Craft install locally with MAMP Pro
When I'm trying to get past my initial errors, here are some of the things I try. This is assuming you have the usual directory setup, with the webroot public on the same level as craft


Create foo.html in public, and visit yourdomain.com/foo.html. Good for mamp problems, virtual host problems, permissions problems.
edit public\index.php and add die('made it to index'); right at the top (after the &lt;php?). Visit yourdomain.com. Good for some .htaccess problems.
edit public\index.php and add die('index is about to require '.$path); right above the require at the bottom (and of course take out the earlier die). Make sure the craft path is right.
edit craft/app/index.php and add die('made it to craft/app/index'); right at the top. Can expose some php problems (open_basedir e.g.)


That's usually enough to get me started.