Place Naming in Illinois should adhere to the following guidelines. Following the government agency naming guide is a list of businesses which are chains or franchises. Please use these name spellings when creating or updating a place.
Naming Standards
We are trying to standardize the naming of all the various public agencies and facilities. This makes search results more consistent and useful, and helps the map to look more professional and uniform. The names have been designed to work well with instant search, regular search, and to be clear and concise in the map display. Please strive to follow these guidelines when naming the places described below. Places which are part of a larger encompassing place (i.e. place points for lot in a university area, Separate ER entrances in a hospital area, etc.) should be named with their unique name followed by a hyphen and the name of the larger area they belong to. For example "Student Parking Lot C - StudyHard University"
Government Agencies (selected)
All places for the following agencies should be named according to the standards as follows:
City/County Offices: City/County Name followed by City Hall or department/agency as appropriate, for example:
- "Bloomington City Hall"
- "Kankakee County Courthouse"
- "Peoria Civic Center"
Police/Sheriff Stations: City, Agency or Division Name followed by Police[Sheriff] Station, for example:
- "Chicago District 1 Police Station"
- "Bolingbrook Police Station"
- “Winnebago County Sheriff Station”
- "Illinois State District 17 Police Station"
Fire Stations: “Fire Station – “followed by the City/Agency Name or abbreviation and followed by the station number. For example:
- "Fire Station – Naperville 1"
- "Fire Station – Bourbonnais"
Here is a list of Illinois Fire Departments
United States Postal Service: Start the name with CDP or Station name, then append “Post Office”. Place the City name and the ZIP code of the Post Office in the Description box, so it will be viewable in the app GO page. Alternate name should be “USPS”. For example:
- "Joliet Post Office"
- "O'Hare Airport Post Office"
- "Rogers Park Post Office"
Here is the USPS tool to find the names of specific post offices. https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorAction!input.action
US VA Hospitals/Centers/Clincs: Should be named with their official name as the primary name. For VA hospitals/medical centers "(US Veterans Only)" should be added to the end of the primary name, and as the first line of the description. In the primary name "VA" should be expanded as "Veterans Affairs", so as not to cause a TTS conflict with Virginia. Names can be shortened to remove extraneous words, for example replace "Campus of the" from the official name with a hyphen (-). Any colloquial names should be added as alt names, so they are returned in search results, and also at the beginning of the description, so they are visible on the place preview page in the client. Some examples:
- "Veterans Affairs - Marion Medical Center (US Veterans Only)"
- "Quad Cities Vet Center"
Railroads
Railroad segments
Illinois follows the general railroad mapping and naming guidance. As such, operating rail lines are not named.
However, official names for railroads can be located on the IDOT Rail System page. System maps can provide rail carrier names to support other sources.
Railroad stations
Mapping of rail stations in Illinois follows general places guidance with the following additions.
Railroad stations should be created as area places covering the platforms and station building(s). Station names should be followed by the word "Station", a hyphen, and the name of the station operator. If multiple lines are operated suffix the name of the line using line-utilized abbreviations when available ("Metra MD-N").
- Arlington Heights Station - Metra
- Chicago Union Station - Amtrak
- California Station - CTA Green Line
- California Station - CTA Pink Line
- Belleville Station - MetroLink
When multiple lines share the same station, secondary lines should be added as alternate names on the place.
If the station name includes street types (Avenue, Road, Street, etc.), use standard Waze abbreviations.
- Pingree Rd Station - Metra
The stop point should be placed at the nearest road or PLR to the station entrance, or if there is no station, to a logical drop-off point. For stations with multiple entrances, use the main entrance or the one most appropriate for the name of the station. For instance, if the station is called Western Avenue and has two entrances, use the one on Western Ave. If no single entrance is an obvious, choice, then choose one on a a major, preferably two-way street that is close to the center of the station.
Place Name Harmonization
A list of place names as well as a submission form are under development.