Here’s a scenario most everyone has faced: you find yourself in a new neighborhood with some time to kill.  Where do you go?  What do you do?  What’s the best restaurant?  What do others suggest?  Well, we built the MapQuest Vibe iPhone app (mirroring our recently announced site) that we hope answers those questions with aplomb.  Download the free new app here ;)

MapQuest Vibe aspires to make you a local, anywhere.  Launch it on your iPhone and identify which of the 50,000 U.S. neighborhoods and 27.000 cities you’ve entered or explore what’s just around the corner.

Use the neighborhood map to identify the best restaurants or tap an adjacent orange “Vibe Score” oval to begin discovering places in nearby vicinities.  For even greater detail, switch to list view or an individual detail page.  A proprietary algorithm combines social signals, user intent and a lot of analysis to create real-time, authoritarian rankings for each and every place.

Sign in with your Facebook account to vote local places up or down.  Yes, it’s that simple to show your neighborhood support.  Votes dynamically influence place rankings, as well as the neighborhood’s overall Vibe Score.  Areas of concentrated coolness (we’ve termed these ”hotspots”) are voting-influenced as well, causing new ones to appear and old ones to change shape or disappear.

Each ‘hood is ranked by a Vibe Score – giving you instant insight into your surroundings.  Is it walk-able? Edgy? Is it a great ‘hood for going out? Peer at the neighborhood details and find out.

User votes and comments about local businesses roll up and appear on the neighborhood wall forming a tapestry of helpful commentary.  Many neighborhoods have hoods-inside-of-hoods.  The ‘In This Neighborhood’ tab lists these oft-obscure gems for you to explore.

Next time you find yourself exploring a new neighborhood, discover the best with MapQuest Vibe.