What are your favorite tools for determining neighborhood quality?

[Jeff G.]

I'm a long distance investor. As a quick-and-dirty approach I use school quality as a way to guestimate neighborhood quality. The downside is this isn't terribly granular so it can be misleading. Some cities can be very different a block or two away but share a school district.

I've tried to find a good crime map, but without much luck. The few Google points me to are either not granular enough or want to change me an arm and a leg for a limited number of reports per year. I'm open to suggestions on this one.

I've started "virtually walking" the street of a property I'm interested in with Google Maps. That helps. I can look to see if there are bars on windows, graffiti everywhere, how well people care for their lawns, etc. That's about where I run out of ideas.

What tools and techniques are you using to gauge a neighborhood's quality from a distance?