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When I tried to invite people to the park in the image I wanted to meet around the area where Babelsberger Strasse ends, anywhere within the red ellipse. As you can see, the park is a West-East band of green; I wasn't sure where exactly we would find a pick-nick spot but people should not look for us far away from a line formed by an imagined extension of Babelsberger Strasse through the park. Map of the west-east park In German I would say "[in] Höhe Babelsberger Strasse"; this is a use of "Höhe" which is not related to altitude. It is also used with respect to landmarks in a long road, like "the store is on main street [English term for "Höhe" here] of the fountain". It's not exactly "where the fountain is", that would be too specific.

With respect to suggestions in comments (thanks!): It is also not necessarily "near" the fountain because it could be on the other side of, say, the Champs Elysées. This as well as "at the end of" is in case of the pick-nick location too specific on the North-South axis (namely too North). The location may be farther away from the end of the street in the southern direction than westerly or easterly.

Is there a term I can use for a somewhat more vague location which is defined only in one dimension relative to a landmark?

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  • Something like “in the vicinity of” ?
    – user29952
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 16:25
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    I'd probably say something like "In the park due south of where Babelsberger Street ends".
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 16:31
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    Or maybe "in the park, at the end of Babelsberger Street"
    – stangdon
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 16:45
  • If there are landmarks within the park in the outlined area, I'd reference them (e.g., "Near the statue of Alice's White Rabbit" or "behind the bandshell" or "in the garden at Shakespeare's Castle"), but given the limited information in the map, I'd probably say something like "In the park, opposite Babelsberger Str.".
    – Jeff Zeitlin
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 18:14
  • You could also say Keep walking when you reach the cul-de-sac where Babelsberger Strasse enters the park.
    – TimR
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 20:40

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I can imagine there might be several ways to say this.

You could say "Opposite Babelsberger Strasse". For example in Central Park there is a statue that is described as being "Opposite 83rd Street"

You can use "level with Babelsberger Strasse", using a similar metaphor to the one used in German. Or you can lose that metaphor and say "close to", "around" or "near Babelsberger Strasse"

Similarly, you can say "The hotel is level with the fountain" or "... opposite the fountain".

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