http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/buzz/archives/153568.asp
Hours of endless entertainment!
Here's the junction to get started :
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=west+seattle&ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ll=47.56409,-122.386665&spn=0.009122,0.019677&t=h&z=16&g=west+seattle&layer=c&cbll=47.561001,-122.386798&panoid=y-wAVMsG8SUxbHWoXqoxqg&cbp=1,0,,0,5
changingtimes
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omg!!! sooo weird that you would mention this!!! i have been doing this all night since discovering it earlier today!! but then i tried to tell my friends how cool it was and everyone said they heard about it but that it was only for creepy stalkers! :(
It was widely mentioned a few months ago that Google had brought its vehicles to town to do some of this. Are any of you seeing your own homes on it? I don't have time to look at their rules but for example, for our address, a street-level view did not come up. (The aerial views on some maps and real-estate sites always make us laugh because they immortalized a Qwest truck that spent almost six months in the neighborhood last year.)
cruiser
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Yes, we're on it. It's about 2 months ago as I changed my car which is shown on the street view.I found it on Redfin.
CountingCoup
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Wow, this is cool. A little big brother-ish but cool.
lowmanbeach-
I can see my house. You can even see some dog toys in our yard! :)
SarahScoot
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Yep, we're on it... agreed with cruiser, it looks to be from late August/early September, based on the construction status of a project near us.
Irukandji
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We're on, and my car window is down. Obvious time delay.
does anyone else feel like a voyeur?
We're on it... it is a bit creepy. I can tell the picture was shot in mid-July. The post that held the for sale sign before we bought our house is still there but no sign and no cars yet. There was less than a week when the house was empty.
JenV
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I saw my house...I don't recall when the landlord painted the trim, but this shot was taken before that. It was a while ago. Workplace is also on there - and it's obviously a Saturday or Sunday because no one is there.
Traci
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I'm stuck somewhere between "awesome! How do they do that!?!" and "WTF"
Gina
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My split tree is back in good health on google street view.
This sure could come in handy when giving driving directions.
I wish we mowed our lawn before they came by.
The Dawson/Fauntleroy intersection was after the traffic light was put in, so that's July or August, I think. But apparently they did it over time because another shot of that intersection shows the house next to me with a for-rent sign, and then another shot shows that same sign plus a sign from when they did the roofing work this summer.
I can see the trees that obscure my house, but not my actual house. That's probably just as well. The thought of seeing my things in the yard is kinda creepy. :)
For our house in particular, not much more is shown than is already out there - on zillow, etc. But odd that it doesn't seem like all the shots of our intersection were taken at the same time. One direction indicates a weekend - a neighbor having a garage sale - and in another direction, there is a "disappearing" car in another neighbor's driveway. So from one side, they're home, from the other, they're not; and they don't go in and out that often. Glad you can't read license plates though.
westseattledood
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I'm a little relieved to see that the addresses are approximate and not exact. And, that there is not quite a clear shot to see into my living room. :\ A little weird...why do we need this again? To sell real estate? Why else?
ok.. i admit it is kinda creepy to see your neighborhood to anyone but geeks...
but.. this feature has been invaluable to me in other places.. and not just for searching for houses... rentals as well as houses for sale.
i use it whenever possible where i plan to vacation.. it helps me to separate out the deals from the nightmares..
My minivan is still parked in the drive in Roseville:)
I am glad to visit that memory on line.. and glad it's not still a reality.
Yikes, this is so weird. Glad my blinds were down that day or you could have seen that I hadn't made the bed....creepy but very cool.
westseattledood
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Ok - being that I'm just now planning a couple of trips, I can buy into using it for that I think JoB.
Now I am wondering how far off the grid they go...are they going to street map the entire globe? Gawd those google peeps are ambitious! ;)
I think this is really cool - I guess that makes me a geek.
We've actually been using it in the last couple of months for a business that we started.
We are purchasing homes in Phoenix and it is invaluable to be able to see, on line, the surrounding areas and neighborhoods without actually being there.
So, to answer your question WSdood, it definitely comes in handy regarding real estate!
westseattledood..
i think that is the eventual plan.
i can't wait:)))))
Notice that when you click on the "street view" button in the upper right corner, the streets on the map which have street views are lined with blue. If it's not blue, there is no street view.
They did two separate passes down my dead-end street. The very end of the street was clearly done in the late spring, as my neighbor's yard is bare dirt and not yet planted with flowers. A few clicks further south (less than 100 feet) you get a completely different view, and my neighbor's yard is fully planted and blooming.
