Finally, a Google Maps mashup has arrived that will put to rest the age-old debate of Backlot vs Real Place. No one else wonders that!? Fine. It's still fun. Who knows, maybe some juicy cinema was filmed in your neighborhood. Using Google Fusion Tables, the interactive map pinpoints 9,736 locations from the movie sets of IMDB's Top 2,000 films of the past 100 years (1910-2010). more ›

City officials opened a 2.5 mile extension of the L.A. river on Saturday and KCET developed a map of river-path goodness to celebrate the occasion. The map represents a first step in what KCET calls a "living map that will be continually updated and added to." Leave a comment for them if you've got map suggestions for future iterations. more ›

View Los Angeles Outdoor Holiday Ice Skating Rinks in a larger map more ›

It looks like Big Blue Bus finally jumped on the Google train! Today transit activists were excited to find that Google Maps offered transit directions via Big Blue Bus, something that has been desired for awhile now, even prompting a petition last month. more ›

The alleged "Grim Sleeper" serial killer Lonnie Franklin, Jr., arrested last week and charged with 10 murders, had been arrested at least 15 times, but stayed off the LAPD's radar because DNA was never swabbed. He was eventually caught via familial DNA -- his son was arrested and swabbed, leading authorities to Franklin. It's a first for this approach in the U.S., one that has LAPD Chief Charlie Beck saying it "will change the way policing is done." more ›

Almost as soon as it went up, it was gone. But did this portion of the elusive Banksy's art get stolen, or sold? more ›

Thanks to the blog, Refreshing News, we find that bird shit graces Sunset Boulevard for one block in Google Street View. The best view, perhaps, is of the building at 6464 Sunset, which has been in the news for its possibly-illegal supergraphic installations and no bicycle parking policies. more ›

Weather Underground has a pretty sweet Google Map mash-up with live graphics showing the current weather pattern over California (or zoom in on whatever city you want). As of right now there are some isolated patches of rain over Los Angeles County (map). The majority of rain in the county is expected tonight when flash flood watches go into effect. more ›

We knew it was coming and today it became official. Google Maps has added real-time traffic data for major streets on Google Maps. "[It] will now show you live traffic conditions on arterial roads in selected cities. Just zoom-in on the city you're interested in, and click the 'Traffic' button in the upper-right corner of the map. As you zoom in closer to an area of interest, we'll color the arterial roads, in addition to the highways, to show current traffic conditions," explained Google LatLong, the company's official maps blog. "Just as with the highways, the colors correspond to the speed of traffic (relative to the speed limit of the road): green is free sailing, yellow is medium congestion, red is heavy congestion, and red/black is stop-and-go traffic." And yes, it works on the iPhone. more ›

Yesterday was a big day for Los Angeles transportation. Metro, the county's behemoth transit agency, officially announced their partnership with Google. But the county is large and there are various partner agencies throughout. Here's a sampling, with more to come in later days, of where other city transit systems stand with Google Transit: more ›

Here is our handy dandy guide to finding your car tomorrow morning when you wake up covered in green glitter wearing a stranger's golf shoes with nothing but a smudged taxi receipt in your pocket. Now here's the fun part. Anyone can edit this map. And that means you. Did we miss your favorite Irish watering hole? Does one of the bars on the map totally suck? You have the power. more ›

Franklin Avenue today spotlights someone's attempt to use Google Maps to suggest public transit options to get him from Downtown Los Angeles to Inglewood. Shouldn't be that hard to do, right? So what happened when he plugged in his plan? "Google Maps said the total trip would take 10 hours, 44 minutes by public transit -- and cost $10.50." In fact, that almost 11-hour journey had him getting to Inglewood via...Anaheim! Why does this seem horribly wrong? The answer--or blame--rests with Metro, who did not hop aboard the Google Transit train soon enough to get their routes meshed with the maps. So this trip has the traveler using Metrolink and OC Transit, and not Metro (same happens if you try to plot a public transit trip via Google on the iPhone). We wondered a few months ago if it would happen...it hadn't then, and it seems like it still won't. Silly Metro...what a wasted opportunity you're still ignoring! more ›

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As Metrolink announces their inclusion in Google Transit today (although, it's been live since October), Steve Hymon at the LA Times takes a rightfully and just swing at Metro for still not working with Google. more ›

