Bare-bones HTML & JS implementation of a URL generator to use the same search across multiple regions.
UPDATE 1: CL has changed some of their search parameters and URL coding so the following tool may produce broken URLs.
UPDATE 2: CL has added a geographic radius to it’s search which reduces the need for this tool in the first place.
NOTE: This is not a search portal for CL. It just assists in generating URLs (for either browser-based search or RSS feeds) from the search terms entered. Also, the behavior of the returned results is slightly different between RSS and the web search (age pf post, Nearby, etc); this is just how CL is designed. The results box and some of the options were relocated into a cleaner, dynamic layout. One of the applications of this tool is to filter out the spam posters that add random keywords to their posts. There is an art to finding the right term to negate to rid yourself of unwanted postings.
Confused by CL’s regions? Check below for a run-down of California.
OPen CL Region Search Generator
Todo
**I’d like to apologize for the lack of recent updates to the tool, I’ve been tinkering with ideas that may become a major update**
- Auto-size URL output box to width/length
- Some improvement was made with the new layout
- *DONE* This feature should work: Add Advanced URL build that can take category and search options (w/pic, etc)
- There are restrictions to CL’s RSS “API” that disallows the use of some search options added with this feature (namely categories). If you prefer the RSS method of tracking CL, be aware of this limitation and test the results in your browser.
- Improve wrapping of region columns when toggled
- Some improvement was made with the new layout
Craigslist territory subdomains
===== California =====
First, a note on CL’s organization of ‘sites’: They’re crazy. There, I said it. In theory CL is supposed to create & divide regions that are physically and economically connected communities. For example: I live in northern Orange County and commute into west LA County for work. It’s ~35 miles (by road) and ~29 as-the-crow-flies. San Clemente is part of Orange County, but is ~36 miles point-to-point and ~40 by road. I really have to think about going down to San Clemente but not to parts of LA like Pasadena, Santa Monica, etc., because of the arrangement of the highways. So how is that region well divided? It’s the opposite of the Bay Area (SFBay) CL where Santa Cruz (~60 miles as-the-crow-flies) is part of one huge honkin’ CL centered around San Francisco (or ‘the city’ for non-tourists). That’s 60 miles from the CENTER of the region and more than a hundred from ‘North Bay’ areas. Then you have Gold Country: don’t even get me started. It would take you a more than a day’s driving to get halfway across this CL ‘region’ and people who have lived there would never consider the other counties contiguous communities.
So, the following is an attempt to make some sense out of these sites. I have formed [Master Regions] that roughly capture areas that I consider plausibly near each other. The notes are based on a brief survey of posts on each of the sites [this work was done ~late 2015]. It reveals a fair amount of cross-posting for some regions. In the last year or so, I’ve noticed a reduction in cross-posts in southern CA but YMMV. Please exempt the [Local] and [SoCal] as I have modified my method to fit me personally rather than the general public.
Everything before the ‘-‘ is the CL subdomain & all are followed by “.craigslist.org”, except where a specific url is given.
[Local]
losangeles – LA County
orangecounty – OC county
inlandempire – Riverside/San Bernardino, you can also use riverside.craigslist.org redirects to a search but it’s unofficial.
[SoCal]
palmsprings – Palm Springs/Indio/29 Palms/Desert region
ventura – Ventura county, Simi, Thousand Oaks, Channel Islands, sometimes malibu
sandiego – SD county, escondido, poway
imperial – East of SD but driveable from SD and Palm Dessert
[Central Coast]
santabarbara – SB county
santamaria – santa maria county(?), guadalupe, sometimes: arroyo, lompoc & buelton
slo – SLO County, Morro, Arroyo, Cambria/Cayucos, Atascadero, Paso Robles, Lake Nacimiento, sometimes: Nipomo, Oceano
Note: there’s lots of overlap between slo & santa maria, and some between santa maria and santa barbara
monterey
[Bay Area]
sfbay – all of SF BA and surrounding areas
broken down into:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/ (The city)
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/ (South Bay) San Jose/Silicon Valley,
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/ (East Bay) Livermore, Tracy/I5 & Hwy 33
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/ (Peninsula)
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/ (North Bay) Marin Region, Napa Region, Sonoma, San Rafael, Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Clear Lake/Northern Wilds, Vacaville, occasionally anyone on the north coast of Cal. (Mendocino, etc.)
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/ (Santa Cruz, which isn’t at all the BA)
[Mid Central Valley Corridor]
bakersfield – Bakersfield, Tehachapi, Delano,
visalia – Visalia/Tulare, this really should be joined with the Hanford-Corcoran CL
hanford – Hanford-Corcoran, Lemoore
The two above share many cities/towns with each other and with Fresno, you really need to check all three
fresno – Fresno/Madera, Clovis, and foothill cities adjoined by highways
[Upper Central Valley Corridor]
merced
modesto
stockton – Stockton, lodi, tracy, Ripon, Manteca, patterson, occasionally Sacramento, modesto, ceres
[Sac]
sacramento – sac, roseville, granite bay, Rancho Cordova, elk grove, Davis, rocklin, orangevale, Folsom, grass valley, occasionally: placerville/El Dorado County foothills, Ripon
[Sierras/Gold Country]
goldcountry – Placerville, El Dorado County (Cameron Park, Shingle Springs, Pollack Pines), Amador County(Jackson, Ione), Placer County (Auburn, Roseville, Tahoe City), Nevada County (Grass Valley, Truckee), Calaveras County (San Andreas, Valley Springs, Angels Camp, Arnold), Tuolomne County (Sonora, Jamestown, Groveland, Cold Spring/Strawberry), Alpine County (no recognizable areas that I’m aware of), occasionally Sierra County
reno – there is some cross-posting between the North-Eastern Gold Country region and Reno/Sparks/Tahoe.
[North Valley]
yubasutter
chico
[North Coast]
mendocino – Mendocino County & surrounding
humboldt – Humbolt County (Eureka, Arcata, Fortuna, Ferndale, Crescent Bay) & surrounding
[True NorCal]
redding
siskiyou – shasta, yreka
some cross-posting from Oregon sites:
medford
klamath
susanville – Poor Susanville is out all by itself, but they’re used to that.
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