Google Maps and prospective homes

A post on the J-Walk blog made me think about using Google Maps as a real estate research tool.  What better way than to get an overall view of the neighborhood than with a satellite image? 

Wouldn't it be nice to know that four blocks away is a city fire department (think: screaming sirens at all hours)?  Or that half-a-mile away there is an auto raceway (think: vroom noises every Saturday)?  Or, to be positive, that there are four parks within a mile of your new house? 

These are things you might not have a chance to experience during a regular apartment or home inspection, but which you could fairly easily glean from Google Maps--much more easily than from local printed maps or *gasp* an agent's description of the property.