Use of open data to measure livability in metros

[PetefromNYC]

So yesterday I stumbled upon this interesting article "Can big data measure livability in cities?. Article was posted on 2015/03/02 and it seems that this new website measures life quality of neighborhoods and houses in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, London and Berlin: "Cornerstone of PlaceILive is their Life Quality Index -an algorithm that takes aspects like transportation, safety, and affordability into account. Making it possible for people to easily compare the livability of different houses."

I like the concept, it looks like a mix of Walkscore and Yelp for me. I found some useful information there - bus shops near my house, bakeries, farmers markets and similar stuff. What i like the most is some cool maps with various demographic metrics, safety rates or internet speed across the city's neighborhoods that they do. For example, this predominant ethnicity map across neighborhoods of New York is pretty dope.

Anyway, if I understand correctly it's quite a new service. Maybe you guys know any similar websites that provide insights for NYC? That would help me a lot since I only moved there a couple of month ago

Cheers!

[mhays]

To be widely useful it would need to measure what people value, which can be very different. For example I'd favor narrow streets but others might not. Shade cover is another. A lot of these things can be covered by data, and might even be easy, but the key would be adjustability. As for affordability, obviously it would need to go beyond price, incomes, etc. -- you don't need a car in some neighborhoods and cities (another adjustment per person) and likewise you can skip the dining room and second bedroom because of what's outside your door.

[brian_b]

I entered my zip code (http://chicago.placeilive.com/Chicago_City_60616) into the website that was linked in the article you provided. It came back showing that my neighborhood had high marks for every category except demographics, but that doesn't make sense to me. I took a look at their methodology and don't agree with some of it.

I had started to type up a response, but it got too long and I'll just cut it short. As presented, it seems that the demographic category is aimed more at people who want to make sure they live near other people that fit into categories they prefer (but at least they don't appear to count race), but it is presented as if it were an objective measure of life quality. Dropping income and native language out of the index, for example, would probably increase objectivity.

Also, why is "quiet and clean" represented by an icon of a CCTV camera? That's a pretty loaded statement.

[montréaliste]

The more livable a place is, the less unlivable it can claim to be. It's that simple really.

[mrnyc]

here's mine for the west village. lol for low ratings on safety and health and i certainly question others.

not sure anything can be perfectly accurate though, especially as an actual resident would see it. but its interesting and more than worthy to make the efforts to try.

TRANSPORTATION
93 / Good
DAILY LIFE
59 / Average
SAFETY
23 / Poor
HEALTH
8 / Poor
SPORTS AND LEISURE
99 / Good
ENTERTAINMENT
98 / Good
DEMOGRAPHICS
97 / Good