{"items": [{"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20bh87", "anchor": "r-c20bh87", "service": "r", "text": "Data from the awesome site padmapper.\n\n
Colors are $/bedroom in $100 increments starting from "under 300" (dark blue) up to $1800+ (red). Yellow is $1300-$1200, green is $1100-$1000.\n\n
Black dots are data points.\n\n
The price for a point is inverse-distance weighted average of all data points.\n", "timestamp": 1308338581}, {"author": "JustDiveIn212", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20bmmh", "anchor": "r-c20bmmh", "service": "r", "text": "→ Is it price per apartment or price per bedroom? \n", "timestamp": 1308339824}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20bvpr", "anchor": "r-c20bvpr", "service": "r", "text": "→ → per bedroom\n", "timestamp": 1308341964}, {"author": "[deleted]", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20bq7z", "anchor": "r-c20bq7z", "service": "r", "text": "→ [deleted]\n", "timestamp": 1308340692}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20bv22", "anchor": "r-c20bv22", "service": "r", "text": "→ → I'm not sure what you mean\n", "timestamp": 1308341809}, {"author": "Gemini6Ice", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20bxv5", "anchor": "r-c20bxv5", "service": "r", "text": "→ → → "I live at XX Streetname Avenue and I pay $Y-hundred for my Z-room apartment."\n\n
Right now your map is just active rental listings, right?\n", "timestamp": 1308342499}, {"author": "extra88", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20cb35", "anchor": "r-c20cb35", "service": "r", "text": "→ → → → I think it would be easier and less likely to skew the results by just collecting datapoints from the Padmapper over longer period of time. If you collected it over the course of a year, it could be interesting to see an animation of how it changes from week to week, particularly in relation to the academic calendar(s).\n", "timestamp": 1308345759}, {"author": "Gemini6Ice", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20dcof", "anchor": "r-c20dcof", "service": "r", "text": "→ → → → → I agree!\n", "timestamp": 1308357196}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20cdww", "anchor": "r-c20cdww", "service": "r", "text": "→ → → → I see. Yes, the data is just active rental listings.\n\n
Letting people add their own apartments would be a lot of work, and I don't think it would change the color boundaries much.\n", "timestamp": 1308346503}, {"author": "Gemini6Ice", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20dct3", "anchor": "r-c20dct3", "service": "r", "text": "→ → → → → Yeah, no, it's already pretty awesome, so please don't take the suggestion as critical :)\n", "timestamp": 1308357237}, {"author": "extra88", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20briu", "anchor": "r-c20briu", "service": "r", "text": "→ Couldn't you add a legend to the map itself?\n\n
Is the data "live" from padmapper or static and collected over a specific time frame in the past?\n\n
Just to be clear, a data point within a Yellow area could represent anything from a $1200/month studio or 1br to a $4800/month 4br house?\n", "timestamp": 1308340996}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20bvp3", "anchor": "r-c20bvp3", "service": "r", "text": "→ → \n
Couldn't you add a legend to the map itself?\n\n\n
I should do that.\n\n\n
Is the data "live" from padmapper or static and collected over a specific time frame in the past?\n\n\n
The data is for apartment listings scraped in the last seven days, collected 2011-06-17.\n\n\n
Just to be clear, a data point within a Yellow area could represent anything from a $1200/month studio or 1br to a $4800/month 4br house?\n\n\n
Right. This bothers me.\n\n
It also doesn't take into account bedroom size.\n", "timestamp": 1308341959}, {"author": "extra88", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20c5ih", "anchor": "r-c20c5ih", "service": "r", "text": "→ → → I think your map currently has value for indicating where the more and less expensive places to live are, and their contours. You could choose to implement configuration tools akin to Padmappers to include or exclude certain properties, I don't know if that would be helpful to people. I suppose it's possible that playing with the data could turn up oddities like areas that are fairly cheap for 1br apts. but expensive for 3+br, or vice versa.\n\n
Anyone actually looking for an apartment with specific criteria is just going to use Padmapper itself. Your "heat" is best for showing trends and tendencies which can guide seekers to areas in their price range. It might also help with suspect advertisements; if a place was very cheap for the area it might suggest a scam or a problem that wouldn't be immediately apparent.\n", "timestamp": 1308344356}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20c8gb", "anchor": "r-c20c8gb", "service": "r", "text": "→ → → → \n
Anyone actually looking for an apartment with specific criteria is just going to use Padmapper itself.\n\n\n
Definitely. Padmapper is great for specifics.\n\n
