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ZIP lookup of new cache inconsistent


MikeBurnside

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Mike, I would suspect out there some of the zipcodes cover a rather large area. The location the zipcode database seems to use is a bit inconsistant with where it considered each zipcode to be. I dont think its the post office, it might be the center of the area the zipcode serves, or it might be the center of the town the postoffice that serves that zipcode is in. Zipcode 18612 is listed in the USPS database as covering Dallas, PA and College Misericordia, PA. In any case, your cache is there, just on the next page, since it looks like you cache is 16.8 miles from where ever the center of zipcode 18612 is

 

Tae-Kwon-Leap is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon.

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quote:
Originally posted by Mopar:

The location the zipcode database seems to use is a bit inconsistant with where it considered each zipcode to be. I dont think its the post office, it might be the center of the area the zipcode serves, or it might be the center of the town the postoffice that serves that zipcode is in.


According to the Census Bureau, from whom Jeremy got the ZIP centroids, they are the result of averaging the locations of the addresses within that ZIP code. In extreme cases, that means that the resulting centroid might not even be within the area it represents, but in most cases it's "somewhere in the middle."

 

They have to do it that way because - believe it or not - ZIP codes are linear features, not areal features. A point in the middle of a field isn't in a fixed ZIP code; it's when you connect that point to a road and give it a mailbox that it gets a ZIP code assigned.

 

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Mopar, what do you say that you and I just investigate this cache placement PERSONALLY when we attend the event cache at Rickett's Glen this weekend??!!??

 

Mike, thanks SO MUCH for hiding a new cache for people to hunt when they come to the event!

 

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