George, the map seems to work fine. The Google Maps Help Group isn’t much help at all, and there hasn’t been any action on the bug for weeks now, so those of you entertaining Google Maps-using visitors to DC would do well to warn them of the bug, and avoid Google in favor of other map apps for now where the District is concerned.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Paulo Ordoveza

Roving Asian mendicant, can occasionally be seen wandering the streets of downtown Washington, muttering unintelligible gibberish to passers-by while pushing a “bag lady” shopping cart full of old blankets, American flags, soda cans, and healthy secondhand snacks from organic food shop dumpsters. Used to live in a cardboard box at 16th and K but the rent was too expensive.