-Mark
thecitycompass.com

Very interesting discussions about how useful this information will be to certain geographic locations of the US. Neighborhoods by definition can roughly be defined as a geographically localised community located within a larger city, town or suburb. In areas where neighborhoods do not have an official status, questions can arise as to where one neighborhood begins and another ends. Many cities may use districts and wards as official divisions of the city, rather than traditional neighborhood boundaries. Where I came from (Pennsylvania) we had municipal level neighborhoods and wards. Now comes the question of how a “neighborhood is defined today? In new areas we now have subdivisions or housing developments, or some developers are even calling them communities. After moving to the South two years ago, I stumbled upon a problem that has led into a huge project for me and the development of a company that I just started called thecitycompass.com. The focus of our data (GIS format) is at a very detailed “neighborhood” level. Our data goes well beyond demographics, and housing information. An example of this is the associated amenity database. Lots of work! My vision after learning about zillow has been to reinvent the wheel (specific housing search, but to focus more globally (down to neighborhood only) and then pass off to other sites…i.e. zillow and realtors. Just another way for to compliment what is already out there.

-Mark
thecitycompass.com