MapCraft Labs
MapCraft Labs is a modern multi-user web app which allows you to view and edit scenario inputs and quickly compute results. Processes that were traditionally focused on creating a few representative spreadsheets - like pro forma real estate analyses - may now be run city-wide and aggregated to view disparate spatial impacts. Scenarios can be tested in real time, results can be shared with stakeholders, and feedback can be gathered, all in the same tool.
Spreadsheet meet map
MapCraft Labs is hybrid spreadsheet and map. Copy and paste data to and from Excel. Use "paint" tools to modify each shape's attributes on the map. Calculations occur on the fly and visual outputs adjust accordingly.
Collaborative multi-user Environment
MapCraft Labs is a collaborative multi-user environment. Edits are synchronized instantly and can be shared between users. Editing, administrator, and viewer permissions can be assigned to individual users, or the lab can be put in "public" mode for anonymous sharing. Change logs trace modifications to individual users.
Scenario comparison
Policy scenarios can be compared side-by-side either as maps or as charts. Quickly toggle between different scenarios to evaluate results and make informed decisions.
Gather feedback
Users can offer comments in the tool. Comments can be made on a particular shape, an output, or an entire scenario. Responses appear instantly on the Lab like a real-time chat. Lab administrators can review, download, and respond to comments. Use feedback to make public process more transparent and democratic.
Test Drive a MapCraft Lab
Click on the image to test drive a Lab that evaluates housing development across the Puget Sound region.
This Lab is configured to calculate the submarket feasibility of developing projects of different scales when subject to inclusionary housing requirements for affordable housing production.
Users can modify market and policy inputs. Results update on the fly. The maps help explain how policies may play out in practice.
Give it a try!
Labs Configured to Your Context
Define the analytics
Tell us more about the analytics you typically use or work with our strategic partners at ECONorthwest to create robust analyses specific to your needs. Labs often start as spreadsheet files containing computations specific to your circumstances. For example, real estate professionals often use spreadsheets to evaluate investment opportunities.
Convert to a Lab
We'll produce the analytics you need and configure a Lab. Alternatively, you can send us your spreadsheet and we will quickly apply your analytics to a set of geographies in the Labs environment.
Take the show on the road
When the Lab is up and running, you are ready to utilize a collaborative, map-based environment to test scenarios and instantly visualize results. Share it with your internal team, decision makers, and the public. Or, use the robust spatial computations to develop insights that are all your own.
Get Answers to Your Urban Policy Questions
Gentrification and displacement
Evaluate the factors that influence gentrification and displacement to understand spatial implications for affordability and equity.
Affordable housing
Calibrate policies like inclusionary housing and density bonus programs that rely on market forces to deliver affordable housing.
transit-oriented development
Consider region-wide and corridor-wide TOD potential of transit investment alternatives. Equitable TOD analyses integrate gentrification, displacement, and housing assessments in one tool.
Regional transportation Planning
Model potential land use impacts of regional transportation investments and visualize scenarios for policymakers.
School performance
Evaluate schools based on multi-criteria evaluation metrics and adjust criteria weights on the fly to better understand how individual school performance compares across a district, region, or state.
Urban growth potential
Simulate development potential parcel by parcel to understand growth capacity within jurisdictions or within regoinal urban growth boundaries.
Fiscal Impacts
Evaluate the fiscal impacts of future growth, especially the spatial distribution of generation and expenditures.
Geographic Equity
Compare the spatial distribution of costs and benefits of potential land use policies, economic development initiatives, and other public investments.
District Funding and Financing
Assess the public funding and bonding capacity of real estate-based tools like tax increment financing, local assessment districts, and development exactions.
Used by Diverse Clients
Private-sector users remain undisclosed
MapCraft has entered into a strategic partnership with ECONorthwest to configure and deliver MapCraft's signature product, the Labs App, to ECO's clients in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
Built on Experience
MapCraft's founders were inspired to produce our web applications following decades of work in urban planning consulting, real estate investment, and software development
Ian Carlton is a social entrepreneur and educator who helps people shape their cities in sustainable ways
Fletcher Foti is a conscientious coder whose projects seek to clearly communicate how our cities work
Contact Us
We look forward to hearing from you
We are located in Oakland and Portland
Please fill out the critical information below and we'll get back to you ASAP for a more detailed conversation