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Questioning the sampling methodology is fine... but why would you expect the percentage (83%) to be higher on ApartmentList than, say, Craigslist? As long as w

Questioning the sampling methodology is fine... but why would you expect the percentage (83%) to be higher on ApartmentList than, say, Craigslist? As long as we're sharing anecdata... 83% sounds about right based on my friend cohort.

nostrademons 9y ago
Craigslist is organized primarily by neighborhood: if you go to sfbay.craigslist.com and visit apts/housing, the first level filter is by region (east bay, north bay, SF, peninsula, etc), and then before you even get to the type of housing, the next-level filter is by neighborhood (Mission, Potrero, Sunset, etc.) These regional filters are virtually useless for someone moving out of state; if I go to portland.craigslist.com and the top-level filters are clark/clackamas/multnomah/etc, I have no idea what these even mean. Even getting to another metro area's Craigslist is a challenge; if I hit www.craigslist.com, it defaults to sfbay.craigslist.com, and to go elsewhere requires finding the tiny "other US cities" link on the front page (the default is "Nearby", which gives other California cities) and selecting a metro area. All this facilitates within-region moves at the expense of between-region moves. If I go to ApartmentList.com, it defaults to San Francisco, but right underneath the three local metro areas (ironically, it doesn't have San Jose, where I am) are glossy photographs of Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Chicago, and 12 other metro areas. And if I click on one of them, the first filters that come up are by price, size, and amenities. Everything is located on a map, and I don't need to know anything about local neighborhoods. ApartmentList is clearly using "people who are looking to move between cities" as their market segmentation and features for them as a differentiator, which is great, but also means that their data is suspect if generalized to the population as a whole. (As for anecdata; I'd say that among my friends and acquaintances close enough to keep tabs on their life, maybe 50% are looking to move out of the Bay Area at some point, including myself & my wife. But only three - out of a sample size of several dozen, perhaps close to a hundred - have actually done it, and two of those moved back to their hometown to be close to family when kids arrived. Moving cities is a big commitment; people dream of it, but few do it.)

nostrademons 9y ago

Craigslist is organized primarily by neighborhood: if you go to sfbay.craigslist.com and visit apts/housing, the first level filter is by region (east bay, north bay, SF, peninsula, etc), and then before you even get to the type of housing, the next-level filter is by neighborhood (Mission, Potrero, Sunset, etc.) These regional filters are virtually useless for someone moving out of state; if I go to portland.craigslist.com and the top-level filters are clark/clackamas/multnomah/etc, I have no idea what these even mean. Even getting to another metro area's Craigslist is a challenge; if I hit www.craigslist.com, it defaults to sfbay.craigslist.com, and to go elsewhere requires finding the tiny "other US cities" link on the front page (the default is "Nearby", which gives other California cities) and selecting a metro area. All this facilitates within-region moves at the expense of between-region moves. If I go to ApartmentList.com, it defaults to San Francisco, but right underneath the three local metro areas (ironically, it doesn't have San Jose, where I am) are glossy photographs of Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Chicago, and 12 other metro areas. And if I click on one of them, the first filters that come up are by price, size, and amenities. Everything is located on a map, and I don't need to know anything about local neighborhoods. ApartmentList is clearly using "people who are looking to move between cities" as their market segmentation and features for them as a differentiator, which is great, but also means that their data is suspect if generalized to the population as a whole. (As for anecdata; I'd say that among my friends and acquaintances close enough to keep tabs on their life, maybe 50% are looking to move out of the Bay Area at some point, including myself & my wife. But only three - out of a sample size of several dozen, perhaps close to a hundred - have actually done it, and two of those moved back to their hometown to be close to family when kids arrived. Moving cities is a big commitment; people dream of it, but few do it.)