Hey guys - first post back in a long time. :) I've had loads of fun with these lately though, and it's great for research too.

I love Streetview (even if it doesn't quite go everywhere, I'm amazed at where it does go sometimes) since I can see how old neighborhoods look right now, even enough to see businesses and stuff. It's way cheaper than actually going there, and almost as good too. Although it can be sad to see how different it is from the 80s or even 90s when there was more retro stuff still standing.

Google Earth is even better. You can't quite see a business or street view (it's all aerial satellite images), but they have a switch that lets you see how stuff looked in the past! 8) Sometimes as far back as 1993! You can really see how an area developed over time. The only bummer is that the good quality, fully color images don't come in until 2002 and that's coincidentally about when the renovation and mass construction craze started taking off.

Some of the old stuff didn't quite last long enough to be super clear, but I'm just happy it at least exists to some extent. Alot of my Sacramento and early San Jose memories came flooding back (the 2000 images are halfway in color and relatively clear, even the '98 black and white ones are clear enough to get an idea too), and I love how you can directly compare where something is in relation to before by moving the slider. Lots of times you forget in real life, since construction is usually gradual.

I am hoping they put more detail in on future versions, though.

I have used Street View to check out houses for sale etc (and surrounding neighborhood etc. I spent some time on Google Earth looking up well known places such as, Niagra Falls, Grand Canyon etc. I even rettaced my steps from my holiday around New Zealand's South Island..earlie this year.

It's a fun (and educational) tool...

I think it's great! For all the above reasons too  8)

I hear there is also now a Google Moon  ???

Liam Gallagher (of Oasis) seen on Google Street View

We've used the street view to check out places we are thinking of visiting on holiday (Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas comes to mind) and locations of theatres/complicated junctions etc.  Unfortunately we can't use it for our home back in the UK yet.

We use google earth for the same sorts of things + spying on the neighbourhood - who has swimming pools etc  ;D

When Google updates it map applications, I always try and find my son's car and try and work out when the images were taken.

When Google updates it map applications, I always try and find my son's car and try and work out when the images were taken.


I just looked at my dad's house to see if it's been updated this year.  The house still has the hedges around the garden which shows it hasn't been updated in '09.

I just looked at my dad's house to see if it's been updated this year.  The house still has the hedges around the garden which shows it hasn't been updated in '09.
In similar vein, I check the nearest market to me, if I see the market stalls and crowds of people I know that it would a Friday or a Saturday. Looking at the fronts of cinemas give an indication to the time taken for the films are displayed outside.

In similar vein, I check the nearest market to me, if I see the market stalls and crowds of people I know that it would a Friday or a Saturday. Looking at the fronts of cinemas give an indication to the time taken for the films are displayed outside.


Never thought of that.  Although I can't see the cinema because we don't have street view.

Looks like the town in the UK was done on a Friday sometime between Easter and the end of September because the bric-a-brac market is there.

When I was at the Abbey Road crossing with Alan last year the Google Street View car was taking the images for that area, but when it came to going online, the Abbey Road area showed no sign of us, so Google must have done two or three takes and chose the best available and not ours.

I just looked at my dad's house to see if it's been updated this year.  The house still has the hedges around the garden which shows it hasn't been updated in '09.


Yeah, it's pretty recent but a little outdated. I like that, it's almost like going back in time, lol. Based on construction around here, it seems like most of it was taken in 2005/06.

I've been wanting to try out Google Earth....it would be pretty neat to have a view of my old neighborhoods.

I'm a big google earth fan. And I'm happy that it has a streetview for the street I lived on growing up, which was also a main street and the street my high school was off of, as well as the places I hung out a lot. I think every single day I walked up and down it multiple times, and it's fun looking at what's changed, even though not much has.

Yeah, it's pretty recent but a little outdated. I like that, it's almost like going back in time, lol. Based on construction around here, it seems like most of it was taken in 2005/06.


I know that the town we lived in has been 'done' two or three times now.  When Google Earth first came out they had incomplete data for parts of the UK.  The very edge of our town wasn't included, including the part where our house was situated.  Then an update showed our house, but I don't know if they did the rest of the town again or just added more data.

It is now a more recent satellite image based on which trees still remain in our garden.

On my computer that crashed last January, I had Google Earth but I have not downloaded it to the new computer yet. Since March this year I have been addicted to Google Street View.

HUGE fan! i'm a freaking addict, it's like the coolest thing ever.

There's a tall skinny blonde, that's the kind I like,
But I can't see past the middle-aged guy on the bike,
I move down the street for a better view,
But now she's all blurry, what's a man to do?
There's a hot brunette, just caught my eye,
I could reach out and touch her if it was last July...
Cruisin' for chicks on Google Maps...

  - Tom Smith beat all of us on this thread to the punch by three months.

On the downside, we're slipping.  On the upside, I have a new hobby.

Thanks to Phil I just used it for the first time..very cool. :)

Thanks to Phil I just used it for the first time..very cool. :)
No problem!

All all gets addictive!