Actually, if they wanted to add a configurable heatmap layer, that would be pretty cool.\n\n
The main problem is that heatmaps can be expensive to generate (at least mine was, but I was pretty lazy about it) so it might be difficult to make one that let you choose what you wanted to control 'heat'.\n", "timestamp": 1308345109}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20c4fr", "anchor": "r-c20c4fr", "service": "r", "text": "→ → \n
Couldn't you add a legend to the map itself?\n\n\n
Done!\n", "timestamp": 1308344095}, {"author": "extra88", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20c9sg", "anchor": "r-c20c9sg", "service": "r", "text": "→ → → Thanks! You might want to set the background opacity to 1.0 for legend color blocks so the map behind them doesn't affect their color. I'd also use spans and CSS instead of <font> tags but whatever.\n\n
I should be glad that I'm paying lighter blue rent for a 2br in a green area but I'd like to move and the map makes it look like I'm destined for paying "green" rent.\n", "timestamp": 1308345441}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20cdhe", "anchor": "r-c20cdhe", "service": "r", "text": "→ → → → \n
You might want to set the background opacity to 1.0 for legend color blocks so the map behind them doesn't affect their color.\n\n\n
I played around with it some, and actually I think I'm just going to turn off the opacity entirely. If it's hiding something people can move around.\n\n\n
I'd also use spans and CSS instead of <font> tags but whatever.\n\n\n
Normally I'm all for separating content and presentation, but here the color really is the content, so I'm not so sure about css.\n", "timestamp": 1308346390}, {"author": "[deleted]", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20bvgz", "anchor": "r-c20bvgz", "service": "r", "text": "→ Wait, wouldn't this mean you can't tell the difference between an area that's cheap and an area that's just somewhat far away from any other data points?\n", "timestamp": 1308341904}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20bxdi", "anchor": "r-c20bxdi", "service": "r", "text": "→ → Nope. We average all the data points to get each pixel, but how much we pay attention to each data point is on 1/(distance(pixel, data point)). If you get too far away from data it will stop making predictions, though, because of a separate filter.\n", "timestamp": 1308342390}, {"author": "prestodigitarium", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c22cdtf", "anchor": "r-c22cdtf", "service": "r", "text": "→ Haha awesome. I'm the maker of PadMapper. Just sent you a PM.\n", "timestamp": 1309251393}, {"author": "topher200", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20bplr", "anchor": "r-c20bplr", "service": "r", "text": "That's awesome! I really like the way it transitions from price point areas - definitely cool to see the individual apartments that are screwing up the average.\n\n
Is the code you used available anywhere? I'd love to do the same thing for Providence (I'm in the wrong subreddit blah blah blah).\n", "timestamp": 1308340541}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c21jud0", "anchor": "r-c21jud0", "service": "r", "text": "→ I just uploaded it to github. I intend to clean it up some, but it should be workable.\n", "timestamp": 1308876094}, {"author": "[deleted]", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20buoc", "anchor": "r-c20buoc", "service": "r", "text": "Wow, beyond the major differences in neighborhoods, you can clearly see that T accessibility is really expensive.\n", "timestamp": 1308341718}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20byrw", "anchor": "r-c20byrw", "service": "r", "text": "→ Blue line east boston is pretty cheap. So is JP orange line. Charleston waterfront has poor transit, but is quite expensive.\n\n
Overall, though, yes.\n\n
I'm not sure how much of this is the T driving up prices and how much is just that you pay a premium for being in dense areas close in, and that's where transit is best.\n", "timestamp": 1308342703}, {"author": "ANewMachine615", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20c8os", "anchor": "r-c20c8os", "service": "r", "text": "→ → And then you get the chicken/egg problem of whether it's the population following the T, or the T following the population. You'd need historic data for that, though.\n", "timestamp": 1308345168}, {"author": "Jeshi", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20epwu", "anchor": "r-c20epwu", "service": "r", "text": "→ → → Considering all the universities, historic data is probably an easy thing to come by I'd guess.\n", "timestamp": 1308374407}, {"author": "toastyfries2", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20e612", "anchor": "r-c20e612", "service": "r", "text": "→ → There's a hotspot in Medford near the T. Station Landing & River's Edge Drive developments have really raised the rates. But without the T there, those places probably wouldn't get their asking prices.\n", "timestamp": 1308367412}, {"author": "H_E_Pennypacker", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20efth", "anchor": "r-c20efth", "service": "r", "text": "→ → \n
