StreetAdvisor Blog

Beware of the bees

Using StreetView, Noyes Street, Highett, Victoria (StreetScore 49.50) looks like any normal suburban Australian street. The StreetView images look like they were taken in summer; the sky is blue, the grass between the footpath (sidewalk) and the road is half dead, and the bins are lined neatly on the street waiting for collection. It's so clean and neat you could think that the residents have all been abducted by aliens.

They haven't of course, but something strange is going on. In a recent review, resident Uzi tells us that there are too many bees on the street:

"If you don't like bees, stay away from the first block of Noyes St. The car service on the corner of Noyes St and Bay Rd has lots of bee hives. Bee droppings on your car and your new washed clothes may drive you crazy."

Photo by wolfpix - Creative Commons license

This is the kind of local information that makes such a difference to people's lives. Why not share what's buzzing in your neighborhood today on StreetAdvisor.com.

StreetAdvisor community members tell neighbors to get a life

StreetAdvisor community members are becoming increasingly vocal about the inconsiderate and antisocial behavior of their neighbors. Here are some of the latest stories that reveal exactly what people think of their neighbors.

In his city review of Bonnybridge, United Kingdom (CityScore 48.11), resident NoASBO comments that:

"A small minority of the neighbors in Roman Road, within the Minerva Gardens development of Bonnybridge, are causing distress to the majority by engaging in a campaign of unfounded complaining to the Police and the Falkirk Council. Noise complaints have been made against dog owners by the 'council on speed-dial' brigade and woe betide you if you park a commercial vehicle in the street that they don't approve of - give it a few hours and you'll have nails in your tyres and a nasty letter on your windscreen. The curtain-twitching mafia have also been known to draft up bizarre petitions against other residents for no reason... meanwhile their own kids create noise in the street until all hours. Get a life."

Photo by magroll - Creative Commons license

At Heritage Oak Court, Modesto, California, United States (StreetScore 52.92), visitor Bensdad says:

"To the driver of the silver GMC pick up who tore my drivers side mirror off in August. I know this is a nice street. The houses here are great to look at. I like to look at them too. I try not to veer on to the wrong side of the road to side-swipe oncoming vehicles though. Your truck looked pretty new too. You didn't look like someone without insurance. If you hadn't taken off leaving a wake of destruction, I may have had the opportunity to find out.

Despite my bad experience, I don't let it glaze my view of this otherwise charming street. There are some show stopper homes to see along the way. Just watch for other rubber-neckers, or park your vehicle and take a walk if you're sight seeing."

At Clendenny Avenue, Jersey City, New Jersey, United States (StreetScore 35.28), visitor pete101 says:

"Grimy little street where parking can be a nightmare. Mostly apartments with lower-income people living here. The area is considered safe, but the atmosphere can still be a bit sketchy due to its proximity to Greenville. The street lets out to Route1-9 on one side where there is a 24hr Ihop. Leaving your car near that area is not recommended. One of my friends had his car window smashed."

At St Nicholas Terrace, New York, New York, United States StreetScore 17.64), visitor misu says:

"St. Nicholas Terrace is up on the hill and is just behind City College. It is where everyone parks who goes to school there or lives in the surrounding area. It is right up against the park and during the day, it is quite safe to walk down it. It is also nice to walk down a street in NYC where it is COMPLETELY tree-lined. But, at night, the park is totally unsafe. The school often posts warnings to students to not walk through the park from St. Nicholas Terrace to the subway at 135th Street. The street is a little better since City College put in a dormitory, there are security guards that patrol the street, but overall it's not safe."

At Benjamin Close, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia (StreetScore 30.82), resident kes tells us that:

"I rented here for 1 year, and moved out as soon as I could break lease because of terrible neighbours. Lots of drug taking, and grot on the street. Found dirty nappies left on the pavement etc. Also lots of kids playing unsupervised until late at night on the street, foulmouthed and stole hubcaps. "

At Laurus Court, Narre Warren, Victoria, Australia (StreetScore 62.61), resident Charlie05 says:

"We moved to Narre Warren three years ago. Our court is nice and the neighbours too. The only negative we found the rubbish lying around the main roads (Kurrajong Rd, Ryelands Dr). The Nature strip on the middle of the Narre Warren Nth Rd is so neglected (burned out bushes, weeds and rubbish everywhere). I think we are paying enough taxes to the government and rate to the council to fix this problem. Also lots of neglected front gardens, some of them has no landscaping since they where built."

Are your neighbors doing something that really annoys you? Tell everyone about it at StreetAdvisor.com.

Surviving the housing crisis

In many places in the western world, the housing and mortgage crisis is causing suffering and lower standards of living for many people. Foreclosures mean people are losing the homes they planned as long term investments for their futures. In some cases, greed encouraged some people to over-invest and build McMansions that they now cannot pay for.

In the US, some people have found another way to beat the housing crisis. They're not building McMansions - in fact they're building the exact opposite. The tiny house movement is growing, with companies like Tumbleweed creating tiny mobile or permanent houses that provide compact living on compact budgets with an added awareness of their environmental impact.

