Google Lat Long: Tip of the week: Know before you go

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Tip of the week: Know before you go

November 13, 2008

We've featured some of the most stunning pictures found in Street View on the blog, from the Colosseum in Rome to the Parthenon (well, a replica) in Nashville, but there are also countless practical uses of Street View. Here's one of them: use Street View to take some of the stress out of parking.

When you're going into a city or to a new part of town, you probably don't want to waste time circling blocks to find areas where you can park. Here are some ways Street View can help:

Take a look to see if there is street parking available at your destination.
Try zooming in on signs to read restrictions.
Find out which areas require parallel parking and which don't, in case your skills are a bit rusty.
Find designated motorcycle spaces.
Take a look around for parking lots. When you see parking lots, you can sometimes zoom in and read the rates so you can find the lot with the best deal.
Look for parking meters so you know if you need to bring a handful of quarters.
If you're tying to avoid all this hassle by biking somewhere, look for bike racks.

Google Maps may not be able tell you where you'll find a free space (unless you're in Santa Monica -- in which case we can!) but Street View should save you some time and hassle.