Done with Claude, and very quickly for a first pass. The effort was entirely tuning the algorithm. I had an Applebees in San Francsico and one in suburban Los Angeles as my anchor points.
November 12, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Done with Claude, and very quickly for a first pass. The effort was entirely tuning the algorithm. I had an Applebees in San Francsico and one in suburban Los Angeles as my anchor points.
BTW, censusreporter.org is really cool. Tract 44 at the far extreme is Stuy Town. The next most populous is in Washington Heights, but this isn't directly density.
November 12, 2025 at 2:07 AM
BTW, censusreporter.org is really cool. Tract 44 at the far extreme is Stuy Town. The next most populous is in Washington Heights, but this isn't directly density.
All to say, what I really built is "is the Applebees somewhere people can walk?"
November 12, 2025 at 2:01 AM
All to say, what I really built is "is the Applebees somewhere people can walk?"
Exactly, its very low for Manhattan. Still, OpenStreetMap doesn't seem to have population. Perhaps using Census data would've been better if I found the right APIs.
I wanted to use WalkScore but that won't work well because Applebees tend to be near grocers, etc...but not houses.
I wanted to use WalkScore but that won't work well because Applebees tend to be near grocers, etc...but not houses.
November 12, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Exactly, its very low for Manhattan. Still, OpenStreetMap doesn't seem to have population. Perhaps using Census data would've been better if I found the right APIs.
I wanted to use WalkScore but that won't work well because Applebees tend to be near grocers, etc...but not houses.
I wanted to use WalkScore but that won't work well because Applebees tend to be near grocers, etc...but not houses.
Yeah, it's hard to decide what data to use from OpenStreetMap. Originally, I was looking for things like wide roads, lots of parking, not lots of housing, but then Times Square got nearly a zero and strip malls did well. So, I settled on intersection count. You have ≈ 4,000 people in eight blocks!
November 12, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Yeah, it's hard to decide what data to use from OpenStreetMap. Originally, I was looking for things like wide roads, lots of parking, not lots of housing, but then Times Square got nearly a zero and strip malls did well. So, I settled on intersection count. You have ≈ 4,000 people in eight blocks!
Looked up statewide for WI and that's close to average to high it says, but that's apparently high nationally. Here, the median is about $7k statewide. Suburban to rural NH is $6k. CT is over $8,000 for a few reasons (dying poor cities and acres and acres of mansions)
November 9, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Looked up statewide for WI and that's close to average to high it says, but that's apparently high nationally. Here, the median is about $7k statewide. Suburban to rural NH is $6k. CT is over $8,000 for a few reasons (dying poor cities and acres and acres of mansions)
Heh, yes, as endlessly points out Strong Towns!
What are property taxes like in the Midwest? They're apparently both higher in New England and work differently (rate comes from budget not vice versa) and MA has dumbass Prop 2½.
What are property taxes like in the Midwest? They're apparently both higher in New England and work differently (rate comes from budget not vice versa) and MA has dumbass Prop 2½.
November 9, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Heh, yes, as endlessly points out Strong Towns!
What are property taxes like in the Midwest? They're apparently both higher in New England and work differently (rate comes from budget not vice versa) and MA has dumbass Prop 2½.
What are property taxes like in the Midwest? They're apparently both higher in New England and work differently (rate comes from budget not vice versa) and MA has dumbass Prop 2½.
I saved my pennies and bought a 1922 single family a block from a major bus line and a 10 minute walk from commuter rail. Most of my street is duplexes. All illegal to build today.
Good news is our last election was a YIMBY blowout: people are fed up with this unsustainability.
Good news is our last election was a YIMBY blowout: people are fed up with this unsustainability.
November 9, 2025 at 2:20 PM
I saved my pennies and bought a 1922 single family a block from a major bus line and a 10 minute walk from commuter rail. Most of my street is duplexes. All illegal to build today.
Good news is our last election was a YIMBY blowout: people are fed up with this unsustainability.
Good news is our last election was a YIMBY blowout: people are fed up with this unsustainability.
I hope so! The resentment I feel for what policy did to Lowell and pushed me to leave must go tenfold for a Milwaukee.
November 9, 2025 at 2:16 PM
I hope so! The resentment I feel for what policy did to Lowell and pushed me to leave must go tenfold for a Milwaukee.
...as you said, processing it's not a $700k four room house, it's a $100k four room house on a $600k lot. And, with infinite demand for expensive homes here, that's what you'll get!
November 9, 2025 at 2:12 PM
...as you said, processing it's not a $700k four room house, it's a $100k four room house on a $600k lot. And, with infinite demand for expensive homes here, that's what you'll get!