I can accurately say the later view was taken in mid-July. The neighbor at the end was having tree work done, and the tree trucks are blocking the end of our dead-end street. That would probably explain why the street view doesn't quite go all the way to the end. I am SO happy they did not get the view straight up my driveway. There is a shot on either side, but not one straight up. Due to the steepness of our yard, you barely see the house at all. Yay!
Here is a really, really funny non-Seattle view. Someone I know was moving on the day the Google camera car drove by. http://bit.ly/woZZ
Ours was taken on a Sunday in October. There are pumpkins in our side garden and you can see the neighbor bringing her recycling to the street while her dog is near the telephone pole.
WSMom
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Alki was shot on a beautiful clear sunny day.
beachdrivegirl
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I thought it was pretty cool to be able to see the house. Ours was obviously taken on the weekend b/c my faince's car was home. I think it was taken in the early summer/late spring based on our yard. I also went and looked @ my office. This pic was taken on a weekday b/c all it had a majority of my co-workers cars in it. I did get a kick out of it b/c my fiance's car was in the pic also (yes we do work together. :) ) They didnt do hte ally way behind our old townhouse though. I just had to check for fun. :)
I actually heard that there was some controversy awhile back about this feature.
Evidently, some guy had passed out on his front lawn when Google came by in the early morning to get pics of his street.
I had heard it was all over the internet and the guy was pretty upset.
beachdrivegirl
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that is too funny! Its almost like the headline on KOMO4 yesterday.... "drunk husband leaves drunk wife unconscious on street."
Funny, BDG. Maybe it was the same people! : )
BDG - That reminds me, get in touch so that we can discuss details for our next night out.
I'll get in touch with the rest of the group!
hopey, thanks for the clarification. I now see they got the hedge side of our lot but NOT anything showing the actual house. little did I know when I was digging 13 holes for 3-foot Portugal laurels 15 years ago that they would come in handy for something other than visually screening the busy street! that was pre-consumer Interwebs, come to think of it ...
I don't find this "weird" or "creepy" at all. These images were made outside in public where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. I think Street View is a brilliant advance in this kind of mapping technology.
hopey, poor guy! Pretty old houses in that neighborhood though.
I see a new trend...Google road trips...when none of us have vacation funds, we can take stay-cations and travel neighborhoods all over the country - can even drink while "driving" - where's Chevy??
beachdrivegirl
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NR, It probably was the same person!And yes we defin. need to get together sooner than later. It has been too long!:)
Lisa
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OMG! Just checked my street and house....my husband is in the picture! Glad it wasn't my teenaged daughter!
beachdrivegirl
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your husband was in the picture!?!? Scary!
Hmm. It has nearby intersections, but not my actual "street", which is technically an alleyway and private property. Either for that reason, or because the truck couldn't fit, I guess they decided not to do that block.
Google Maps CAN reliably find my house now, though. Until now it's been off by about a quarter of a mile.
datamuse: Actually, they don't use trucks. They tend to use small, fuel-efficient cars. Here's a pic of a car with a Google Maps Street View rig on top:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3011/2964606585_9128cac3fe.jpg?v=0
GenHillOne...
shushh... i have been keeping the cost of my vacations down by taking them from home...
if you let everyone know it will drive the cost of even virtual vacations through the roof and then what will i do for fun ;~>
Neat-o--and, upon reflection, exactly what I'd expect of Google. 8)
Maybe they didn't do the alley because it's technically not a public street, though people don't always realize that.
Out of curiosity I decided to google my grandparents' home in Malvern, PA to see what happened to it - after my grandfather died and my grandmother went to a nursing home, I heard they sold the house to the church next door. So I look up the address and see the house still standing, with the church expansion clearly taking up all of the massive backyard - but the weirdest thing is seeing a tombstone in the front yard. I know it's not my grandfather buried there since he had a military funeral elsewhere. They blocked out the names on the tombstone - I'd be very curious to see who's buried in the front yard I spent my childhood vacations playing in!
I can't believe I'm actually not too happy about this. Then again...everyone gets to see my neighbors POS car instead of just me.
As you approach Tony's vegetable stand (35th & Barton) from the south you can see the pumpkins on display. Then one click further north and it turns into corn-roasting time in the summer.
rs261
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The junction at edmunds and California has the street fair to the north.
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