Another Office Tour of Scranton

My wife was passing through Scranton recently. Looking for a recommended tourist break, I found this Office tour. A few year ago I posted this downtown map. Here is a more regional view. 

The map itself (via Auburn Artisan) is nothing special - just a Google Map tour. What is new (to me anyway) is that the restaurants and bars are real. I just assumed they made up these places like in most shows. The one place that not real* is the one you'd least expect, Chili's - the nearest one according to the post is in Wilkes-Barre**. While that is only a 30 minute drive away it seems kind of far to go for an office event.

* Probably Pizza by Alfredo (not to be confused with Alfredo's Pizza) with their "hot circle of garbage" is also a fake place.

**According the Chili's web site that location also no longer exists and the nearest one is in Bartonsville, over 40 miles away. Seems like an untapped market.

Just to complete your collection of "Office" themed maps there is this abomination, available on Etsy.

The subway metaphor does not work for everything. How many times was public transit ever mentioned on the show? This is a fine example of becksploitation. While you don't expect perfect geography on a transit map, they didn't even try here. The two lakes are NOT in opposite directions, the University should be in the middle and how about those two major stations in the middle that they couldn't even name? The Radisson is a major omission. Anyway if you like the show and don't care about any of this then enjoy!

The Office Tour of Scranton

Last night was the final episode of The Office. In memory of the show here is a map of Scranton from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.


The article that accompanies the map gives you some details about some of the sights including the quotes below:

A -Paper Magic

Paper Magic Group, which makes greeting cards, Valentines and other seasonal products, is often confused for Dunder Mifflin. The office building is shown briefly in the show's opening credits, along with a Mulberry Street sign.
And actor John Krasinksi, who plays Jim, visited Paper Magic when he was scouting possible locations and filmed the opening montage of the city from his car.

B - Niko Bella restaurant

Brenda Stanco and her step-father John Xanthis, owners of Niko-Bella restaurant in Scranton, hung a banner outside their restaurant, after one episode had the character of Michael getting a sandwich delivered from the restaurant.

C -Farley's

Farley's restaurant also got a quick mention on the show.
"I want to be to 'The Office' what Monk's Restaurant was to 'Seinfeld,' " said Bill Young, owner of Farley's. A 10-year-old customer suggested a Michael Scott burger, a cheese-slathered burger Mr. Young is going to add it to the menu this fall.

D - City Hall 

A Dunder Mifflin sign hangs outside City Hall in Scranton.

E - Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce

The buzzed-about comedy has also brought Scranton some reverse chic. Mr. Burke of the Chamber of Commerce said his nephew, a comedy writer in Los Angeles, was always teased about being from Scranton. But once "The Office" became a hit, his friends were asking him for Scranton mugs.
So the chamber sends their mugs to West Coast hipsters. Among the Scranton props that Ms. Potis has sent to the show are a blue Chamber plaque, a Froggy 101 bumper sticker plastered on a filing cabinet, and the coats and hats from Niko-Bella restaurant.

The city's history also gets a brief mention:

Scranton, named for industrialist brothers George and Selden Scranton, was the anthracite coal capital in the 1930s and the third largest city in Pennsylvania with 140,000. But as alternative sources of energy were tapped in the 1950s, the coal industry suffered and the city lost about half of its population, said Willis Conover, chairman of the history department at the University of Scranton.
In 1992, the state declared it a distressed city, a designation it still holds. But the Downtown has brightened with a new mall, a Hilton, 12 new restaurants and Sanofi Pasteur , a pharmaceutical company. And the town square has been illuminated with a huge "Electric City" sign, a reference to its designation as the first city with an electric trolley car.

Google's 8-bit Maps

Google released an 8-bit map "upgrade" this past weekend as an April Fool's joke. This upgrade was done to support the Nintendo Entertainment System as explained in the Google LatLong blog - the video at this link is pretty funny.

Here are some examples of our 8-bit fantasy-like world:

The lower Great Lakes with the important places like Aurora and West Virginia emphasized.

Westminster, London - zoom in to get cute building icons.

The pixellated coast of New Orleans

 

Yellowstone and vicinity

Sydney.

  

 Occasionally you will come across a game character like this guy near Scranton. If I was more into gaming I might know who this is.

Here's the googleplex area with its dinosaur and flamingoes. There's probably a joke or two here for those in the know.

If you zoom all the way to street view, the images are posterized for your fantasy viewing pleasure:

Click here to explore the 8 bit world.