Heh, yup. I really struggled to find an apartment-replacement sale in my neck of the woods because most have been rebuilt or expanded. And the townies want to know why they keep getting Mansions without...
November 9, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Heh, yup. I really struggled to find an apartment-replacement sale in my neck of the woods because most have been rebuilt or expanded. And the townies want to know why they keep getting Mansions without...
Oh, for sure. I wrote a novel above asking how much of what we see here is personal anecdotes from people with roots in those metros. My parents grew up working class on Lowell, MA. Dying, dangerous place at the time. But lots of opportunity, which they took.
November 9, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Oh, for sure. I wrote a novel above asking how much of what we see here is personal anecdotes from people with roots in those metros. My parents grew up working class on Lowell, MA. Dying, dangerous place at the time. But lots of opportunity, which they took.
I know you know this but markets vary. A lot. How do we think about the superstar effect here? I didn't blow into Boston from Des Moines, I'm from the metro. Fortunately, I'm a (generational) tech worker so the market here was possible. Fewer jobs for me even elsewhere in New England.
November 9, 2025 at 2:03 PM
I know you know this but markets vary. A lot. How do we think about the superstar effect here? I didn't blow into Boston from Des Moines, I'm from the metro. Fortunately, I'm a (generational) tech worker so the market here was possible. Fewer jobs for me even elsewhere in New England.
That common perception that the most angry online types tend to be from decent money; the whole elite overproduction thing. People in rural Kansas aren't part of their math. Their grandfather the widgetman buying a home on Long Island is.
November 9, 2025 at 1:55 PM
That common perception that the most angry online types tend to be from decent money; the whole elite overproduction thing. People in rural Kansas aren't part of their math. Their grandfather the widgetman buying a home on Long Island is.
I guess another interesting aspect of that is I'm middle-aged and while still childless (a way I'm very much trailing my parents), when my dad was my age I was in college. Lots of angry people today, the 1950s was grandparents by now so they may be lacking personal anecdotes, and,
November 9, 2025 at 1:55 PM
I guess another interesting aspect of that is I'm middle-aged and while still childless (a way I'm very much trailing my parents), when my dad was my age I was in college. Lots of angry people today, the 1950s was grandparents by now so they may be lacking personal anecdotes, and,
I wonder about regression to the mean. My parents were born in a dying industrial city in the late 1950s and all that comes with that. Yes, free college and cheap housing eventually put them in the (upper) middle class but it was statistically unlikely I'd do much better regardless of privilege.
November 9, 2025 at 1:55 PM
I wonder about regression to the mean. My parents were born in a dying industrial city in the late 1950s and all that comes with that. Yes, free college and cheap housing eventually put them in the (upper) middle class but it was statistically unlikely I'd do much better regardless of privilege.
Two things: Yes, I often think Americans have short memories and thanks to TV, etc, history began in 1945 or maybe 1929 with a story of things continuously getting better. And,
November 9, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Two things: Yes, I often think Americans have short memories and thanks to TV, etc, history began in 1945 or maybe 1929 with a story of things continuously getting better. And,
Leave the bomb, take the tendies.
October 30, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Leave the bomb, take the tendies.
I had never processed that they blew him up _in_ his house. I figured they blew him up in his car or whatever, and _then_ blew his house up just to send a message.
October 30, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I had never processed that they blew him up _in_ his house. I figured they blew him up in his car or whatever, and _then_ blew his house up just to send a message.
I mean, what is there to say?
October 30, 2025 at 3:04 PM
I mean, what is there to say?
I dug into that account and...I'm hoping this is fake. I have a feeling it is.
I had assumed a lonely, middle-aged woman. Instead, it appears to be an academically talented but nerdy male who is at prime age for onset of schizophrenia. Interested in girls a few years back. Gay? Trans?
I had assumed a lonely, middle-aged woman. Instead, it appears to be an academically talented but nerdy male who is at prime age for onset of schizophrenia. Interested in girls a few years back. Gay? Trans?
October 28, 2025 at 11:33 PM
I dug into that account and...I'm hoping this is fake. I have a feeling it is.
I had assumed a lonely, middle-aged woman. Instead, it appears to be an academically talented but nerdy male who is at prime age for onset of schizophrenia. Interested in girls a few years back. Gay? Trans?
I had assumed a lonely, middle-aged woman. Instead, it appears to be an academically talented but nerdy male who is at prime age for onset of schizophrenia. Interested in girls a few years back. Gay? Trans?
<stock comment pointing out the em-dash points to 'Toby' having a hand here, too.>
October 28, 2025 at 11:17 PM
<stock comment pointing out the em-dash points to 'Toby' having a hand here, too.>