Historic Aerials. Really cool site that shows growth between 1961 and 2007 (houses, neighborhoods)

[jdaelectro]

Probably the most fun I've had with maps in a while. The only annoyance is the watermark. Just type the city you want to see into the search bar. The 'slider' option is great to compare the old with the new. NETR Online • Historic Aerials

edit: Meant to put this in the general us

[jdaelectro]

Actually some areas go even further back than 1961 as stated in the title.

[ARrocket]

This is really cool, thanks for sharing!

My current neighborhood goes back to 1938 for aerials!

[jdaelectro]

Originally Posted by ARrocket

This is really cool, thanks for sharing!

My current neighborhood goes back to 1938 for aerials!

No problem. Thats really neat that it goes that far back for your area

[costello_musicman]

And in some cities it shows urban decay

Plus, where the freeways took out entire neighborhoods!

[jdaelectro]

Originally Posted by costello_musicman

And in some cities it shows urban decay

Plus, where the freeways took out entire neighborhoods!

You're absolutely right. Pretty shocking to see 1950's Detroit and St Louis compared to today.

[dalparadise]

Originally Posted by costello_musicman

And in some cities it shows urban decay

Plus, where the freeways took out entire neighborhoods!

I checked out the Nimitz Freeway in Oakland in 1988, a year before the earthquake. One click later, it was gone.

[xboxmas]

Very cool! Thank you!

[Borntoolate85]

Even in cities like Baltimore and Philadelphia where rowhouses still are a considerable portion of the housing stock, you can see how decayed neighborhoods were once neat and orderly with the long blocks. Nowadays, its a weird mix of full rows, alternating detatched/torn down, and abandoned. If you have to de-densify, build parks and other recreational facilities instead of single family houses. Where I live in the outer suburbs, you can really notice the changes as they occur. Comparing 1957 Baltimore and DC, you can clearly figure out which city had the more complete! If only Baltimore had built a more efficient mass transit system than DC...