Methodology · data honesty

Where the
conclusions come from

MAKE IT HERE never presents an AI guess as an established fact. Every figure in the product carries one of four labels.

Source reported by a data providerCalc derived by MAKE IT HERE from source dataAI a model's reading of the data, not a factMock

Opportunity Score · model v0.1

Eleven factors, one number

For a business category at a location, each factor is normalized to 0–1 from the data within the category's market radius, multiplied by its weight, and summed to a 0–100 score. Category-specific weights override these defaults (a hotel weighs visitor demand more; a coffee shop weighs morning traffic and complementary businesses more). The full factor table is shown wherever a score appears.

Factor	Default weight
Population in market radius	12
Population growth	12
Household income	10
Traffic exposure	12
Competitive headroom	18
Complementary businesses	12
Residential density	8
Daytime / employment density	5
Visitor demand	3
Nearby institutions	3
Development pipeline	5
Household spending power	7
Migration into the county	4
Industry momentum	5

Competitive headroom compares existing competitors in radius to the number the population could support (residents ÷ typical residents per unit, calibrated from comparable-city benchmarks). Distances use great-circle math on point coordinates.

Cluster gaps

Pieces present, pieces missing

Cluster archetypes (Neighborhood Social Hub, Family Activity, Wellness, …) are defined as sets of category components observed recurring in successful districts of comparable cities. For each Lancaster district we count which components already exist and report completeness and the missing pieces. Archetype definitions are analyst-curated and labelled AI/interpretation; the counts are calculated.

Comparable cities & districts

Then → now

Cities are matched on metro population, growth, geography, income, tourism, regional role, highway connectivity, airport access, college presence, healthcare employment and housing pattern. District matches pair a comparable district's earlier state with a Lancaster district today; the sequence of what happened next is presented as evidence, and the "lessons" are labelled interpretation.

Ask MAKE IT HERE

Grounded answers

The assistant receives a compact digest of the loaded city dataset — districts, counts, traffic, pipeline, scores, comparables — and is instructed to answer from it, to flag placeholder data, and to mark its own reads explicitly. Its output is always labelled AI.

Data source registry

Providers, connected and planned

The platform is built so any provider can be added or replaced. Every dataset records source, date, geographic level, confidence and last-updated. Current status for the Lancaster pilot:

Source15 entries

OpenStreetMap business & institution inventory
OpenStreetMap contributors · point · 2026-09-11 · confidence: medium
Connected
Named businesses and institutions inside Lancaster city limits, categorized into the platform taxonomy.
County Business Patterns
U.S. Census Bureau · county · 2022 (compared with 2019) · confidence: high
Connected
Establishments, employment and payroll by industry sector, with change since 2019.
Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates
U.S. Census Bureau · county · 2023 · confidence: high
Connected
Model-based county poverty rate and median household income, updated annually.
Building Permits Survey (annual, place level)
U.S. Census Bureau · place · 2025 · confidence: high
Connected
Residential units and construction value permitted in the City of Lancaster each year.
American Community Survey 5-year
U.S. Census Bureau · census tract · 2019–2023 5-year (and 2014–2018 for growth) · confidence: high
Connected
Population, households, income, age, employment and housing units by tract, aggregated to districts.
Curated development pipeline
MAKE IT HERE analysts · point · 2026 · confidence: medium
Connected
Named Lancaster projects compiled from local reporting, each row carrying its own citation.
Lancaster County authoritative zoning map
Lancaster County GIS · zoning district · Zoning map updated 07/09/96 · confidence: high
Connected
Municipal zoning district polygons for every Lancaster County municipality, published as an authoritative feature service.
Census Planning Database
U.S. Census Bureau · tract · 2023 release (ACS 2017–2021) · confidence: high
Connected
Prepackaged tract-level demographic and housing measures: poverty, education, vacancy, renters, age mix.
ACS Public Use Microdata Sample
U.S. Census Bureau · puma · 2019–2023 5-year microdata · confidence: medium
Connected
Anonymised household records for the Lancaster PUMAs, used to profile income and life-stage segments.
Annual Business Survey (successor to the Survey of Business Owners)
U.S. Census Bureau · county · 2022 · confidence: high
Connected
Employer firm counts, revenue, payroll, owner demographics and years in business for Lancaster County.
Comparable city profiles (ACS)
U.S. Census Bureau · place / metro · 2023 ACS 5-year · confidence: high
Connected
Population, income, age and growth for each comparable city and its metro.
Comparable district business mix
OpenStreetMap contributors · district · 2026-09-11 · confidence: medium
Connected
Today's business mix inside each comparable district radius, categorized like Lancaster.
Lancaster City zoning ordinance use tables
City of Lancaster · zoning district · 2026 reading · confidence: medium
Connected
Permitted, special-exception and prohibited uses by zoning district, read from the City of Lancaster zoning ordinance and mapped onto the app business categories.
County-to-County Migration Flows
U.S. Census Bureau · county · 2018–2022 5-year flows · confidence: high
Connected
Annual county-to-county migration flows: who moves into and out of Lancaster County, and from where.
PennDOT Roadway Management System open data
Pennsylvania DOT · segment / node · 2026 · confidence: high
Connected
Current annual average daily traffic on state-maintained roads plus intersection nodes.

Calc2 entries

Category benchmark model
MAKE IT HERE · city · 2026-09-11 · confidence: medium
Connected
Businesses per 10,000 residents for Lancaster and the median of its comparable cities.
Opportunity Score v0.1
MAKE IT HERE · district · 2026-09-11 · confidence: medium
Connected
Eleven weighted factors scored per district and category from the connected feeds.

AI2 entries