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How about the value of your neighbors' houses? What is the real story on that new addition going up down the block? Neighborhood crimes? Sex offenders living nearby? Who did your neighbors contributed to in the last political campaign?
Use the Web sites below to find the answers.
Property Information
Portland
Portland Maps Using a street address, a Portland Maps user can track property tax and assessment histories back to 1997; look up permits, permit violations and complaints about the property; and see which capital improvement projects the city plans within a half-mile of the property. Maps show neighborhood zoning, utilities and land elevations, as well as aerial photos dating back to 2000 and potential natural hazards such as floods, landslides, wildfires, and earthquakes.
Washington and Clackamas Counties
In Washington County you can find property information using Intermap.
In Clackamas County, building permits are available by address at the Clackamas County Web site. Click on the VelocityHall icon, then on the "Check/Research Permits" link.
Oregon City property maps and data can be found on the city's OCWebMaps.
Portland Monthly Magazine Guide to Neighborhoods
 In their April issue every year, the Portland Monthly magazine features neighborhoods. It has a ton of information about neighborhoods to include their pick of the best neighborhoods for the year.
To help those in the housing market, the magazine combines all the data from about 120 neighborhoods and communities in the Portland metro area. Include are housing prices, school ratings, demographics, crime statistics, parks, commuting information, and services. Click here to access the information.
Other Web Sites
Crimes
Crime Mapper A feature of the Portland Maps Web site is CrimeMapper, which pinpoints the locations of individual crimes reported in a neighborhood. You will need the address of a property.
Washington County The county sheriff's office publishes a list of burglaries in its Neighborhood Watch News.
Beaverton Police They provide maps and statistics for 13 city neighborhoods.
Environmental Issues
EPA The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offers a database that may have an environmental impact on your community. Click on the "Search Your Community" link and explore any ZIP code.
Oregon UST Cleanup Program The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality keeps a database of any leaking underground storage tanks that have been reported. If you're curious about the locations of past and present leaking heating-oil tanks in your neighborhood, just type in a ZIP code and read the results.
Fund Race
FundRace2008 Find out which presidential candidate and political party your neighbors supported in the 2008 presidential election. Click on "Neighbor Search," plug in your own address and ZIP code, and read the list of financial contributors who live in your neighborhood.
Schools
Great Schools Compare neighborhood schools and retrieve test scores. You can also find data on student-teacher ratios, student socioeconomic levels, and ethnicity. Read parent's candid comments about the schools.
In Oregon, information varies from district to district. Portland Public Schools maintains quantities of data, broken down by school.
In Washington, data for all schools and school districts in Washington are accessible through the Washington State Report Card site. In Oregon, information varies from district to district. Portland Public Schools maintains staggering quantities of data, broken down by school.
Sex Offenders
State of Oregon Sex Offender Registry The Oregon site lists information on approximately 700 sex offenders who have been classified as "predatory" by the state Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision. In addition to names, addresses and photographs, the site includes a physical description of each offender, the type of vehicle he owns, a description of the crime committed, and the types of victims targeted.
Portlanders can bypass the state registry for sex-offender information. Portland Maps uses maps to flag the homes of convicted sex offenders.
Restaurants Inspections
Restaurants Inspections Wonder what the Multnomah county health inspectors found when they last visited your favorite restaurant in Portland?
Find Speed Traps in Your Neighborhood
Speedtrap Exchange The SpeedTrap Exchange is a site where visitors can post what they believe are speed traps. They are individual postings from private individuals who believe a speed trap is in effect in a particular locations. You can add your own comments to any posting.
Very Local Weather
Wunderground Weather Sometimes the local weather report is just not local enough. The solution? Many amateur meteorologists maintain personal weather stations throughout the metropolitan area. Scroll down to the "Personal Weather Stations" and then click on "View the Personal Weather Stations for this area using Google Maps!" Then click on the numbered map pin nearest you to get the weather.
Find the Value of Your Home
Zillon The Web site provides estimated market values for more than 65 million homes nationwide. You can generate a graph showing a home's change in market value during the past 10 years, sales history, home details, property tax information, and data about comparable homes.
Neighborhood Maps, Demographics, and History
Satellites and GPS has made mapping interesting and educational. Here are the steps to finding over 40 different maps for a neighborhood:
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Go to Answers.com and under the banner where it says, "Enter a word or phrase" key in the name of a neighborhood. For example, "Pearl District, Portland, Oregon" and click on "Go."
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You will be presented with a screen of detailed information about the neighborhood to include demographics and history. To view the mapping options, find the heading "External links" - you will note a line that says ". . . is at coordinates 45.53012,-. . ." The long number (latitude and longitude) is a hyperlink to the mapping page so click on the number.
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This will bring you to a page with the heading, "Map sources/GeoHack." You will see all the maps choices on this page. Many of the maps are the same but 2-3 stand out. Try the "Bird's Eye" option under "Live Search maps."
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Try mapping some of America's most interesting places such as New York City, Ellis Island, Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park, and Yellowstone National Park.
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