[there]

google maps on my android phone does this type of instant-search recommendation and i always thought it was stupid, too. i just typed in "1218" on it and it's trying to recommend me "1218 grand-saconnex, switzerland" (i live in the united states).

if it's going to do search recommendations, it should at least do a regional geo-ip/gps lookup and offer suggestions i'd probably be driving to.

[michaelhart]

That is possible, but when I was making this, I didn't want to use server-side technologies (php) because I wanted it to stay fast, which would have been necessary to determine your approximate location and get the GeoID prior to page generation.

It is easily possible, however, it just would have been soooo slow in comparison.

[jordanmessina]

Then don't use php... It's possible to grab user location via javascript, the client just needs a compatible browser. I'd say judging by the people who would stumble upon your project more than half would have a browser capable of grabbing location via javascript.