Charlestown\n\n", "timestamp": 1308370790}, {"author": "oraclehkr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20c1f7", "anchor": "r-c20c1f7", "service": "r", "text": "I'm a bit depressed with how bad I seem to be overpaying to live downtown. \n\n
I wonder how robust this map can be made. Maybe we could add a layer for apartment sales by square foot as well.\n", "timestamp": 1308343379}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20c4o4", "anchor": "r-c20c4o4", "service": "r", "text": "→ I don't know where to get square foot data. Padmapper doesn't have it, and I don't think the craigslist ads it scrapes have it either.\n", "timestamp": 1308344149}, {"author": "[deleted]", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20cdik", "anchor": "r-c20cdik", "service": "r", "text": "→ → [deleted]\n", "timestamp": 1308346402}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20cel8", "anchor": "r-c20cel8", "service": "r", "text": "→ → → Isn't zillow for house sales?\n", "timestamp": 1308346690}, {"author": "mckatze", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20ctuc", "anchor": "r-c20ctuc", "service": "r", "text": "→ → → → Zilow has some rental data as well\n", "timestamp": 1308351116}, {"author": "Commander_Q", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20cxns", "anchor": "r-c20cxns", "service": "r", "text": "→ The $/bedroom metric is almost certainly misleading/skewing the results. A one-bedroom apartment is always going to be more expensive than half of a two-bedroom apartment, which is always more expensive than 1/3 of a three-bedroom, and so on. \n\n
E.g. in a neighborhood where a 1-bed rents for, say, $1000, a comparable two-bed might go for $1500, while a three-bed might be $1800 and a four-bed $2000. So if there are two neighborhoods where apartments are priced similarly, but one consists of mostly 3+ bedrooms while another consists of mostly 1-bedrooms, then one will look significantly cheaper in this analysis. \n\n
Moreover, and exaggerating the discrepancy, the more expensive the typical apartment is, the more affluent the typical renter is, and the greater concentration of more-expensive 1-bedrooms you are likely to see. (Richer renters are more likely to be singles or couples who don't want roommates). So where there are, for example, five-bedroom units in Beacon Hill or whatever, they are likelier to be expensive historic brownstones or some such, as opposed to the plethora of marginal multi-bedroom tenements rented to students in Allston or working families in Dorchester. \n\n
So in higher-end neighborhoods, the curve might almost be distorted in reverse, where a five-bed on Beacon Hill might imply a house with 3.5 bedrooms, vaulted ceilings, an expansive kitchen, multiple parlors, etc. \n\n
A much fairer comparison would be to look at the the typical cost of a two-bedroom, but even then there is a serious apples-to-oranges aspect: an elevator high-rise in Brighton with a doorman and in-unit laundry might be a lot closer to downtown averages than the rickety tenements that are more common in the neighborhood. \n", "timestamp": 1308352328}, {"author": "[deleted]", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20c1g1", "anchor": "r-c20c1g1", "service": "r", "text": "Yes, my apartment in the middle of the river is quite expensive, but it's worth it.\n", "timestamp": 1308343384}, {"author": "Jeshi", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20eq0s", "anchor": "r-c20eq0s", "service": "r", "text": "→ I was gonna say "I like how it only gets dark red in the middle of the water"\n", "timestamp": 1308374448}, {"author": "Notmyrealname", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20g69l", "anchor": "r-c20g69l", "service": "r", "text": "→ Nice yacht!\n", "timestamp": 1308405204}, {"author": "MicFury", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20c52d", "anchor": "r-c20c52d", "service": "r", "text": "yeah.. that map is a little wrong in Allston. It's several hundred short.\n", "timestamp": 1308344246}, {"author": "ANewMachine615", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20c8yk", "anchor": "r-c20c8yk", "service": "r", "text": "→ Depends. Bedrooms in a shared space tend to be less expensive than a single-occupant space, like a studio or 1br. This is an average, so $1200 may mean for a 1br, or $4800 for a 4br. It's probably off on the single-occupant space prediction because of the bias that the lower per-room multi-occupant spaces introduce.\n", "timestamp": 1308345241}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20c96f", "anchor": "r-c20c96f", "service": "r", "text": "→ The data points come from padmapper's scraping of craigslist and other ads. There really are apartments for these prices advertised in allston right now.\n", "timestamp": 1308345294}, {"author": "30thCenturyMan", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20cotw", "anchor": "r-c20cotw", "service": "r", "text": "→ → The problem with this assumption is that you're not taking into account that Allston is a huge college town. Right now prices are dirt cheap because all the kids are home with mom and dad, but come September 1st, you'll see the real prices people are paying.\n", "timestamp": 1308349664}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20cwi4", "anchor": "r-c20cwi4", "service": "r", "text": "→ → → Right. This is a map of current prices.\n", "timestamp": 1308351969}, {"author": "tesseracter", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20c54b", "anchor": "r-c20c54b", "service": "r", "text": "Awesome, I'm just starting to browse for apartments.\n\n
