Suggestions on Neighborhood Research Tools (Chicago, Virginia: real estate, crime rates, house)

[lollipopman]

When I was in the research phase before moving to the city last Februrary I
felt quite overwhelmed looking for a neighborhood that fit my desires. After a
lot of time I found this forum as well as other tools to assist in my research.
The tools were sufficient, I ended up in a neighborhood that met many of my
conditions, but I felt there were some clear gaps in my tool chest.

Now to be closer to family I am moving again and was hoping to augment my
tool set:

Current Tools:

- CPS School Locator: http://schoollocator.cps.k12.il.us/viewer.htm
Find neighborhood schools

- Chicago EveryBlock: http://chicago.everyblock.com/
Everyone recommends this site for looking at neighborhood crime, however
when I use it I find it difficult to assess the data. e.g. cannibis
possesion less then thirty grams, well there are pot spokers in every
neighborhood. I would love suggestions on how to use this tool to
more scientifically assess a location.

- Chicago Police Department CLEARMAP: http://gis.chicagopolice.org/
At first I thought this tool was very helpful, but I question the utility
of the data because as far as I can tell you cannot view the data per
capita. It would seem to me that per capita crime is the most important
metric, but that doesn't seem to be available.

- City Data Chicago Forum: http://city-data.com/forum/chicago/
Would be preaching to the choir on its utility

- Cook County Assessor: http://cookcountyassessor.com
Public property information, age, sq footage, etc

- Google Street View: http://maps.google.com/
Virtual neighborhood visits

- Walk Score: http://walkscore.com/
Determine how urban, i.e. walkable, a neighborhood is

Does Anyone Have Tools for:

- Per capita crime rates over time
- Real estate values over time

What Other Tools or Techniques do People Recommend?

[DoneWithDC]

I really like Google's street view and their overhead satellite view is great too.

There is one thing I love about Bing's map feature (Your web browser and the Maps site are incompatible) though. I really love that you can get a bird's eye view and rotate the image by 90 degrees per click. It was very helpful when trying to look at the outside of the house in Chicago we are moving to this weekend from Virginia when we weren't able to actually see the property before moving in.

I also like that the directions feature on Bing Maps shaved 45 minutes door-to-door off our drive from our house in Virginia to our house in Chicago from what Google Maps was estimating.

[jdiddy]

Bing maps has much better data, and their 'streetside' imagery is far clearer where available.

So I would add that to the list.

[lollipopman]

Thanks for the http://bingmaps.com suggestion.

Another tool I have been looking for is a detailed density map of the city, has
anyone been able to find one? The ones from the University of Chicago didn't
show detail down to the neighborhood level.