Do Google Maps work in Pittsburgh? (Etna, Oakland: new house, safe neighborhood, to buy)

[OutaFL]

I am in Pittsburgh next week to close on my beautiful Victorian brick house, and huge bargain (completely rebuilt inside/safe neighborhood.) Being from Flat Florida, where coastal cities are on a north/south grid, I am not quite ready for the unusual routes one may have to take in Pittsburgh. Does anyone know if Google maps work well in Pittsburgh? Internet maps are not always correct. Thanks in advance!

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

I will say that google maps are accurate in Pgh, much better than other servcices such as mapquest. The advantage is that you can zoom in pretty close w/ the satellite picture which gives you a better idea if the street really exists.

[Hopes]

While internet maps of Pittsburgh are accurate, Pittsburgh street signs are not dependable. You'll do best to print out the map and count streets instead of using the written directions from the likes of mapquest. Mapquest directions simply instruct you to make a turn after a certain distance onto a certain street. You need directions that say 'make the 5th left' if you're going to get anywhere. The only way you can get those type of directions is to look at the map yourself and write out your own directions.

Congratulations on your upcoming closing!

We should have a city-data gathering at the James Street Tavern to celebrate! I'm sure many here would love to buy you a drink!

You should be able to walk to it from your new house: James Street Tavern- Pittsburgh, PA (http://www.discoverourtown.com/PA/local-46436.html - broken link)

[Maaz]

I usually use Microsoft Streets & Trips which are the same maps as maps as local.live.com (formerly maps.msn.com). I very rarely have any issues. As for street signs not being dependable, I disagree and agree. In the city limits, most are pretty well marked and many of them clearly mark the neighborhood you're in and the street names on a large sign. Even the smaller streets are generally marked pretty well with the street name only. Outside the city limits, it's a different story. Some areas are well marked. Others have street signs missing totally.

One thing you should do is always reset your odometer when making a trip you have directions for and then pay attention to it when you turn on a street so you know how far you have to go to get to the next one. It works out quite well for me.

Maaz

[Drover]

One thing I found frustrating about driving around Pittsburgh was that a named road may all of a sudden veer off with no sign telling you so, and you'll keep going straight thinking you're still on the road that veered off.

[bboy36win]

On an only-slightly-unrelated note, I've read about the streets that turn into a set of stairs. Does anyone know where exactly they are? Thanks.

[Katarina Witt]

There were some on the south side slopes many years ago when I was a public health nurse there. This was before the slopes were "hip", of course.

[Mugatu]

When I first moved here, Google maps were a life-saver. Yeah, they work great. Without them I might have ended up in West Virginia.

But I'd recommend getting a GPS instead. I have one on my cell phone, and it offers great piece of mind knowing I can explore the city and will always be able to get directions back home.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by Mugatu

When I first moved here, Google maps were a life-saver. Yeah, they work great. Without them I might have ended up in West Virginia.

But I'd recommend getting a GPS instead. I have one on my cell phone, and it offers great piece of mind knowing I can explore the city and will always be able to get directions back home.

I don't know about all this techonology stuff -- maps and GPS -- I've had some of my best times getting lost...

We still makes cracks about me trying to get Brent and I to the Pittsburgh Zoo
and we kept ending up in Etna... that's been almost 28 years. Whenever I say "let's try this way..." Brent says "we're gonna end up in Etna, aren't we?".

Wish we did -- I could stay in CA and drive to my Mom's every couple of weeks.

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

There is one set of stairs listed as a street in Oakland, Diulus Way. You would never know this is a set of stairs just by looking at a map. Thats why I like to use the map/satellite hybrid feature on Google Maps, that way you can obviously tell it is a stairway.