StreetAdvisor Blog

StreetView is live on StreetAdvisor in the UK

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:

Depending on what magazines you read, Shoreditch has been one of the major centres of young London in recent years and there is no doubt that it’s become one of the major bohemian hangouts in London in the past five years.

For more great local reviews and opinions, visit StreetAdvisor.co.uk today and add your local knowledge to the growing StreetAdvisor community.

An idyllic life on StreetAdvisor

Every review added to StreetAdvisor is helpful and contributes to the pool of knowledge about a street or city. Sometimes a review is so good or unique in some way that it deserves greater recognition.

This review of Cox Drive, Wagait Beach, Northern Territory (StreetScore 80.67) by lureinn is fantastic, particularly when you see how beautiful the ocean appears there (Wagait Beach is a suburb to the west of Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory in the north of Australia):

"Situated only 11km as the crow flies from Darwin Cox Drive runs parallel to Wagait Beach which is on the western side of the Darwin Harbour. All blocks are approx. 1 acre and the beach front blocks have a reserve parklands in front which tapers down to golden sands.

Our small community hosts about 450 people. Most of the working population and the school children enjoy a 15 minute ferry ride from the Mandorah Jetty to Cullen Bay (a suburb of Darwin) each morning and a very social ferry ride home in the afternoon.

The community runs aerobic classes and bike rides for the adults, social mornings for the seniors or those who work from home and a sports instructor runs training sessions for the youth. Fishing, photography, bushwalks, bike riding, beach walks, bird watching, exploring old WW2 sites are all part of the adventure of living at Wagait Beach."

That's a wonderful review that gives real insight into this community. What would you like to share about where you live? You can write your own review or start a forum topic today at StreetAdvisor.com.au.

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.

Places to avoid

All cities have streets that just don't feel right. They are not necessarily bad in an obvious way, but you don't feel comfortable walking there and you also don't want to leave your car there in case it's gone when you return. Here are some recent negative reviews of city streets.

At N 2nd Avenue, Tucson, Arizona, United States (StreetScore 37.51), visitor Zerghumper says:

"Let me start off by saying I did not feel safe walking down this street late at night. That being said there is plenty to do in this area, but unfortunately it's mostly bars so you need to come at night, so in a way its a catch 22, safe and boring by day, dangerous but entertaining by night. The trains tend to rattle your brains as you walk around. I would recommend someplace else unless you're desperate for a drink, this place is not for families."

At E Liberty Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States (StreetScore 27.20), visitor TSchafer068 says:

"Liberty is a long road and one of the main streets near downtown Cincinnati. Although E Liberty St begins at the intersection of Vine St. There not many houses on this street, but mainly gas stations, corner stores what have you. The area is known for having a higher crime rate that other areas of the city as I would suggest its not a good place to live but if you can handle it the rent is cheaper."

At N James Lovell Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States (StreetScore 17.64), visitor Barb1024 says:

"James Lovell is both cultural (thanks to the Milwaukee Public Museum) and no so much (due to large number of homeless people roaming the area and people traveling to the state office building to see their parole agents.) Also on this street, you will find the Police Safety Building, where many people go to pay traffic fines, and the main fire stations, which means a lot of sirens blaring at regular intervals throughout the day and night. For those anxious to get out of town, there are both a Greyhound bus terminal and a Badger bus terminal, almost directly across the street from each other, just north of James Lovell and Wisconsin Ave."

Are there streets near your home or work that you try and avoid? What is it about them that makes you wary? Warn your neighbors by sharing your news on StreetAdvisor.com.

Colorful street life in California

People who don't live in California (StateScore 69.15) tend to view it as a bit 'different', and the reviews we are getting reflect this. Below are three reviews showcasing the colorful street life in different Californian cities.

At Kearny Street, San Francisco, California, United States (streetScore 76.62), visitor ChrisTurk says:

"I saw a transvestite hooker being arrested on Kearny street. No, really, I did. Early evening, right in front of the pizza shop. A crowd gathered and watched as the cop patted down the hooker and the hooker (he? she?) talked smack about the cop, his mother, and the things the three of them did together the night before. Quiet a show. That's all the memory I have of the street and I doubt it's an hourly show, but I bet some creative buskers could recreate it for tourists. Not that I'm certain it was real. Fun for all ages, though."

At India Street, San Diego, California, United States (StreetScore 70.56), visitor renee10 says:

"India street runs parallel to Columbia street and ends at West Broadway. The street is colorful and vibrant with small festivals and programs being held here to promote its locals. The ‘Little Italy Festa’ is an important and popular event on this street where various people participate and cover the street pavements with beautiful drawings. The strange but striking feature of this street is that though its name is India street, the cuisines, clothing and the ambiance here gives a feel of Italy. Its like a small Italy in India."

