Customer Reviews

Thomas Guide 2004 Los Angeles and Orange Counties: Street Guide and Directory (Los Angeles and Orange Counties Street Guide and Directory)

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As a long term resident of Los Angeles, I can testify that the Thomas Brothers Guide is the essential source for finding one's way in the L.A. megapolis. A comprehensive index lists street addresses, beaches & harbors, cemetaries, chambers of commerce, city halls, colleges, golf courses, hospitals, hotels, libraries, park & ride locations, parks, points of interest (including museums), shopping centers, theaters and transportation hubs -and gives a page and grid letter/number to help you find that location, street, or landmark you are looking for.
Whenever going to an unfamiliar address, I figure out how to get there first with the Thomas Guide (which I keep in my car). I always recommend to new residents in the city that they purchase a guide to help them find their way - because L.A. County is BIG ! Thomas Brothers Maps are also out on cd-rom. See www.thomasmap.com for more of their maps.
If used in conjunction with Mapquest.com to get directions, you will surely find your way in L.A.
~ Mark

In the age of internet many of us take it for granted that we can get street map of any part of the country in seconds free of cost, and buying a map is a waste of money. This is not true if you are talking about Greater Los Angeles area and if you have used the current Thomas Guide. We have been vacationing in Los Angeles area for years and we find this guide extremely helpful in navigating around the city. Los Angeles is known for very difficult traffic and the street system is complex compared to other cities in the country. The guide has comprehensive index that lists street addresses, beaches & harbors, cemeteries, schools and colleges, golf courses, hospitals, hotels, libraries, park & ride locations, parks, shopping centers, theaters and many other information you would be interested in. It is easy to use this guide; I strongly recommend this to anyone who drives around Los Angeles area, price is reasonable and it is good value money can buy.

In these days of yahoo maps, mapquest et al, the need for something like the Thomas Guide is often questioned. Forget the questions. If you're living in Southern California you need this. It's handy for doing things like finding alternate routes (do you know how to get from Santa Fe Springs to Hollywood when the 5 and the 101 are packed?)

The CD is windows-only so as Mac guy I've not had the chance to use it. I'd be surprised if it was a significant improvement over the on-line map services, but perhaps it is.

The fold-out map (not sure if this is in the newer editions, I have mine from my 1990 and 1996 Thomas Guides in my car) is really nice if only because it more clearly delineates the city boundaries than the overview maps in the book do.

I travel a lot on business to places I have not been before and must efficiently use the time available. I have been doing this for 30 years. Ahead of time I mark on maps where I am going to go each day. The Thomas Guide is sufficiently accurate for this. Where it comes up short is in readability. In some areas the print is so small it is difficult to read in good daylight and almost impossible at night with typical interior car light.

In locations where there is a choice I try to supplement The Thomas Guide with a similar guide that features larger print. For instance in Phoenix, AZ I use the Phoenix Metro Area Street Atlas "Large Print Edition". It's pages are easily read under any circumstance and street names are not so close together they become illegible something that is quite common in the Rand McNally street guides, the Thomas Guides, and to some extent the standard edition of the Phoenix Metro Area Street Atlas.

The problem for the mapping companies is striking the right balance between cost and utility. In Phoenix the Phoenix Mapping Service publishes a standard edition with at times difficult to read street names. This is very similar to the Rand McNally and Thomas Guides in layout and area covered per page. What Phoenix Mapping also does in their "Large Print" edition is explode (into 4 one page sections) their "standard" size page featuring larger print, legibility and completeness. This vastly increases ease of use while providing an additional revenue stream for Phoenix Mapping.

Unfortunately, Rand McNally apparently has a program to kill off the competition by purchasing them (they now own Thomas Guide)and folding them into their own operation or ceasing publication after purchase particularly with small regional map publishers. One cannot blame Rand McNally for doing this to improve their profitability, but the resultant lack of competition means less choice for the consumer and less product improvement. The limited utility of "standard" page size editions limits the market for this particular type of map. It will be a real loss if this type of map disappears because of its portability. But, Rand McNally will only have themselves to blame as they drive consumers to electronic mapping. Consumers lose in monopolistic situations which seems to be where this type of map is headed.