Walking Through Congressional Districts… Via Google Maps

Street View is the latest product from Google that both amazes and alarms us. By taking millions of photos from the back of a Chevy Cobalt, Google has brought the images of far-flung neighborhoods to the comforts of our own laptops. It's also caught some pretty funny scenes on film, including ...

• A Cleveland kid crashing his bike on W 90th Street;
• Two dorks on Sampsonia Way in Pittsburgh role-playing D&D; or...
• The Google Colbalt pummeling Bambi in Rush, NY.

But perhaps the best use I've gotten out of this new feature is the ability to walk through congressional districts. I stumbled upon this application when I was writing profiles about Virginia state legislators for a group I'm working with and wanted to learn more about their districts.

One of the legislators I was researching was Del. Delores McQuinn from Richmond's East End. I found out she was an associate minister at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church on 25th Street [click any of the links for streetview] and that her primary election was held at 31st Street Baptist Church. Wow, I thought, her election was at a Baptist church only six blocks away from the Baptist church where she preaches. 

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So I plugged in the address of both churches in Google Maps and was literally able to walk from one church to the other - potentially along that same route that McQuinn walked on Election Day. I knew from stats and demographics that her district is poor, but by walking it via Google Maps, I was able to see the empty lots, corner stores, and the building marked "NA" (Narcoticts Anonymous?) that allowed me to paint a much more accurate (and verified) picture of the Virginia's 80th District for my readers.

It's a useful feature for demographers like me who have the facts but need to add some flavor.

If I'm writing about Maryland Gov. Tommy Carcetti -- er, uh, Martin O'Malley -- I can "walk" the alleys of the West Side of Baltimore and see the low-rises he was supposed to clean up. If I'm writing about failing banks, I can check out Citi Field in Queens and the Wachovia Tower in Charlotte. And if I want to see the spot where Rep. John Lewis faced the Alabma State Troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, I can see it.

I'm going to start using this feature every time I'm interested in learning more about a lawmaker's district. Of course, it's not available everywhere. McCain's getaway in Sedona, Ariz. is miles from anywhere a Google van had treaded. Obama's entire Hyde Park neighborhood is unavailble, and access to Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford is kept to a safe distance. The New York Stock Exchange and White House are also protected by a buffer. Code Pinkos are in luck, however, as Camp Pelosi in San Francisco is readily available.

Libertarian hardliners will probably bellyache about this new feature, but they should have no fear: Ruby Ridge is a full eight miles from the nearest highway with a street-view.