Google Maps Find Nearest Utilities

Question

How can I find the nearest hospital/fire department or anything like that around a specific city/area?

If you go to maps.google.com, then you type "San Francisco", then type "hospital", you will see all the hospitals around San Francisco.

Can the same thing be applied using geocoder?

Thanks a bunch!

Additional Note: I'm trying to use the geocoder manually, instead of using the search bar. That way I can control the outcome of the search-results.

Answer 1

Yes, it can.

It is explained here: http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/services.html#LocalSearch

See an example here: http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/examples/control-googlebar.html

Answer 2

Use HTTP Geocoder with Viewport Biasing (see: ReverseGeocoding and Viewport Biasing) and filter the JSON result.