[brentonator]

Google maps 2012 refactor was what made it amazingly useful to me. The street names are much more readable now, they actually had a decent breakdown of the before and after and how the street names are much more readable overall now that they switched off of a "dumb" text fitting model vs their scaled text and "smart" placement of street names.

I wonder if your area has more trouble than most areas due to street shapes/density? The before and afters for me everywhere I've traveled and where I live are a huge step forward compared to old maps.

core77.com/posts/21486/google-maps-designing-the-modern-atlas-21486

I don't note that it's changed much from this 2012 release.