At Del Paso Boulevard, Sacramento, California, United States (StreetScore 37.23), resident calife says:

"Del Paso blvd is not a good place to live. Its a lower class neighborhood, has a homeless shelter within a 10-15 minute walking distance, and a lot of crime. The city has tried to spruce up the area but I don't think anything can help. People will call it the "artsy " district because it has a lot of local shops but don't let that fool you. Taking a walk down the artsy district can get you robbed. The houses and apartments for rent are very cheap. I found a 2 bedroom apartment for $475/month. But then you have to risk your safety."

How do these streets compare to where you live? Log in and tell us what you see on your local streets at StreetAdvisor.com.

Focus on New South Wales, Australia, part 2

In a recent post about the state of New South Wales, Australia, there were so many good reviews to comment on that I could not fit them all in, so now here is part two on NSW.

At Tangarra Street, Enfield South, New South Wales, Australia (StreetScore 67.14), resident darkrhino93 says:

"This street is so convenient. It has a chemist, Italian restaurant, newsagent, convenience store, and is a stone throw away from a garden centre, and enormous park, swimming pool and easy transport to pretty much anywhere in Sydney."

At Greenhaven Drive, Umina Beach, New South Wales, Australia (StreetScore 81.58), resident greenisgood says:

"Greenhaven Drive, Umina Beach is a relatively long (no through road) with well established houses to one end, together with lovely beach houses set high in peaceful private driveways, at the start of a hillside, at the other end - most of the homes have glorious views over the treetops and out to the ocean. It is most suited to families with a nice park situated on the corner of Greenhaven Drive and Brisbane Street, and has a strong Neighbourhood Watch and community feel. It is situated only a 15-20 minute leisurely walk to the glorious sands of Umina and Ocean Beach with its newly built surf clubs, and nicely renovated 4-star Ocean Beach Holiday Park.

Plus there is an assortment of cafes, restaurants, supermarkets, post office, chemists, doctors/dentists and a school all within this walking distance. The 41/2 Star Mantra Resort and the Ettalong Beach to Palm Beach Ferry is approximately 8-10 minutes drive away. The Woy Woy train station to Sydney CBD and Newcastle is approximately 10 minutes drive away. In summary :- although Greenhaven Drive is not in the hub of Umina Beach, it is in perfect proximity of everything Umina Beach has to offer, but without the bustling noise, cars and crowds!!"

StreetView of Sydney showing Harbour Bridge and Opera House

At Edgar Street, Towradgi, New South Wales, Australia (StreetScore 85.48), resident f10n4 says:

"I love this street. The neighbours are lovely, they play cricket on the street which reminds me of my childhood. The location is awesome, being only 10 mins walk from the beach. The houses are nice, though a friend once described the street as "a bit Desperate Housewives" lol. You can hear the ocean at night when the tide is high.

The only thing not going for it is there are not too many places to go at night nearby. A few local restaurants in Corrimal are good, but not really enough. The Towradgi hotel very close by is a rort, way too expensive and crowded and the service is terrible - a bit too much like Sydney. The Towradgi bowling club is fine though, with some nice views.

It's a short drive to Wollongong city though so nightlife can be found there, and Thirroul is only 10 - 15 mins in the other direction is you like a more hippie atmosphere.

Crime is low, I don't feel like I have to worry about my car on the street. The population is mostly older people with some younger families but not many. The houses are all older - not new McMansions. The people here are really down to earth and you can tell they love it here.

I love living here and given half a chance I would stay here as long as I can."

At O'Reilly Street, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia (StreetScore 59.75), former resident f10n4 says:

"It's a short street on the southern side of Parramatta. Most of the old houses are being replaced with apartments, making the traffic and street parking more and more difficult. The street is fairly close to Westfields Parramatta which is good if you like crowds and shopping. It's also walking distance from the rest of Parramatta city and that's convenient for meeting friends, catching trains, buses and the beautiful Parramatta Park. The noise pollution is not too bad though the street is one street away and parallel from Great Western Highway, but you get used to the traffic noise.

What's missing from the street is a sense of community with the whole suburb. I found my neighbours in my building were extremely nice and friendly, but beyond that you just don't get to know anyone. There are no community markets are community focus places. There is no village atmosphere where you can go to a local butcher and have a conversation for instance. Westfield tends to kill off any community spirit, and also kills off many small businesses trying to compete in the neighbourhood.

In the ten years I lived there I had two break-ins: one was into my lock-up garage, the other years later was into my car. The phone booth on the corner is constantly being vandalised. There are a few nice apartment blocks on the streets with some nice gardens, but there's one particular one on the corner of Pitt St which is horrendous, always graffitied, always with real estate signages out the front, always noisy. I moved out 12 months ago and am now living on the coast where it's much more quiet, safe and where the people are friendlier."