Lemme know if you have other ideas for it.\n", "timestamp": 1308344259}, {"author": "joannchilada", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20c5h3", "anchor": "r-c20c5h3", "service": "r", "text": "Dorchester is cheep? You don't say!\n\n
But seriously, this is cool and interesting. Thanks for sharing!\n", "timestamp": 1308344347}, {"author": "albatross5000", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20c6ts", "anchor": "r-c20c6ts", "service": "r", "text": "Per bedroom really isn't helpful for me .. I, for example, am looking for a one bedroom apartment. Not a single bedroom in an apartment with <variable> number of bedrooms.\n\n
Is there some way that could be worked into things?\n", "timestamp": 1308344690}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20c8ub", "anchor": "r-c20c8ub", "service": "r", "text": "→ The more specific your preferences are, the fewer apartments there are that fit, and the more it probably just makes sense to use the filters on padmapper.\n", "timestamp": 1308345210}, {"author": "albatross5000", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20ddzw", "anchor": "r-c20ddzw", "service": "r", "text": "→ → Ah thanks it works pretty well for this specific requirement. Though honestly I bet he could pull it off anyway.\n", "timestamp": 1308357626}, {"author": "[deleted]", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20ch56", "anchor": "r-c20ch56", "service": "r", "text": "You should vary the intensity of the colors by how many datapoints are in the immediate area. There's basically nothing near my current apartment, and I'm paying twice what this would suggest.\n", "timestamp": 1308347483}, {"author": "jadedbstn", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20d03l", "anchor": "r-c20d03l", "service": "r", "text": "Can we just put a big red star on my apt in the north end to represent city suites and their insane rent. And then a big light blue to represent my amazing new cheap and nicer apt. \n", "timestamp": 1308353128}, {"author": "ThisOpenFist", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20d1aw", "anchor": "r-c20d1aw", "service": "r", "text": "What's with that section off the coast of Revere that fades blue to green? Is undersea real estate more expensive, now?\n", "timestamp": 1308353500}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20e383", "anchor": "r-c20e383", "service": "r", "text": "→ It's a weird artifact of the interpolation. The beachfront property is more expensive than the not-quite-beachfront property, and this does weird things.\n", "timestamp": 1308366451}, {"author": "GPechorin", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20dc1f", "anchor": "r-c20dc1f", "service": "r", "text": "Damn, I'm completely priced out of living in the middle of the Charles.\n", "timestamp": 1308356980}, {"author": "BillWeld", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20dc37", "anchor": "r-c20dc37", "service": "r", "text": "Nice work!\n", "timestamp": 1308356994}, {"author": "duggtodeath", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20dm0d", "anchor": "r-c20dm0d", "service": "r", "text": "Fuck! I'm paying 1500 in Chelsea, but it is a nice place n_n\n", "timestamp": 1308360464}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20e39r", "anchor": "r-c20e39r", "service": "r", "text": "→ For one bedroom?\n", "timestamp": 1308366464}, {"author": "duggtodeath", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20fd5s", "anchor": "r-c20fd5s", "service": "r", "text": "→ → Yep, but the place is huge!\n", "timestamp": 1308384590}, {"author": "[deleted]", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20e1l3", "anchor": "r-c20e1l3", "service": "r", "text": "Interesting map... Still, I do think that the different classes of apartments make a huge difference. I've never paid more than $700 for a bedroom (in 3-room apartments, mostly) around Camberville. I pay $615 now in Davis and my girlfriend is paying $450 or so (I think) in a different part of Somerville, and the map for both those areas has a significantly higher price marked. Nevertheless, it's probably a pretty useful map if you ignore the scale; you can probably assume that real values are roughly proportional to whatever it says.\n\n
