Definitely hard-coded. But I have a feeling they got Google employees to choose places on the maps by telling them to choose places they like or something like

Definitely hard-coded. But I have a feeling they got Google employees to choose places on the maps by telling them to choose places they like or something like that (without mentioning what project this is for). The reason I think so, is because some places seem to be residential, like they're places you would live at.