Location in space

City-data.com Statistics, maps and photos for US cities.

Cool House Plans
I had a bear of a time moving my character around in her bosses’ mansion until I downloaded the floor plan for a single story, Southwestern style, four bedroom, 5000 square foot home from this site.   The photo of the completed house was also useful.   If you fall in love you can purchase the blueprints.  Meanwhile, your characters can live there.

Google advanced image search The next best thing to being there.

Google Earth
Free download lets you “fly” anywhere in the world and the sky.  See satellite images, maps, terrain, some 3D buildings.  Really, really cool.  Great for choosing locations, describing neighborhoods and measuring distances.

Historical Maps from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Map Quest
Find maps, driving directions, distances between towns.

NASA's gateway to astronaut photography of Earth.
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/

National Geographic maps

Sunrise and sunset calculator, from time and date.com.

U.S. Census info
Population, housing, economic and geographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

US Navy Sun and moon rise and set charts.

Via Michelin Driving directions in Europe.