After finding out about Metro's new and improved transit map earlier today, we see that Metrolink is now on Google Transit, thanks to ExperienceLA's blog. more ›

LAPD's interactive crime maps have been helpful since they launched a couple years ago. Today, they relaunched the tool, now using Google Maps instead of the old city map they were using. The new maps also let you double click on an area to browse crime in neighborhoods and also toggle between the graphic, satellite and hybrid maps (however, the search your address function seems to not be working at the moment). more ›

Yesterday, Google introduced a new Google Maps feature: directions when on foot. "Starting today, you can tell Google Maps that you want walking directions, and we'll try to find you a route that's direct, flat, and uses pedestrian pathways when we know about them," explained Andy Schwerin, Software Engineer, on Google's blog dedicated to maps. "Just get directions as you normally would. If you're going 10 km or less (some call this 6.2 miles), we'll show you a link that you can click to get 'Walking' directions." more ›

Holy! See all that blue? Most likely, your street has been caught on camera. After this past summer when Google initially released a very limited Street View function in Los Angeles, a vast improvement in coverage all over Los Angeles and Orange counties was recently released. more ›

Sometimes it seems like this city is out to beat us up, put us down, and lead us terribly astray. Even those of us who have lived here for years can't help but feel let down sometimes by L.A.'s impersonal and often contradictory nature. And we're just talking about transportation. But more often than you might expect, if you just open up and let the city happen to you, you'll find that L.A. is actually your most reliable -- and most exciting -- old friend. more ›

Ever try to get in the left-hand lane hoping you'll get that green arrow, but only end up waiting thru one series of lights after another? more ›

The Onion has published a companion Google map to promote their new laugher of a world atlas, Our Dumb World. Click on the markers in the map below for gems like Brazil ("Boasting some of the sexiest people ever to be stabbed repeatedly at night..."), France ("Heated conversation that will ultimately end in sex..."), and Mexico ("Now Hiring 2.4 Million Busboys"). View Larger Map In other Google Maps news, a new "terrain" layer has been... more ›

Here's a map of central LA traffic at around 5pm the day before Thanksgiving. Ooof. Good luck out there, guys -- and you can keep track of the gridlock you'll be encountering over at Google Maps. Godspeed, my friends, and please be safe. Respect your fellow drivers, hook up with a carpool, and take your time.... more ›

Keep updated on this map as the day goes by, check the traffic before leaving work by clicking here. It looks as if all of LA is running smoothly right now. That's because it's lunchtime, not crunch time. If you didn't take the 405 this morning, then you were spared some extra special traffic caused by some unfortunate events:Most lanes of the 405 at La Tijera Boulevard are closed this morning after the 4:45... more ›

View Larger Map Ventura Blvd. is well served by three bus lines, the 750, 150 and 240. During the day on a weekday, you can pretty much walk to a stop and find a bus coming. To the north of the Valley's famous boulevard is the Orange Line, which during the same times of day seems to run every few seconds (it's only at 12 a.m. am I waiting longer than 10 minutes). Sandwiched between... more ›

Ohhh, that was a nice 20 to 30 second rumbler too. Tonight's 4.5 earthquake, minutes before 1:00 a.m., comes on the heels of last night's 7.5 quake in Indonesia, Southern Japan's 6.4 earthquake and a Earthquake Conference, sponsored by SCAG, that took place yesterday morning in Ontario. The epicenter is in the Santa Susana Mountains north of the intersection of the 118 freeway and Topanga Canyon Blvd. near the split of the San Fernando and... more ›

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Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti... more ›

It's Wednesday. The 14-inch Philly cheesesteak we took down at lunch is starting to sit heavy. Be a glutton like us and check out these links to all the food news that matters this week. - The LA Times explores the cuisine of Shanghai: and where to find it in the Southland. - Awww, those crappy cheap wines grow up SO FAST! Buy a bottle of two-dollar merlot and drink it all tonight in... more ›

Why is this man smiling? Because he doesn't know that he's in ur Google Maps as part of the Street View feature, a new addition to the already-perfect map tool. Now one can see a birds-eye view like a traditional map, a satellite view, a hybrid view of both, and with this new feature one can see what the front of the building looks like and the whole damn block. With the new “Street... more ›

State Assemblymember Mike Feuer represents the 42nd District, which includes parts of Hollywood, West Hollywood, the Westside, Sherman Oaks and Studio City -- basically, hill hugging 'hoods. more ›