[RobAley]

The trouble with that is if like me you live on the edge of a city, the route you end up taking out of the city is very, very different than if you start in the centre where google will place you, and the time estimate etc. can vary by as much as 30 minutes.

[stevetursi]

That's when I break out the postal code. If your city has that much of a span, then tell Google to start at your postal code instead - the idea being that you can usually drive from one end of a postal code to the other in <5 minutes. I know there are postal codes that span long distances, but they tend not to be in cities that span long distances.

[andyking]

I guess I'm lucky - I'd never looked before, but I checked, and I live in a very small town, about 50 feet from where Google Maps places my town name.

I get your point - if you live in North London, then getting directions from "London" is probably not the way to go. Postcodes seem to be the quickest way, for me.

[RobAley]

Indeed, being in the UK postcodes are great. A short unambiguous way of identifying a fairly specific location (usually down to part of one street). From my limited knowledge of postal/zip codes in the rest of the world though, they aren't always that precise, sometimes refering just to a whole town (or greater area).