diff --git a/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb b/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
index d8b26aa30f6..6ada2eaf3ea 100644
--- a/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/projects_controller.rb
@@ -20,15 +20,26 @@ class ProjectsController < ApplicationController
   }
   
   def index
-    project_observations = ProjectObservation.all(
-      :select => "MAX(id) AS id, project_id",
-      :order => "id desc", :limit => 9, :group => "project_id")
-    @projects = Project.all(:conditions => ["id IN (?)", project_observations.map(&:project_id)])
-    @created = Project.all(:order => "id desc", :limit => 9)
-    @featured = Project.featured.all
-    if logged_in?
-      @started = current_user.projects.all(:order => "id desc", :limit => 9)
-      @joined = current_user.project_users.all(:include => :project, :order => "id desc", :limit => 9).map(&:project)
+    respond_to do |format|
+      format.html do
+        project_observations = ProjectObservation.all(
+          :select => "MAX(id) AS id, project_id",
+          :order => "id desc", :limit => 9, :group => "project_id")
+        @projects = Project.all(:conditions => ["id IN (?)", project_observations.map(&:project_id)])
+        @created = Project.all(:order => "id desc", :limit => 9)
+        @featured = Project.featured.all
+        if logged_in?
+          @started = current_user.projects.all(:order => "id desc", :limit => 9)
+          @joined = current_user.project_users.all(:include => :project, :order => "id desc", :limit => 9).map(&:project)
+        end
+      end
+      format.json do
+        scope = Project.scoped({})
+        scope = scope.featured if params[:featured]
+        scope = scope.near_point(params[:latitude], params[:longitude]) if params[:latitude] && params[:longitude]
+        @projects = scope.paginate(:page => params[:page], :per_page => 100)
+        render :json => @projects.to_json(Project.default_json_options.update(:include => :project_list))
+      end
     end
   end
   
@@ -132,10 +143,7 @@ def by_login
       format.json do
         render :json => @project_users.to_json(:include => {
           :user => {:only => :login},
-          :project => {
-            :methods => [:icon_url, :project_observation_rule_terms, :featured_at_utc], 
-            :include => :project_list
-          }
+          :project => Project.default_json_options.update(:include => :project_list)
         })
       end
     end
diff --git a/app/models/project.rb b/app/models/project.rb
index 6849e035347..a279bbcf152 100644
--- a/app/models/project.rb
+++ b/app/models/project.rb
@@ -31,6 +31,18 @@ class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
   validates_presence_of :user_id
   
   named_scope :featured, {:conditions => "featured_at IS NOT NULL"}
+  named_scope :near_point, lambda {|latitude, longitude|
+    latitude = latitude.to_f
+    longitude = longitude.to_f
+    {
+      :joins => [
+        "INNER JOIN rules ON rules.ruler_type = 'Project' AND rules.operand_type = 'Place' AND rules.ruler_id = projects.id",
+        "INNER JOIN places ON places.id = rules.operand_id"
+      ],
+      :conditions => "ST_Distance(ST_Point(places.longitude, places.latitude), ST_Point(#{longitude}, #{latitude})) < 5",
+      :order => "ST_Distance(ST_Point(places.longitude, places.latitude), ST_Point(#{longitude}, #{latitude}))"
+    }
+  }
   
   has_attached_file :icon, 
     :styles => { :thumb => "48x48#", :mini => "16x16#", :span1 => "30x30#", :span2 => "70x70#" },
@@ -88,6 +100,12 @@ def featured_at_utc
     featured_at.try(:utc)
   end
   
+  def self.default_json_options
+    {
+      :methods => [:icon_url, :project_observation_rule_terms, :featured_at_utc, :rule_place]
+    }
+  end
+  
   def self.update_curator_idents_on_make_curator(project_id, project_user_id)
     unless proj = Project.find_by_id(project_id)
       return