StreetAdvisor.com has been selected as one of the finalists in the 2009 Webware 100 Awards in the new location-based services category.
300 finalists were selected by the Webware editors from more than 5,000 qualifying Web 2.0 services nominated by Webware readers and company representatives.
Voting for the Webware 100 is open now and closes on April 30. We’d like you to vote for us!
Follow this link to vote for StreetAdvisor in the 2009 Webware 100 Awards.
StreetAdvisor has added Google's StreetView to its UK site StreetAdvisor.co.uk. You can now see what the streets of London really look like, such as here at Shoreditch High Street, Hackney, Greater London (Street Rank in Hackney #1, Overall Score 90.00).
Visitor ajr67 has this to say about Shoreditch High Street:
For more great local reviews and opinions, visit StreetAdvisor.co.uk today and add your local knowledge to the growing StreetAdvisor community.
In June 2008 StreetAdvisor added Google's Streetview to our US street and city map views, making it easier and much more fun to browse your favorite places. In August 2008 StreetAdvisor was the first Australian site to add StreetView to its services.
Now Google has added StreetView for New Zealand, and once again StreetAdvisor has incorporated StreetView into its maps. Now you can browse the streets of New Zealand, find your home town or a loved holiday or vacation destination and write reviews and post forum topics about them. Seeing the streets on the screen is a great way to remind yourself of all the stories you could share about places you know.
To start with, look at Quay Street, Auckland (StreetScore 54.00) and browse the map to activate StreetView. We think you'll like what you see. Come and join us in StreetView at StreetAdvisor.co.nz today!
The partnership between StreetAdvisor and and Realestate.com.au to provide street and suburb reviews on Australia’s leading real estate site has begun its rollout in South Australia.
StreetAdvisor’s unique scorecards will be featured throughout realestate.com.au adding a touch of genuine local flavour to property listings.
So how will it look? Here's one example. This listing for Third Avenue Glenelg East features a scorecard that looks like this:
Users can click through to StreetAdvisor to write a review, read further reviews or explore streets with StreetView level mapping. With the initial launch being only for select properties in South Australia, a national rollout is planned for early 2009.
So if you have some local knowledge about real estate, you can now add it to StreetAdvisor knowing that your reviews will help thousands of Australian choose the best place to live.
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.
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:
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.
StreetAdvisor is live in many countries around the world, and we want to give every country lots of attention. Thus far we focused on the United States and Australia while noticing growing interest in Canada and the UK. We'd like to thank people in the UK for their interest in StreetAdvisor, and for writing some fantastic reviews. Here are some of the best recent UK reviews.
At The Broadway, Plymstock, Plymouth, United Kingdom (StreetScore 58.22), resident boots says:
"Plymstock has great facilities for the over 55's with Age concern, clubs, groups and outings. The are an inordinate number of G.P. services and there is an N.H.S. Physiotherapy centre. Along with the majority of the housing stock being bungalows, in recent years there have been housing developments.
I live on Dean Hill; it's very central to all of Plymstock and the surrounding areas. Although the road is busy in rush hour, on the whole I don't notice the noise outside of these times. The neighbors are friendly, something I'm not used to and the facilities in the area are outstanding, with the library, doctors' surgeries, shops and parks all within walking distance. Apart from my commute to work, I don't use my car much at all."
At Holmewood, Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom (CityScore 35.07), resident klomas describes it as:
"The sort of place you would send your mother-in-law, should have been leveled when they closed the colliery. The county that the world forgot. the last place on earth still being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century."
At Springfield Road, Merton, England, United Kingdom (StreetScore 77.74), resident Bernie says:
"Really happy with the street, neighbors are helpful and welcoming. Everyone takes pride in their property and everything from parks and the common as well as Wimbledon Village or Wimbledon Town Centre and its transport links."
At Ryecroft, Doncaster, England, United Kingdom (StreetScore 44.34), resident monkey12 says it is a:
"Great place to live if you love car parks. The first thing you'll notice are the empty drive ways and blocked roads due to a small number of brainless idiots that seem to want to spoil this lovely estate."
Photo of Arundel Avenue, South Croydon, United Kingdom (StreetScore 80.40) by Photomonkey
Life seems happier at Holmwood Garth, Ringwood, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom (StreetScore 71.68), where resident MontyMoo says:
"Ringwood is a busy market town on the Hampshire Dorset border. Easy reach of Bournemouth and Southampton. I grew up there and one of the things I miss is the close proximity to the New Forest and beautiful countryside. About a mile from Holmwood Garth, nearer the centre, is a good swimming pool and gym. It was Ringwood Comprehensive when I was there (probably called something different now) but it was a great school and I received high quality education from excellent teachers.
There are two junior schools too. Holmwood Garth is on the way out of Ringwood, away from the main road. Very quiet and a "panhandle" so no through traffic. A good pub nearby; The Elm Tree. Ringwood is very busy with tourists in summer but that does mean that the shops are reasonable - we have a Waitrose!"
