4 ms·

Show HN: WhyThere.life – Compare cities side-by-side to decide where to move

18 points by daversa 6mo ago

We posted a couple of months ago and you all seemed to like what we're putting together. Since then we've added a lot! -Editorial articles -Explore cities by filter -Saved & Grouped comparisons -Many more data points and higher quality data

daversa 6mo ago
Looks like we're getting the hug of death! We're trying to rectify things on our end.
- daversa 6mo ago
  I think we're back (fingers crossed).
hyperhello 6mo ago
Whatever color you pick, put the color around the city so your eyes don't have to jump around.
- daversa 6mo ago
  Totally agree, we had that and I think it may have been stomped on by making the city titles clickable through to the city pages. Thanks for the heads-up!
dailoxxxx 6mo ago
[flagged]
mvdwoord 6mo ago
Not sure where you are sourcing your data from but Munich is definitely not at 0 ft elevation.
- daversa 6mo ago
  We were getting slammed pretty hard and some of our db sources had to resort to fallbacks. If you visit the city page individually, this should update for you https://whythere.life/city/munich-upper-bavaria-germany https://whythere.life/city/munich-upper-bavaria-germany
  - fleahunter 6mo ago
    [dead]
quenzo 6mo ago
I'd like something more community-driven. It seems too business-driven for my liking... With agents that can sponsor cities and I, as user, cannot provide any feedback. Also, the weather diagrams are a bit too detailed. I'd favour something more easy to glance through.
- daversa 6mo ago
  We would like to add more community focused elements but that introduces a massive layer of moderation whereas the current model is intended to "just show the data" and let people decide what it means to them. We are playing around with the idea of designated "concierges" for a city or region.
  - quenzo 6mo ago
    Cool! Even though just the chance to 'like' or 'favourite' certain locations wouldn't need any moderation...
    - daversa 6mo ago
      Right now you can save a comparison, but we definitely plan to add "favorite" cities down the line, potentially as part of a paid account. We also want to develop the relocation aspect of the site more. You can see a rough outline of what we're planning here: https://whythere.life/move-pack https://whythere.life/move-pack. This way you could feed a favorite city into an actual move. Eventually we want the move portion give you all the info you need for a move and even connect you with a local concierge to be your point of contact.
alexovch 6mo ago
Interesting idea. Comparing cities is usually scattered across a bunch of sites. What data sources are you using for things like cost of living and quality of life?
- daversa 6mo ago
  There's a sources link below the comparison table that will give you all of that detail. Admittedly the U.S. has much better coverage right now, but we're always working to improve internationally.
calebelac 6mo ago
This is a cool idea, great work.
- daversa 6mo ago
  Thanks!
daversa 6mo ago
I should mention, this is just my side project. If anyone is hiring for Senior/Lead/Staff Designer positions, I'm looking for work!
indiegoing 6mo ago
If I may add a few comments: - The idea is awesome, I myself lived in 4 countries (and different regions) within the last 6 years, and such tool would be handy for me. - As a frequent nomad I look at the economic and social factors rather than climate and culture to which I am flexible. Rainfall and snowfall rates give me no information on climate, however knowing that it rains in Israel only in winter time draws a different picture for me. And Google search gives quite lower numbers on Moscow average humidity 60% vs 76%. Adding Celcius (as you did with cm in rainfall) would be good. I am Euriopean and Forenheit confuse me. - I think in cities comparison comfort score is the lead "index" but it needs to show the criterias included in this index. - It would be cool if every city would have a short summary on climate, as it would give much more of an idea of the city comfort. Hope this helps.
- daversa 6mo ago
  Thanks, these are all good suggestions and thoughts! We do have a switch for Celsius already by the monthly temp graph. This will switch everything in the comparison table to metric first too.
wunderlotus 6mo ago
This is a cool tool overall. I wish the city names were sticky upon scroll when comparing. I kept scrolling up to remember which city was on the left or right. Also, the data sources cite mostly US info but I followed the flow and ended up at Munich vs Barcelona. Not sure where that data is coming from and if it's accurate.

