Urban Mapping has created an API and is offering its database of neighborhoods across the US for free to developers. The company works with search engines and portals to provide more accurate search results (and advertising) when people use “colloquial” or local queries that are not reflected in official boundaries or recognized geographic designations.
CEO Ian White told me in an email that he envisions the API being used by “any site that captures [local] listings of any type (e.g., events, real estate, business listings, etc.) . . . they can now associate [them with] a neighborhood attribute.” He’s also eager to see how developers creatively use the API in alternative ways.
Using this sort of database is intended improve the user experience as well enable more targeted advertising in response to local/neighborhood keywords and phrases. Maponics has a competing local database.
If “locavore” refers to someone with a penchant for “eating locally,” we might call local consumer speech/queries “lingua locus” or, alternatively, “lobonics.”
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Related: Yelp indicated to me in email that they’ve offered a free neighborhood API since launching their API several months ago.
Screenwerk 
January 9, 2008 at 3:58 pm
I don’t think it’s polite to say “lingua locus” in mixed company Greg.
January 9, 2008 at 6:36 pm
My detailed analysis is here:
http://www.chanduthota.com/blog/2008/01/neighborhoods-api-from-urban-mapping.html
At a heigh-level, there are three major issues with the API:
1. No Geometry
2. Non-Standard Neighborhood IDs
3. Lack of wire-format choices
No doubt, this is a first step in the right direction, but not terribly useful for now…
January 10, 2008 at 1:44 pm
for responses (not mine!) to Chandu’s comments, see http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2008/01/urban-mapping-free-neighborhood-api.html#comments
Chandu-shame on you for producing comment spam!
😉
January 30, 2008 at 6:16 pm
[…] Greg noted at Screenwerk and Brady at O’Reilly Radar, Urban Mapping is opening up an API to its Neighborhood […]
March 5, 2008 at 10:17 pm
[…] is formal announcement of the API, which was informally, already available. This works to improve the accuracy of consumer facing local apps and can help geogargeted […]