5. BI #2, Neighborhood House Photos

Brilliant Idea Number Two

I have a very strong sense of the future looking on the present as the past. The house I live in is about 125 years old and I would love to see photos of it when it was first built. There are probably photos out there somewhere but only Who knows where.
So here’s the plan. Have available on the web a photo of every house in your neighborhood by address. This would be a great retirement hobby, taking a photo of every house block by block, with address, in your neighborhood. Who wouldn’t love to be able to see what the house you lived in as a child looks like today? Or, looking at the house of a friend you haven’t seen in twenty years. Historically; let your future great greats see what their ancestors lived in. A town historical society could hire high school kids to do it and repeat the photos every five years. Give your kid a camera and tell him to go to it. What a great record it would be to see how the colors, vegetation, and shape of the buildings have changed. Illegal building could be caught this way. This could be a great useful individual effort without the thought of making a buck. They don’t have to be a work of art, just a common sense shot to show the whole house. Use a digital camera of at least six megapixals so a good print could be made. If someone started a web page that would accept and track the photos it might be successful.