USGS National Map Viewer

December 24, 2003 8:56 PM

If Mapquest just isn't cutting the mustard, or you feel compelled over the holidays to take your geekery to new and mysterious depths, the National Map Viewer from the U.S. Geological Survey is your new best friend. The dynamic interface lets you layer roads, topos, and satellite imagery on top of one another at your whim. And if you're really hardcore, make your own app by downloading and mining the Census Bureau's TIGER database.
Note: Map viewer and interface may not be friendly to all browsers; this is a common limitation of government websites.
posted by PrinceValium (7 comments total)

Damn. I cannot view this site, for I need no more obsessions.
posted by troutfishing at 9:03 PM on December 24, 2003

definitely a step in the right direction. Previous attempts at putting this government data on the web have seemed fruitless and clunky. The UI is pretty cool to look at and not all that hard to use.

As far as MapQuest replacement, I wouldn't go that far. For something comparable to Mq, I'd highly recommend the Rand McNally site (I admit I'm biased and used to work for RM) When we first put our maps on the web, they paled in comparison. Since then, the routing engine has been revamped and overhauled and the maps look absolutely stunning compared to Mq.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 9:09 PM on December 24, 2003

Kevin, thanks for reccomending the Rand McNally site for maps. They're very good maps where you can zoom in to see all the streets mapped out in a clear black and white grid. Not like Yahoo Maps where your eyes get lost from too many streets crammed onto the screenwith too many colors.
posted by gregb1007 at 9:21 PM on December 24, 2003

clicky
posted by Trik at 10:05 PM on December 24, 2003

My old roommate's been working on mad schemes with the TIGER dataset ... best thing the gov ever put out :-) Check it out if you're so inclined. And this should work fine for any browser :-)
posted by effugas at 12:07 AM on December 25, 2003

Very cool, thanks PrinceValium!
posted by carter at 3:47 PM on December 25, 2003

Just don't look too closely at Washington, DC.....
posted by Vidiot at 4:31 PM on December 25, 2003