You can read more at the Tiny House blog and in this story at the New York Times. For the advocates of tiny homes, less is definitely more. The best way to explain the concept is to watch the video below.

Is the housing crisis forcing you to rethink where you live? If you were going to get a tiny house, where would you put it? Find your favorite place on the map at StreetAdvisor.com today.

StreetAdvisor at Microsoft Tech.Ed Australia and New Zealand

Once a year, Microsoft holds a huge conference called Tech.Ed (Australia and New Zealand) for geeks to learn how to be even smarter geeks - and I love it!

This year, I was asked if I wanted to demo StreetAdvisor in their keynote presentation with some new code tweaks. Such an opportunity is rarely offered so I couldn't refuse! I went to Auckland (CityScore 74.81) and Sydney (CityScore 71.91) to speak during the conference opening keynote session.

With the help of Dr. Neil Roodyn, who did all the hard work, we presented StreetAdvisor to the audience with some cool Microsoft building-block technologies:

• Live Authentication (using Live ID)
• Live Presence (using the Status control)
• Live Messenger (using the Live Messenger Chat control)
• Live Virtual Earth (using the Live Map control)

The main objective was to show how you can enhance a website with some of Microsoft's Live Services building-block technologies in little to no time at all. All up, it took us a day or so to implement these into the current StreetAdvisor code base.

I felt very chuffed and humbled seeing StreetAdvisor on the huge projectors and Dr. Neil starting up a Live-Communicator chat session with a StreetAdvisor 'Expert'.

Expect to see some of these features appear in StreetAdvisor in the near future.

Top image courtesy of Microsoft Tech.Ed NZ.

Documenting community progress: A StreetAdvisor case study

Community member advisor2008 is a prolific contributor to StreetAdvisor. One of the projects he has been using StreetAdvisor for is documenting the building of a new church in his community. It's been great to watch the building progress and now it's nearly finished. Below are a series of his photos of the church at Elzey Brown Loop Road, Sharptown, Maryland, United States (StreetScore 82.81).

26 February 2008

5 March 2008

26 April 2008

24 August 2008

Thanks advisor2008 for your contributions! As you can see from this example, StreetAdvisor is a great tool for sharing local news with your neighbors and community. What local news do you have to share? Tell us at StreetAdvisor.com today.

A slice of life on StreetAdvisor

These street reviews have nothing in common except they all record the views of StreetAdvisor community members going about their everyday business. That's the beauty of being able to describe what life is like on your street!

At 5th Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States (StreetScore 75.15), visitor mangoflute says:

"Although I find the name "Fifth Avenue" glamorous, there is really nothing glamorous about Fifth Avenue in Oakland. It is home to many University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Buildings (in addition to many buildings belonging to the University of Pittsburgh), as well as Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Across the street from the hospitals, there are many places to get fast food, such as Wendy's and an array of independent vendors selling things that mainly resemble pizza as far as level of convenience.

Further down, there is the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, in which classical music concerts are often heard. There are also some buildings here which belong to Carnegie Mellon University, including a very impressive-looking one with exceptionally wide pillars out in front. The street also is home to the headquarters of WQED, Pittsburgh's Classical Music Station. And if that is not enough, Fifth is also the street one needs to take in order to get to the lovely Shadyside area of Pittsburgh."

At Convent Avenue, New York, New York, United States (StreetScore 63.31), resident misu says:

"First, no one has ever heard of it & cabbies never know how to get there!! But it is a pretty nice street. It runs from about 153rd street and St. Nicholas Ave and once you get to 128th street, it changes names to Morningside. From about 145th Street to 140th, it is in an historic district and the brownstones are amazing. There are still a few of them for sale, but they are going quickly. At 141st, City College begins and from 8am to 6pm, Monday through Friday - even during the summer- no cars or taxis are allowed to travel from 141st to 135th streets. The college has guards placed at both sides and barricades, so don't bother to try to drive down.

There's construction going on as well and the M18 is not running on Convent until January 2009. Just past the school (135th to 130th) there are many 6 story apartment buildings and most of the residents are either families or City College students (myself included) Past 130th, the neighborhood changes and there are less families & students. I would avoid walking around that side late at night. Overall, there is not much traffic and it is pretty safe. The one major drawback is that there is no restaurants at all on this street. Though a new laundromat is going in at 131st (still under construction)."

At Grapevine Drive, Allen, Texas, United States (StreetScore 81.37), resident virenpshah says:

"Very very good. Clean, neat, quiet, crime free and a perfect place for families living. Very convenient grocery and tons of parks around."

At Dart Hill Road, South Windsor, Connecticut, United States (StreetScore 45.95), resident Sourdust says:

"If not for the drivers who treat this road as if it were their own personal Stafford Motor Speedway, this little street would be a sliver of paradise. Because we have such verdant greenery, there are all manner of wildlife - gophers, deer, raccoons and the like sleep, feed, and lounge around our property. because we have to occasionally deal with them, we rate that there are some pests here. While there are no hospitals or retail outlets ON this street, neither are more than 20 minutes away."

What do you have to say about your street or neighborhood? You can share and chat about your favorite places at StreetAdvisor.com.