In the early days of the web, TerraFly.com from Florida International University was super cool.

Using TerraFly you could virtually fly over the United States using USGS imagery. This feature is still available.

Well 7 or so years have passed and the imagery, well, it's everywhere and in some cases better.

However, this free service still as one very cool and very useful feature, gobs of local data.

From Census info to local hotels to fires, it's in Terrafly.

Give it a try.

1) Go to TerraFly

2) Enter in an address or just a Zip and make sure your pop-up blocker is off.

3) Wait for a couple of two new windows to open.

4) Review imagery. Now, click on a specific point on the image.

5) A new window will open with filled with local data. If you clicked a few blocks away some of the numbers and items would be different.

Here's what a page for a specific address looks like for a spot in Chicago.

Cool!