Municipal Planner
“Which sites can take new housing, and what’s holding the rest back?”
- Compare and rank parcels
- Zoning, environmental, infrastructure and policy flags
- Filtered export for staff reports
Pittsburgh & Allegheny County
See what it takes
to build.
On any lot in Allegheny County.
Zoning, slope, old mines, flood risk and cost,
with a source behind every number.
Explore what’s possible AI-generated regional imagery
Four seats, one set of facts.
Each seat opens its own workspace, built on the same parcels, the same score and the same sources.
Small & Mid-Size Developer
“What can I build on this lot, and does it pencil?”
- Ease Score with a receipt for every factor
- What fits by right and with approval
- Pro forma and full feasibility study
Housing Nonprofit / CDC
“Can we build homes families can afford here, and what’s the gap?”
- Rents set to income targets
- Funding gap and likely funding sources
- How to acquire public land
Policy Analyst
“If we change this rule, how many homes does it unlock, and at what cost?”
- Test zoning rules and incentives
- Homes unlocked, mapped by neighborhood
- Fiscal effect by taxing body
A clearer view of the lot
One lot. One page.
Every number sourced.
Each parcel opens to a short, visual summary. The full feasibility study is one click away when you need the detail.
The score shows the barriers,
not whether to buy.
Seven factors, each with a bar. Tap the receipt beside any bar to see the records and rules behind it, with dates.
Problems are named,
not averaged away.
Landslide areas, old mines and flood zones lower the score and appear as their own callouts, with the code sections that apply.
The summary is written
from the numbers.
Two sentences on what the lot allows today and what could be possible with approval. Every figure in them comes from the calculation, never from guesswork.
The feasibility study is
ready to share.
Site, zoning, process, market, costs, returns and risks in one cited document you can print or save as a PDF.
EaseScore.AIIllustrative example
Regional illustration · Not a photo of this lotParcel overview
Example hillside lot
Illustrative parcel, residential zoning
54Significant barriers
Review requiredIllustrative landslide-overlay flag. Geotechnical review needs confirmation.
The example assumes one single-family home by right and a stepped foundation for the steep slope. A duplex would require a separate zoning review.
Open the feasibility studyExample layout. All parcel values, zoning and risk statements are illustrative and unverified.
A receipt behind every number. Try a factor above.
Evidence you can follow
Built on public records
you can check.
Missing data is shown as missing. The date on every source is listed in each report.
Explore data & methods01
Allegheny County
Parcels, assessments and sales
02
City of Pittsburgh
Zoning map, zoning code and permits
03
USGS
1-meter lidar for slope and terrain
04
FEMA
Flood hazard maps
05
PA DEP
Mine and environmental records
06
HUD and Census
Income limits, rents and housing data
A little clarity
Questions
before you start.
What is EaseScore?
A free tool that shows what it takes to build housing on a lot in Allegheny County. Type an address or parcel ID and you get the lot’s zoning, slope, hazards, approvals and an estimated budget in one place, with a source behind every number. There is no account or sign-in.
What does the Ease Score measure?
How many barriers stand between a lot and new housing: zoning, terrain, hazards, access, approvals, the lot itself and nearby market activity. It reads Few, Some, Significant or Major barriers. It measures barriers to building, not whether it’s a good investment; money is kept separate, in the pro forma.
What happens when data is missing?
EaseScore says so instead of guessing. Missing values stay missing, never filled with a zero or a favorable assumption. Zoning rules are loaded for the City of Pittsburgh only; elsewhere, and where the building on a lot can’t be verified, the lot shows a Partial screen with no score and only the facts we have.
Where does the data come from, and how current is it?
Public records: Allegheny County parcels, assessments and sales; City of Pittsburgh zoning, permits and hazard maps; USGS elevation data; FEMA flood maps; Pennsylvania DEP mine and environmental records; HUD rents and income limits; Census data; and ZIP-level asking rents from RentCast, with HUD Fair Market Rents as the fallback. Receipts and reports show each source and its date.
Where do construction costs come from?
Published Pittsburgh builder price ranges by build quality, with the builder’s fee removed using NAHB’s 2024 cost survey, so the figure is the cost to build. The default is Standard infill at $190 per square foot. The construction loan uses the latest bank prime rate in our data plus 1.0 point. Every line shows its source and can be edited.
Why do so many lots not pencil?
In many Pittsburgh neighborhoods, building a new home costs more than new homes sell for. That is the market, not a bug. A lot pencils when the estimate meets the 15% target margin (editable), and a margin from zero up to the target is a thin margin. Where a lot doesn’t pencil, EaseScore shows how large the gap is.
What if the City disagrees with EaseScore?
The City’s decision always governs. Zoning results cite the section of the code they rely on, so staff and applicants can see what was applied. EaseScore is decision support only, not legal, zoning or financial advice.
What does AI do here, and what doesn’t it do?
AI (Claude) only rewords the plain-language answers and the short summary from results the code already calculated; search, scoring and every number are ordinary code. It never calculates a score, cost, rent, tax or return. A validator checks every number in an AI-written sentence against the calculation; if one doesn’t match, the standard sentence is shown instead.
Who could this hurt, and what does it get wrong?
It could be misused to target owners in financial trouble, so private owners’ names are never shown and tax-delinquency status is shown only for publicly owned land. Estimates can be wrong, so they come as ranges with sources and are not advice. Read the limitations.
From possibility to a plan
Start with one lot.
No account needed. A clearer starting point.