18 points by daversa 6mo ago

daversa 6mo ago

Looks like we're getting the hug of death! We're trying to rectify things on our end.

daversa 6mo ago
I think we're back (fingers crossed).

hyperhello 6mo ago

Whatever color you pick, put the color around the city so your eyes don't have to jump around.

daversa 6mo ago
Totally agree, we had that and I think it may have been stomped on by making the city titles clickable through to the city pages. Thanks for the heads-up!

dailoxxxx 6mo ago

[flagged]

mvdwoord 6mo ago

Not sure where you are sourcing your data from but Munich is definitely not at 0 ft elevation.

daversa 6mo ago
We were getting slammed pretty hard and some of our db sources had to resort to fallbacks. If you visit the city page individually, this should update for you https://whythere.life/city/munich-upper-bavaria-germany https://whythere.life/city/munich-upper-bavaria-germany
- fleahunter 6mo ago
  [dead]

quenzo 6mo ago

I'd like something more community-driven. It seems too business-driven for my liking... With agents that can sponsor cities and I, as user, cannot provide any feedback. Also, the weather diagrams are a bit too detailed. I'd favour something more easy to glance through.

daversa 6mo ago
We would like to add more community focused elements but that introduces a massive layer of moderation whereas the current model is intended to "just show the data" and let people decide what it means to them. We are playing around with the idea of designated "concierges" for a city or region.
- quenzo 6mo ago
  Cool! Even though just the chance to 'like' or 'favourite' certain locations wouldn't need any moderation...
  - daversa 6mo ago
    Right now you can save a comparison, but we definitely plan to add "favorite" cities down the line, potentially as part of a paid account. We also want to develop the relocation aspect of the site more. You can see a rough outline of what we're planning here: https://whythere.life/move-pack https://whythere.life/move-pack. This way you could feed a favorite city into an actual move. Eventually we want the move portion give you all the info you need for a move and even connect you with a local concierge to be your point of contact.

alexovch 6mo ago

Interesting idea. Comparing cities is usually scattered across a bunch of sites. What data sources are you using for things like cost of living and quality of life?

daversa 6mo ago
There's a sources link below the comparison table that will give you all of that detail. Admittedly the U.S. has much better coverage right now, but we're always working to improve internationally.

calebelac 6mo ago

This is a cool idea, great work.

daversa 6mo ago
Thanks!

daversa 6mo ago

I should mention, this is just my side project. If anyone is hiring for Senior/Lead/Staff Designer positions, I'm looking for work!

indiegoing 6mo ago

If I may add a few comments: - The idea is awesome, I myself lived in 4 countries (and different regions) within the last 6 years, and such tool would be handy for me. - As a frequent nomad I look at the economic and social factors rather than climate and culture to which I am flexible. Rainfall and snowfall rates give me no information on climate, however knowing that it rains in Israel only in winter time draws a different picture for me. And Google search gives quite lower numbers on Moscow average humidity 60% vs 76%. Adding Celcius (as you did with cm in rainfall) would be good. I am Euriopean and Forenheit confuse me. - I think in cities comparison comfort score is the lead "index" but it needs to show the criterias included in this index. - It would be cool if every city would have a short summary on climate, as it would give much more of an idea of the city comfort. Hope this helps.

daversa 6mo ago
Thanks, these are all good suggestions and thoughts! We do have a switch for Celsius already by the monthly temp graph. This will switch everything in the comparison table to metric first too.

wunderlotus 6mo ago

This is a cool tool overall. I wish the city names were sticky upon scroll when comparing. I kept scrolling up to remember which city was on the left or right. Also, the data sources cite mostly US info but I followed the flow and ended up at Munich vs Barcelona. Not sure where that data is coming from and if it's accurate.