I'll second and third that, and add in that in New York at least, it keeps you legal, because you're not really allowed to USE a scanner in NY, but with a Ham license, you can.

I carry a Yaesu VX-5 and it gets NOAA, FM Broadcast, Police, Fire, EMS, Marine, Aviation, plus of course, the 2-way ham bands (which I never actually use, but I could if I wanted to).

I have it programmed with 200 channels (use your computer to program it, much easier) and it's been a great asset when I'm just wondering what the heck is going on in front of the office when 14 fire trucks roll up.