PC Magazine -- August 1, 1997
Edward Mendelson
Although currently available in only a few cities, CitySearch covers those with breathtaking scope, timeliness, and depth. This superb service offers detailed, witty surveys of shops, services, food, drink, and entertainment and other local events in New York, San Francisco, Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, Pasadena, Austin, and Salt Lake/Park City--with Nashville and Portland expected to be up and running by the time you read this.The New York site is a revamped version of the former MetroBeat site, which CitySearch acquired in 1996. CitySearch built its other sites from the ground up. Each city has thousands of listings, each admirably up-to-date, and scores of new listings are added daily.
A horizontal toolbar on each page leads to main categories, including dining, entertainment, and news. A vertical menu of topics, different on each page, leads to subcategories like French restaurants and ice-cream parlors. A prominent search menu lets you go directly to the vendor or category you choose. From there, you can get an address and a phone number, travel directions and a map, and find other locations nearby. Businesses can purchase a Web page on CitySearch to provide more information, such as menus.
A "scout" feature, which automatically e-mails you about upcoming events you specify, has an impressive database of performers. It alerted us in plenty of time to catch performers as varied as Cecilia Bartoli and Howling Maggie, although it did miss a free performance by the popular medieval-music group Anonymous 4.
Interactive features are readily available but not widely used. You can visit a local chat room, but you probably won't find anyone else there. You can add your own comments about any vendor or location described in the service. Each city site has local message boards, such as one in San Francisco on the Muni. Many boards have no messages at all, while others attract two or three messages per week.
If you want to learn everything about a city's events, hope it has a CitySearch.
CitySearch. CitySearch Inc., Pasadena, CA.
www.citysearch.com CitySearch's top-notch navigation makes it easy to find what you want quickly. Simply the best No other service covers cities with such authority, style, and comprehensiveness. CitySearch is easy to navigate and has stellar personalization features.