Takin’ It To The Streets, Google-style

We all know Google has set the standard for cataloging and searching all things Web. And now, they’ve taken their indexing moxie to our city streets by announcing their Street View coverage of Portland (as well as for Chicago, Philly, Phoenix, Tuscon, and Pittsburgh).

Google Street View map

Roving Google photographers shot footage of nearly the entire city, plus added a few suburbs to the list. Go to maps.google.com, type in a sample address, click the Street View box in upper right, and look for this guy Google Street View icon or just double-click on the glowing blue highlighted street.

A window pops up with a 360-degree interactive view of the street. ‘Drive’ up and down the street using the directional arrows. Grab the image with your mouse, hold the button down and pan left, right, up and down. Pretty cool.

For Portland real estate shoppers, this is a real boon if you’re trying to evaluate the street vibe, housing styles, or general condition of a particular neighborhood. As an agent, I can email links to Street Views of homes clients are interested in.
Street View ExampleHere’s a street view outside one of my listings (you can even see my yellow sign).

If I have a criticism, the images are a little dim, probably due to the cloudy days (imagine that in Portland!) these images were shot. Also, remember these shots aren’t live web cams or shot in real time, so the shots won’t change with the seasons or keep up with in-process construction.

On a side note, Google map fans have compiled lists of quirky Street View sightings. Who will be the first to document a Portland flasher or public urination caught on GoogleCam?

[tags] Portland, Oregon, Google, Street View, maps, photo, real estate [/tags]

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October 11, 2007 · Filed Under Communities, National News

Comments

3 Responses to “Takin’ It To The Streets, Google-style”

  1. Michelle Berry on October 17th, 2007 11:59 am

    Hi Ron,

    I nice thing to know about Google Maps is that if you have submitted your listings to Google Base (say, through http://www.vflyer.com ), they will show up on Google Maps if users choose to customize their particular map.

  2. Portland Oregon Real Estate Agent Blog » Google Terrain Feature Hints at Topo Features on November 29th, 2007 12:10 pm

    [...] multi-stop directions, traffic density views, user-generated maps, and most recently, the Street View. Good stuff for real estate-related information [...]

  3. Portland Oregon Real Estate Agent Blog » Google Street View Face-Off on May 23rd, 2008 10:26 am

    [...] a research tool for Portland-area neighborhoods, Google’s Street View is pretty cool. Let’s say you want to know what the properties look like to each side and [...]

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