Fun with Maps in Contra Costa County |
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There is a little-known county website that offers extensive mapping information for all of Contra Costa County. According to the website description, you can access a "wide variety of information about properties in Contra Costa County, such as zoning, aerial photos, assessed value, flood plain and jurisdictional information." Included are the assessor's images which delineate specific survey information for particular parcels of land. You can also get a list of addresses within a given distance of your home. The website is a little tricky to use and is not totally intuitive. However, there is an excellent help facility. Click HERE to bring up the mapping website. The first page mentions a "User Account" which you can ignore. Next select a screen size - the "Large Map" option is recommended. Now click the "Accept the Disclaimer and Enter Site" button. Find the "help" button along the upper part of the screen. I strongly urge that you read ALL the help information before using this mapping website. However, here's a quick example tour for people who never read directions (like me): This is the map toolbar located above the map:  There is a "plus" and a "minus" magnifying glass tool and as you might guess, the "plus" tool zooms in and the "minus" tool zooms out. Select the "plus" tool and then click on the map in the area you want to zoom into. You can continue zooming in for more and more detail. Zoom until you can make out individual land parcels. If you want to see different map areas, first click on the "hand" tool and then click-drag the map around. When you have zeroed in on a land parcel of interest (your lot for example), select the information tool (located on the far right). An "identify" area will be brought up on the left part of the window. Select the "Parcels" option. Now select the land parcel by clicking on it. The left part of the window will now become the "Identify Results" window and will present detailed information on the parcel you selected. The top of the "Results" window offers two additional options. The first is the "proximity search" which will provide a list of downloadable addresses within a given distance of the parcel. The "view assessor image" option will open a pdf window that contains detailed survey information including parcel lines, land measurements, latitude and longitude, and other nifty information. There are many other ways to interact with this website. If you enjoy mapping technology like I do, it offers an enormous amount of information and capability. Enjoy, Steve |