# Place-New York City doesn't work

**URL:** <https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533>\
**Category:** Bug Reports\
**Created:** [September 20, 2021, 2:58pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533 "2021-09-20T14:58:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 15\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![steven-cyclist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/steven-cyclist/32/37875_2.png) [@steven-cyclist](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/steven-cyclist)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 2:58pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533/1 "2021-09-20T14:58:33Z")

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In the list of “PLACES” there are a bunch of “New York City” listings and they all look great. But if you search for My Observations and narrow down to Place: New York City, it selects all of New York state. There seems to be no way to narrow down correctly to NYC in the My Observations part of the site.

Yes one can work around it by going first to the places list and selecting the correct place, then narrowing the search to just my observations. But this is more time-consuming and counterintuitive. The normal way of finding observations in a place should work for NYC.

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**Author:** ![marina\_gorbunova](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/marina_gorbunova/32/31454_2.png) [@marina\_gorbunova](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/marina_gorbunova)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 3:02pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533/2 "2021-09-20T15:02:11Z")

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In regular search Google places are used, if they don’t fit your needs - open filters and choose a place there.

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**Author:** ![bouteloua](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/bouteloua/32/1180_2.png) [@bouteloua](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/bouteloua)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 3:55pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533/3 "2021-09-20T15:55:14Z")

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Hi @steven-cyclist - can you provide screenshots and URLs to help explain the issue you are running into?

If you use the place filter as Melodi suggested on the Your Observations page ([https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place\_id=any&user\_id=steven-cyclist&verifiable=any](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&user_id=steven-cyclist&verifiable=any)), you can narrow down to New York City:

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/f/4/f487fe5fb7a38b4dddc317a43b6b3d8d32007222.jpeg)

The “Location” search at the top right uses Google Maps search, which can give unexpected results. iNaturalist has little control over their dropdown suggestions. Whereas the Place filter uses [place boundaries](https://www.inaturalist.org/places) entered into the iNaturalist database.

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**Author:** ![bouteloua](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/bouteloua/32/1180_2.png) [@bouteloua](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/bouteloua)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 12:04pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533/5 "2021-09-22T12:04:24Z")

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**Author:** ![gaia\_papaya](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/gaia_papaya/32/33001_2.png) [@gaia\_papaya](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/gaia_papaya)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 3:55pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533/7 "2023-01-06T15:55:24Z")

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**Platform** (Android, iOS, Website):  
Website  
**App version number** , if a mobile app issue (shown under Settings or About): NA

**Browser** , if a website issue (Firefox, Chrome, etc) :  
Firefox, although my lab peers have had a similar issue using Chrome  
**URLs (aka web addresses) of any relevant observations or pages**:  
[https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place\_id=48&subview=map](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=48&subview=map)  
**Screenshots of what you are seeing** (instructions for taking a screenshot on computers and mobile devices: [https://www.take-a-screenshot.org/](https://www.take-a-screenshot.org/)):

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/9/2/9278151ebb710b6725755d809bfd7117507804f9.jpeg)

**Description of problem** (please provide a set of steps we can use to replicate the issue, and make as many as you need.):

when trying to use the location search bar to filter for “New York, NY” (AKA new york city), the map filters to New York State. this issue also occurs for the search “New York City, NY”

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**Author:** ![marina\_gorbunova](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/marina_gorbunova/32/31454_2.png) [@marina\_gorbunova](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/marina_gorbunova)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:05pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533/8 "2023-01-06T16:05:08Z")

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You need to use iNat places in filters, what you use are Google places iNat has no control over (sadly).

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**Author:** ![jwidness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jwidness](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jwidness)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 4:11pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533/9 "2023-01-06T16:11:56Z")

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**Author:** ![tristanmcknight](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/tristanmcknight/32/12490_2.png) [@tristanmcknight](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/tristanmcknight)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 6:38pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533/10 "2023-01-06T18:38:00Z")

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If this is really the “solution”, then iNat should redesign the page layout. Expecting people to click 3 more times (Filters, More Filters, Place) when there’s a big giant “Location” bar on the top of the page already asking for input is counterintuitive.

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**Author:** ![jwidness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jwidness](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jwidness)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 6:44pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533/11 "2023-01-06T18:44:21Z")

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> [@tristanmcknight](#):
>
> iNat should redesign the page layout

iNat is already planning a[redesign for the Explore page](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/ideas-for-a-revamped-explore-observations-search-page/8439) and 4 of the first 20 comments include something about Location vs Place searching, so it seems likely that will be addressed.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tristanmcknight](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/tristanmcknight/32/12490_2.png) [@tristanmcknight](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/tristanmcknight)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533/12 "2023-01-06T18:56:49Z")

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That update is from 3+ years ago, which as somebody recently mentioned on another thread is tech developer speak for “not a priority”. I know the tiny iNat staff is swamped with growth challenges… but that represents a choice in their allocation of resources.

Anyway, this is partly why I mostly gave up on using Bugguide years ago-- they kept promising a big revamp of the platform (“Bugguide 2.0”) that was always just around the corner… for decades. It looks like the same thing is happening here.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bouteloua](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/bouteloua/32/1180_2.png) [@bouteloua](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/bouteloua)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533/13 "2023-03-07T18:56:54Z")

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This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cofa](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/cofa/32/20297_2.png) [@cofa](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/cofa)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 12:16am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533/14 "2023-07-12T00:16:33Z")

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Please fill out the following sections to the best of your ability, it will help us investigate bugs if we have this information at the outset. Screenshots are especially helpful, so please provide those if you can.

**Platform** (Android, iOS, Website): Website

**URLs (aka web addresses) of any relevant observations or pages**: [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place\_id=48&subview=map&taxon\_id=48091](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=48&subview=map&taxon_id=48091)

**Screenshots of what you are seeing** (instructions for taking a screenshot on computers and mobile devices: [https://www.take-a-screenshot.org/](https://www.take-a-screenshot.org/)):

 ![Screenshot 2023-07-11 at 8.15.07 PM](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/9/3/93307e51e4ef88ca0371062818f9f72622268914.jpeg)

**Description of problem** (please provide a set of steps we can use to replicate the issue, and make as many as you need.): Setting location to New York City results in New York state being selected

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cofa](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/cofa/32/20297_2.png) [@cofa](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/cofa)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 12:17am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533/15 "2023-07-12T00:17:44Z")

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This is maybe the issue, which is a more general Google Maps integration issue:

 ![Screenshot 2023-07-11 at 8.17.06 PM](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/1/6/16e7ed24635dbf388e7ecd824e2c97ebf2691509.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jwidness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jwidness](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jwidness)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 12:31am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533/16 "2023-07-12T00:31:03Z")

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jwidness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jwidness](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jwidness)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 12:32am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/place-new-york-city-doesnt-work/26533/17 "2023-07-12T00:32:57Z")

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This is a known issue, I moved your report to this existing report.

In the meantime, please use Filters-\> More Filters-\> Place, as in the first screenshot above.