Cool exercise with the Google Maps API, though. (: Upvote!\n", "timestamp": 1308365895}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20e3eb", "anchor": "r-c20e3eb", "service": "r", "text": "→ It actually barely uses the google maps api: it's just a google map with an image overlay precalculated.\n", "timestamp": 1308366505}, {"author": "Mainestate", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20e5qy", "anchor": "r-c20e5qy", "service": "r", "text": "Isn't Brookline like..super expensive?\n", "timestamp": 1308367320}, {"author": "TBBStBO", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20enxh", "anchor": "r-c20enxh", "service": "r", "text": "If you overlay this map with a similar one for multi-family house prices, you can find out where you should be buying rental property. \n", "timestamp": 1308373683}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20ftxv", "anchor": "r-c20ftxv", "service": "r", "text": "→ Maybe I should make one for the ratio of multi-family house prices to apartment prices (probably all per bedroom).\n", "timestamp": 1308397245}, {"author": "MyNameIsBruce2", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20etyr", "anchor": "r-c20etyr", "service": "r", "text": "That's really cool. Thanks for sharing! I was pretty sure I was paying less than other people in my neighborhood, and now I know I'm definitely paying less. Of course, it's still way overpriced for the condition of the place...\n", "timestamp": 1308375948}, {"author": "makmanalp", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20fq4u", "anchor": "r-c20fq4u", "service": "r", "text": "Do you use something like this?\n\n
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse_distance_weighting#Shepard.27s_method\n", "timestamp": 1308393999}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20ftzw", "anchor": "r-c20ftzw", "service": "r", "text": "→ If I understand the notation correctly, yes. With p=1.\n", "timestamp": 1308397306}, {"author": "Mark4483", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20g2ea", "anchor": "r-c20g2ea", "service": "r", "text": "Really cool idea! \n\n
You can try doing a two pass Barnes interpolation.\n", "timestamp": 1308403160}, {"author": "cbr", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20hrvk", "anchor": "r-c20hrvk", "service": "r", "text": "→ that looks scary\n", "timestamp": 1308426085}, {"author": "edstatue", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c20gcym", "anchor": "r-c20gcym", "service": "r", "text": "Pretty accurate-- you can live in Logan for free. \n", "timestamp": 1308408319}, {"author": "Becky", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150205169326213", "anchor": "fb-10150205169326213", "service": "fb", "text": "Cool! It would be fascinating to see other US cities, for comparison.", "timestamp": "1308690134"}, {"author": "Mel", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150205287996213", "anchor": "fb-10150205287996213", "service": "fb", "text": "Note to self: Make more money before moving to Boston.", "timestamp": "1308701557"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150205288811213", "anchor": "fb-10150205288811213", "service": "fb", "text": "@Mel: to counterbalance, many jobs pay better in boston", "timestamp": "1308701656"}, {"author": "Mel", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150205291031213", "anchor": "fb-10150205291031213", "service": "fb", "text": "It's true. I am hoping to stay with my company - I like them a lot and have career options. We'll see!", "timestamp": "1308701915"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150206593656213", "anchor": "fb-10150206593656213", "service": "fb", "text": "Does padmapper have an API, or a data dump you're using? I didn't see anything like that, but I didn't look really hard...", "timestamp": "1308863347"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150206594396213", "anchor": "fb-10150206594396213", "service": "fb", "text": "@David: I was kind of sneaky and used their json-returning callback. Nothing publicly documented.", "timestamp": "1308863426"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150206595416213", "anchor": "fb-10150206595416213", "service": "fb", "text": "Oh, cool.", "timestamp": "1308863539"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150206596981213", "anchor": "fb-10150206596981213", "service": "fb", "text": "Still trying to understand, I guess-- am I rght that that's the data that they have to give my browser in order for me to get Google Maps to render the map they want me to see? (And you're just borrowing that along the way?)", "timestamp": "1308863722"}, {"author": "Taviy", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150206609431213", "anchor": "fb-10150206609431213", "service": "fb", "text": "you have no idea how useful this is for me at this moment!", "timestamp": "1308865000"}, {"author": "Taviy", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150206610901213", "anchor": "fb-10150206610901213", "service": "fb", "text": "here's a question: is there a way to overlay MBTA maps against the price data map to find the pockets with best price:transportation-convenience ratio?", "timestamp": "1308865164"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150206711521213", "anchor": "fb-10150206711521213", "service": "fb", "text": "Right. When you change your limiting parameters, it makes new