The choices we all make about where to live make fascinating reading. You can tell your story on StreetAdvisor.com.

Searching for places made easy on StreetAdvisor

Many new community members like to seek out familiar places and see what they look like on StreetAdvisor, especially as they can look at the street they grew up on via StreetView. When searching for streets and cities, the search results that Google maps (and hence StreetAdvisor) provides can be confusing. That's why it's really important to give the search engine as much information as possible. Here's one scenario that illustrates how small changes in your search query can yield very different results.

I type in a search for "Madison" (click on the link to go to the search results page). Below is a screen image of the search. It shows that I have found the town of Madison, Wisconsin, United States (CityScore 76.72).

Maybe I wanted a street, such as Madison Ave in New York City. In that case, I should search for "Madison Ave" (click on the link to go to the search results page). That takes me to Madison Avenue, New York, New York, United States (StreetScore 97.33).

Maybe I was looking for a town, not a street. In that case I should make the search service find a city by adding a state to my search. I want Madison Missouri, so I search for "Madison MO" (click on the link to go to the search results page). I find exactly what I was looking for - the town of Madison, Missouri.

It can be frustrating when searching is not as simple and intuitive as we want it to be. But while we may be smart, computers are not, and they need all the information we possess in order to deliver a useful service to us. That's why adding a street type (st, rd, ave) or a state (full name or abbreviation) can make all the difference to your search results.

How do you feel about where you live? Log in to StreetAdvisor and tell us all about it, or upload a photo to show us!

StreetAdvisor delivers the first implementation of Google StreetView in Australia

StreetAdvisor implemented Google's StreetView in our US site StreetAdvisor.com some time ago. Today Google has made StreetView available in Australia, and StreetAdvisor was ready and waiting to drop the StreetView code into our Australian site. StreetView is live in StreetAdvisor.com.au now!

We believe we are the first site to implement StreetView in Australia. Below are two examples: of Challis Avenue, Potts Point, New South Wales, Australia (StreetScore 70.56) and Challenger Parade, City Beach, Western Australia, Australia. From coast to coast, we have Australia covered!

Have a look at your street today in StreetAdvisor and tell us what you think!

StreetAdvisor to launch new features at Inman Real Estate Connect San Francisco 2008

StreetAdvisor's founders and CEOs Adam Spencer and Jason Spencer are preparing to present many of StreetAdvisor's great new features at the Inman Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco starting 23 July 2008.

In my previous post I explained how the search results we return for streets now include a very helpful feature - surrounding steets. With surrounding streets your searches gain the additional context of seeing how community members have rated the streets nearby to where you are searching.

Another of our new features that I can reveal to you now is best streets. Say you have searched for San Antonio, Texas. Once you have navigated to the city, the Overview tab gives you a list of the best streets in (and around) the city.

If we have lots of reviews of streets in the city (as we do here) then you will receive a list  in descending order by StreetScore. If we don't have many reviews from that city, we'll add in review of streets from nearby locations to help you to get a feel for the region.

Tell us what you think of StreetAdvisor's new features by leaving a comment here, by writing a StreetReview or posting to the StreetAdvisor forums.

How to browse StreetAdvisor's new improved maps

The StreetAdvisor team has been working hard improving our mapping tools and many other aspects of the site. We've already provided community members with the ability to write CityReviews, and this has quickly become extremely popular.

Check out some of the great new CityReviews, including Martin, Georgia, United States (CityScore 66.59), Brighton, Colorado, United States (CityScore 55.65), Bloomington, Indiana, United States (CityScore 76.90) and Battle Creek, Michigan, United States  (CityScore 62.79).

We have also implemented Google's StreetView for StreetAdvisor maps, which means you can get up close and personal views of streets in cities that Google has photographed. We're ready and waiting for Google to release StreetView in Australia later this year. As soon as the data is available, the streets of Sydney, Melbourne and other large Australian cities will contain StreetViews.

The other significant new feature related to CityReviews is how they are identified on StreetAdvisor maps. Red flags identify streets that contain content, such as reviews, photos or shouts. We have now added blue flags to indicate cities (and by city we mean suburb, town or city) that contain content.

A blue flag means that the city indicated contains some form of content, such as a CityReview, StreetReview, CityGuide, CityBoard (forum) post, photo or video. This map of Philadelphia (CityScore 63.94) and surrounding regions is a good example. You can see many red (street) and blue (city) flags, and more flags (indicating more content) are appearing on StreetAdvisor maps every day.

Is your street or city on the map? Log into StreetAdvisor.com and see how your neighborhood rates.