Therese

I posted this a few days ago, but under a different title that probably wasn't informative enough, as it generated very few responses relative to the typical very high interest here at Fodor's for topics related to London. So, here's the link:

http://www.seety.co.uk/

It's similar to google maps' version, except of course that google maps' streetview isn't yet up and running in London (or at least it wasn't a couple of days ago when I last looked). This tool is great for checking out prospective hotel and apartment neighborhoods, and also lots of fun if you just want to strol down memory lane.

adrienne

This is a great tool. I did see your other post but didn't have time to check out Seety so thanks for including a link in this post so we could effortlessly see what Seety can offer.

CAPH52

Very cool! Thank you, Therese.

avalon

That's a fun site. Thanks for posting it. It's better than the google site by far

flanneruk

Call me an unimaginative old curmudgeon.

But I'm really, really struggling to understand why anyone woud invest real money in doing this. If you're Google, dedicated to the proposition that some bright ideas make money, some don't and they've got enough cash to back a few clever tricks that never make money - then fine.

But how can Seety possibly justify the cost of doing this? Is this one of those boom-time follies no-one will ever update, and is therefore doomed to wither away? Or is there some screamingly profitable way of using this that I'm too stupid to think of?

Because it strikes me as a web version of street signs. Handy - but bloody expensive to set up and maintain, and no-one will ever pay cash to use it.

Therese

Okay, you're an unimaginative old curmudgeon, flanneruk. But then that's hardly new information, is it?

I agree that I'd be unlikely to use it if I had to pay for it out of pocket, but it does give you a great deal more information than street signs do. For instance, I often want to know how much commercial development there is on a particular street, and seety (or google when it's available) lets me see easily whether the street features mostly private homes with well-groomed gardens or mostly bars and kebab take-away outlets.

flanneruk

I agree. If it gives more information than street signs, it'll cost more to produce. And who's going to pay to use that expensively-acquired information?

In a real city like London, how often do you have to reshoot everything to make the material relevant - and non-libellous? If a street gets gentrified, how does Streety protect itself from being sued (for damage to house sellers' reputation) if it's showing out of date information?

This seems either sloppily conceived (ie with someone else's money) or a stunt.

Hagan

Therese, thanks so much for the fabulous site! I've been "walking" the streets to save our feet when we get there in a few days. It's great to be able to scout out places to eat, get a visual on the metro stations, and get a feel for the size of the streets. It's really easy to navigate, too - seems better than Google Earth in some aspects. Thanks again for the great tip.

Jean

One thing I like on Google is the notation of some of the bus lines near the address searched. For me, that's more useful than a street view.

Therese

seety's streetview is actually superposed on google maps (you'll see the logo in the bottom left hand of the map when you open the link in the first post). It doesn't have all the same functionality as the google version, so the "hot" icons for bus stops and tube stations that Jean likes don't work (and I agree that those are really terrific---I use them all the time when I travel, in the U.S. and abroad). On the other hand, seety has added some landmarks (or perhaps they're google's but I don't see them on my google version, possibly because of my settings). These are not hot at the moment, but one could easily envision merchants like Waitrose or Boots paying to add their icons to the map, and making them hot.

I don't see one view as being better than another, they just offer different information. And all of it can come in handy.

esm

Nice; thanks for posting.

PatrickLondon

Good grief, you can see my window-boxes. Much more detailed than, say, Pages Jaunes for Paris. Multimap offers (I think) the Google satellite images.

Therese

Are they at least attractive window boxes, Patrick? Most, if not all, of the seety images seem to have been taken on a lovely warm and sunshine-y day. Can you tell from your window boxes precisely when the filming was done?

You can see my house in similar detail in the google maps streetview of Atlanta, and in the satellite view you can see the furniture on my deck.

cobbie

Very cool -thanks.

PatrickLondon

Fortunately they were reasonably green, but not a lot of flowers, so I'm guessing the photo was taken some time last May (on a rather grey day). Thank goodness it wasn't more recently; I haven't done anything to overwinter them properly.