As apartment-renting season in New York City kicks into high gear, home hunters can add a new AI-powered tool to their search arsenal.
The mobile-first site Localize.city offers potential tenants simple but colorful information about the building and neighborhood of a given address. The website pulls data from public records and streamlines them to create "a detailed view of what their life will be like today and in the future, at every address" in New York City, Localize CEO Asaf Rubin told Curbed NY.
The data is dispensed in "bite-sized" pieces of information, presented across slides. It offers information in the categories of livability, safety, transportation, schools and more, and even takes future projects into consideration.
For example, an address on the 400 block of East 9th Street in the East Village returned the following insights:
- Transportation: Beginning in 2019, the L train shutdown will make it harder to reach Brooklyn and other subway lines along 14th Street.
- Livability: The East Village is flush with community gardens, which help build a sense of community and positively impact local home values.
- Nuisances: Residents have been complaining about loud music, and construction noise and other noise in this area.
- Transportation: By late 2020, elevators and a new entrance will make it easier to access the 1st Avenue L train station from the street.
- Transportation: This is a bike-friendly area. Bike lanes abound and nearby Citi Bike stations are popular among locals.
- Livability: With dog-friendly parks nearby, this is a great area for dog lovers, and odds are, you’ll find a lot of pups named Charlie and Bella around here.
- Planning: This building is near a historic district. This can mean higher home values but without property restrictions that landmarks have.
- Nuisances: The East Village is infested with rodents, but the City plans to reduce the rat population by 70% by 2018.
- Nuisances: This address is near a main route for truck traffic, which could mean elevated levels of noise, vibrations and air pollution.
- Livability: Two Tompkins Square Park playgrounds will receive a makeover, with completion expected in late 2019 or early 2020.
- Safety: Dangerous driving is a problem at the nearby intersection of 1 Avenue and East 14 Street.
- Transportation: With trains nearby, it’s an easy commute to the city’s main business hubs.
Here are some other examples of what insights look like at specific addresses:
- 180 West Street, Brooklyn Link
- 1260 Amsterdam Avenue, Manhattan Link
- 142-10 Roosevelt Avenue, Queens Link
Localize.city has data for every address in NYC, and is incorporating more as it becomes available.
