Re: Downtown
Until Google Maps came along I was excited to find aerial or satellite photos that were 10 years old and at a fraction of the resolution that Gmaps is. Counting how amazingly expensive the rights to satellite photos are, we are really pampered.
Heading over to the USGS website I see that aerial photos will put you back $54.00 US for one frame and Landsat satellite images will cost you $475.00 US each. Now, multiply that by multiple zoom levels and the surface of the entire earth.