queries", "timestamp": "1308876353"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150206711666213", "anchor": "fb-10150206711666213", "service": "fb", "text": "So I make similar queries: https://github.com/.../apa.../blob/master/query_padmapper.py", "timestamp": "1308876378"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150206714881213", "anchor": "fb-10150206714881213", "service": "fb", "text": "@Tavi: maybe you'd like a different map I made: http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/.../boston_transit_quality...", "timestamp": "1308876874"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150206774496213", "anchor": "fb-10150206774496213", "service": "fb", "text": "Cool. And you figured out how their queries work by... reading the javascript in their source?", "timestamp": "1308885130"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150206779216213", "anchor": "fb-10150206779216213", "service": "fb", "text": "Also, thanks! It's fun looking at your code and being able to understand it a little... I've been trying to learn about some programming-related things a little more recently than previously. David G. recently pointed me to Django for writing a website... which has been fun, but frustrating too (since I don't really know what I'm doing at all).", "timestamp": "1308885779"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150214056556213", "anchor": "fb-10150214056556213", "service": "fb", "text": "I figured the queries out by looking at the \"net\" tab in the firefox firebug extension and seeing what request it made when I changed requirements.", "timestamp": "1308917002"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150214057156213", "anchor": "fb-10150214057156213", "service": "fb", "text": "Learning programming is a good idea.", "timestamp": "1308917114"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150214068151213", "anchor": "fb-10150214068151213", "service": "fb", "text": "Oh, I see. Yeah.", "timestamp": "1308918662"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150214068476213", "anchor": "fb-10150214068476213", "service": "fb", "text": "I kind of program for my job -- but not in any way that involves learning programming.", "timestamp": "1308918717"}, {"author": "Patrick", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150214169681213", "anchor": "fb-10150214169681213", "service": "fb", "text": "cool stuff jeff. i love this sort of thing. its been a long time since we used to run wild with the kaufman's, but its good to see your doing damn well.", "timestamp": "1308931295"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150214170961213", "anchor": "fb-10150214170961213", "service": "fb", "text": "@Patrick: fb says you're in costa rica?", "timestamp": "1308931437"}, {"author": "Patrick", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150214171536213", "anchor": "fb-10150214171536213", "service": "fb", "text": "ahhh....no longer, i'm back home now. i was in costa rica from august-late december", "timestamp": "1308931506"}, {"author": "David", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150214186166213", "anchor": "fb-10150214186166213", "service": "fb", "text": "Any chance of getting this map expanded to the suburbs and exurbs of Boston? Or do I have to write that code myself?", "timestamp": "1308933200"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150214225541213", "anchor": "fb-10150214225541213", "service": "fb", "text": "The code is on github: https://github.com/jeffkaufman/apartment_prices , but I intend to do more with it.", "timestamp": "1308937313"}, {"author": "Molly", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150214289321213", "anchor": "fb-10150214289321213", "service": "fb", "text": "Wow Jeff! This is really cool, esp. if I ever intend to move to Boston! I agree with Tavi's query about overlaying the Boston transit quality map with this one.", "timestamp": "1308944390"}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1309741046"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150220903246213", "anchor": "fb-10150220903246213", "service": "fb", "text": "@Henry: weird; in my ff5 (on OSX 10.6) I see the color in the key. What OS are you on?", "timestamp": "1309787810"}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1309813606"}, {"author": "yourstupid2", "source_link": "http://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/i2dik#c278ha5", "anchor": "r-c278ha5", "service": "r", "text": "wow this is awesome thanks\n", "timestamp": 1311331973}, {"author": "Anne", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/notes/jeff-kaufman/boston-apartment-prices-map/10150202565196213/?comment_id=10150886015636213", "anchor": "fb-10150886015636213", "service": "fb", "text": "Nice work. As a landlord, I have one observation: the prices listed are accurate in terms of neighborhood-to-neighborhood deltas, but are far below average in general. I think this is caused by the source of your data--Craigslist apartment listings are often for shares, and the really nice apartments in Boston aren't usually shared by roommates. Maybe something to correct for?", "timestamp": "1341871147"}]}