Want proof of Toronto’s remarkable development boom?

Beginning Wednesday, the Street View feature of Google Maps lets users go back in time, to view previous images of places from the search giant’s archives. If a location has been previously mapped and photographed by the company’s camera-laden vehicles, the new option will allow users to see how it has changed over time.

“Starting tomorrow (Wednesday) and rolling out gradually globally, you’ll be able to click on the top left hand corner of the Street View image, and you can see all the different years we have collected data,” says Aaron Brindle, Google Canada’s spokesperson.

Street View has been capturing ground-level images of cities since 2007, and became available for Toronto streets in 2009. For a Canadian example of the history function, Brindle says Lake Shore Blvd. and Fleet St. east of the Princes’ Gate is a great place to see how things have changed.

“This is my favourite Canadian example. For Lake Shore, it goes back to 2007 and over the years, you can see the condos going up,” says Brindle. “You can see amazing development in this part of Toronto that has been the focus of so much attention in terms of how Toronto has developed its waterfront.”

Such examples show how dramatically areas of the city have changed in just a few years. With the history function, you can also see a World Cup stadium being built in the Federal District in Brazil. Or the new World Trade Center project rising in New York City, which can also be viewed from several vantage points from around New York.

It works simply by clicking on the left-hand corner of the current Street View image, which will give a timeline of historical snapshots, if any are available.

Beyond development, Brindle says the feature can be used to see some of the effects of natural and man-made disasters and the rebuilding afterward, as in Fukushima, Japan, or the Ninth Ward of New Orleans.

“I’m really curious to see what excites users about this and what they find,” he says.

Google Maps’ “Pegman,” the stick figure that you have to drag and drop to enable Street View, is also going to be given a fun makeover for Wednesday’s launch day.

“As part of an ‘Easter egg’ in the feature, Pegman is going to be dressed up as Doc Brown from Back to the Future,” says Brindle. “That’s gives you a sense of what we’re trying to achieve.”

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