The City of Hamilton just entered into a $115,000 contract with ilookabout that will involve four vehicles, mounted with digital cameras to snap 180 degree panoramic photographs every five metres down each street in the entire city.

Using ilookabout's new software "Streetscape", city staff will be able to call up pictures of anything, anytime. Hamilton has had access to stills since 2004 but now instead of three angles, there will be five, according to gord McGuire, manager of surveys and tech services.

Gord says looking at detailed stills of a street helps staff avoid unnecessary and sometimes lengthy trips to a site, which also reduces vehicle emissions.

For example, said McGuire, if a resident calls the city to complain about the location of a pole near their driveway, "rather than meet on site, we can talk on the phone, pull up the photography...and we can address the concern or at least havae a good understanding right off the bat." The city says it will save $200,000 annually.

"The clarity allows...even manholes, you can see the names of the utility lids, you can see the writing on signs in the field, so that type of clarity can really help," said John Murray, manager of asset management services at the city.

ilookabout president and CEO Jeff Young said 98.5% of the photos don't have people in them, and faces and licence plates are blurred out to safeguard identity.

So, for the next few months, beware of what signs you post on your lawn, or what stickers you put on the back of your car in the driveway. And, of course, don't sit on your front porch for too long sneaking a cigarette. Chances are, such information will be caught on camera and kept in city files forever... or at least until they send the trucks out again.

Robert J. Morrow is editor of www.HamiltonHomeReview.com, an online real estate magazine for Greater Hamilton, ON.

For more info, see: www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/447602, and www.marketwatch.com/news/story/ilookabout-captures-city-hamilton/story.aspx