Finding a home is about more than square footage and bedroom counts. It is about the neighborhood, the commute, the vibe. UrbanLiving wanted a search engine that felt human.
Map-Based Exploration
We abandoned the traditional list view in favor of a map-first approach. Users can sketch a shape on the map—say, a specific school district or a 10-minute walk from a subway station—and see only the homes inside that shape. This required heavy usage of Elasticsearch's geo-spatial querying capabilities, but the result feels effortless to the user.
Context is King
For each listing, we pull in data layers that matter:
- Noise Levels: Is it near a busy highway?
- Sunlight Analysis: Does the living room get afternoon sun?
- Internet Speed: Is fiber available at this address?
