About five months ago, Google started a contest to determine where its Street View trike would take pictures in the U.S.  Today, Google released some impressive stats concerning participation, and also announced the winning locations.

Let's start by establishing how many people took an interest in where Google will send its trike.  A post on the Official Google Blog explained that nearly 25,000 suggestions were made, and that a whopping 238,000 folks cast votes.

Unless everyone was just trying to send the trike "somewhere else," this counts as significant indicator of Street View's popularity.  Which is a bit interesting in light of the speed bumps the program's hit in Europe.

As for the places the trike will wind up, they include the Rochester Institute of Technology, the Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston, the National Mall in D.C., and the Detroit Zoo.  Then the Boulder Creek Path (a Colorado bike trail) is the last member of the group.

Google intends to photograph at least some of these locations in the near future.  If you live close to them, either start planning a memorable getup or eyeing good hiding spots as you see fit.