some government sites are extremely well laid out.
I use (and have used them) them all the time.
I think the tiger-line files were one of the best, and they came out
before ESRI shapefiles. I did many a map with line files.
But back then, you ordered the data on magnetic media. Internet connectivity was too slow for the most part.
files that today take only seconds could take days to download, I had access to very fast connections, but couldn't
use the bandwidth for such things.
I use (and have used them) them all the time.
I think the tiger-line files were one of the best, and they came out
before ESRI shapefiles. I did many a map with line files.
But back then, you ordered the data on magnetic media. Internet connectivity was too slow for the most part.
files that today take only seconds could take days to download, I had access to very fast connections, but couldn't
use the bandwidth for such things.