Maya Vasquez was an urban planner with a stubborn streak and a deadline that was rapidly shrinking. Her firm, Stroud & Associates, had just landed a high-profile contract to redesign the old waterfront district of San Pedro. The catch? The client wanted hyper-accurate, real-world context for the new promenades, bike lanes, and green spaces. They didn’t want abstract rectangles; they wanted to see the rusty pilings of Pier 9 and the exact kink of Harbor Street against their shiny new designs.
On Friday, she presented to the San Pedro Revitalization Committee. She didn’t just show a plan; she showed a dissolve . She faded the Google Maps aerial layer to 30% opacity, revealing her design as if it were already built. The city council members pointed at the screen. “That’s Tony’s Crab Shack,” one said, jabbing a finger at a real building footprint. “And you’re putting the sidewalk right where we need it.”
That night, as Maya saved her file— SanPedro_Waterfront_FINAL.dwg —she looked at the layer list. There, at the very bottom, was the layer she had named "GM_Import." It contained 1,247 polylines, 89 text labels from the map, and exactly zero guesswork.