Long Acre, London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom (StreetScore 88.20), is much loved by visitor malatia, who says:
"Covent Garden is well-known for being a retail wonderland. However, a lot of attention is given mainly to the main piazza in Covent Garden, disregarding Long Acre. Long Acre is one of the longer streets in Covent Garden, stretching from Leicester Square to Drury Lane. It is quite a beautiful, bustling street, and ideal for those wishing to explore London by foot.
There are also many high-street chains along Long Acre, including H&M, Zara, French Connection, Warehouse, and so on. There are also jewelry stores, some cafes (including Starbucks and Caffe Nero's) and hairdressers. The nearest tube is Covent Garden."
A different area of London is not so popular with malatia. Cannon Street Road, Poplar, Greater London, England, United Kingdom (StreetScore 33.12) is described as:
"Noisy, dirty, and boring! I have lived on this street for a year, and have not enjoyed the experience. Although the streets are cleaned three times a day, they are somehow always covered with trash, including boxes and chicken bones from the nearby fast-food place.
As for noise levels, this is one of the busier streets, and as a result there is a lot of traffic, especially at peak times. This is not helped by the youths who blare their music loudly whilst driving around, which happens at least once an hour. There tends to be a lot of noise at night-time, too.
In addition, the other residents have not been friendly and have often been outright rude due to the differences between my religion and theirs. As a result, I haven't felt safe walking in the area late at night. My flat mate was even followed home once on her way back from work when she used to work in a pub.
The only plus side is that this street is close to both Brick Lane, with its thriving nightlife, and the beautiful scenery at the Thames."
Do you live in (or have you travelled in) the UK? What would you like to tell us about the streets and cities in the UK? Log in to StreetAdvisor today and share your experiences.
On the surface, Fox Meadow Drive, Medina, Ohio, United States (StreetScore 73.06) looks like a normal kind of place. It's south of the center of Medina (CityScore 72.33) between Medina and Wadsworth (CityScore 83.73). The nearest big city is Cleveland (CityScore 59.94) to the north. The Fox Meadow neighborhood is built around a golf course and country club and there is an active home owners association (HOA).
Given the current stresses in the housing and mortgage market, however, things are not as rosy as they appear in the brochures. There is growing unease and unhappiness in Fox Meadow about the strict rules of the HOA, the economic viability of the golf course and country club, the use of golf carts on the sidewalks and the collapse in property values.
Photo by Shayan - Creative Commons license
Former resident FMCCParolee says in her review that:
"If you like to live your life without a homeowners association who monitors what flowers you plant in your yard, attempts to ban children's swingsets, sues neighbors who don't comply with their War and Peace sized book of restrictions and, for the final trick, bans for sale signs when people start to flee in droves, Fox Meadow is the place for you. My advice? TURN AND RUN!"
Resident step21 has written another review in response, stating that:
"We really like living on Fox Meadow Drive. Homes here are 1/2 the cost of similar Golf Course Community homes in other parts of the country. The neighborhood is clean and safe, and we have a great pool and golf course in the neighborhood.
I think it is very important to read the Covenants when you are looking at gated or golf course community. The things some see as overly restricted are welcomed by many others. It only took me 10 minutes to read and understand the Fox Meadow Covenants before we purchased our home. My professionally prepared landscape plans were approved quite quickly."
Another community member (and presumed resident) rango has delivered a fantastic detailed comment on step21's review, sarcastically explaining that:
"Our golf club, like so many others across the country is failing and is currently up for sale once again (the third time in 6 years), so we are in freefall and are going to try any means possible to get more members to share in holding this bag of crap that we created…
The failing golf club is part of the reason that the housing market in Fox Meadow is in total collapse. There are currently over 50 homes for sale in our community. It also does not help they the same greedy builders that built our homes are building less expensive new homes right around us.
We want our community children to enjoy Fox Meadow therefore we are open-minded about allowing them to ride golf carts down the middle of our streets without any problem... So, when a major cart accident happens, and it will as it's only a matter of time, the HOA better get prepared to be sued for negligence…
You poor folk that like to get your hands dirty planting your cheap Kmart foliage should buckle up and hire an expert or perhaps Michelangelo to draw up your plans. Otherwise move the hell out of our resort!"
Photo by A.Currell - Creative Commons license
Note: these are extracts from the reviews and comments - you need to visit the review pages linked above to read the full story.
This is a community with some serious problems to resolve. It doesn't seem like the HOA is facilitating the discussions that need to take place, so these residents have decided that StreetAdvisor is the best place to have their own debate.
Do you need to vent about something that is frustrating you in your street or neighborhood? StreetAdvisor offers many avenues to share your opinions. You can write a street or city review, comment on reviews written by others and discuss issues by posting topics in forums. Log in to StreetAdvisor today to get started.
The 2008 list of the top 100 Australian web 2.0 applications was published today by Ross Dawson in his blog Trends in the Living Networks and in the Australian business magazine BRW. StreetAdvisor is listed at 15 and is the top real estate related site. It is also the top site with a hyperlocal or community focus.
Which of these sites do you find useful? What do you like about web 2.0 applications? Post a comment and tell us what you think.
StreetAdvisor AU Twitter RSS
Stumble It!
Recent Comments