I noticed the same thing a few months ago. I live in a larger city, largest in our county, but we don't exist on the map unless you really zoom. A small town right next-door that's a lot more affluent shows up even when zoomed out to the tristate region. My guess was Google is stepping up their advertisement business for cities.
That or people just find whitespace aesthetically pleasing and Google designers went kind of crazy with it.
That or people just find whitespace aesthetically pleasing and Google designers went kind of crazy with it.