Free starter · for anyone planning a relocation
Free Neighborhood Starter Scorecard
Compare two neighborhoods side by side and get one weighted score for each. Set a weight for each of the six rows — housing cost, schools & childcare, commute burden, safety, proximity to family & friends, and community — then rate both places 1 to 5, and the scorecard returns a comparable score apiece: the particular commute, the particular schools and the particular people you would be moving away from, rather than a ranking built on somebody else’s priorities. It opens on a worked example built from two invented places, Alder Gate and Kestrel Row, so you can watch the method run before you type over it with your own — and if the two scores land under 0.10 apart it names no winner and says why.
Take it with you — free, no signup
Direct download. No email, no account — just the files.
What it does
- Compares two neighborhoods on six criteria: housing cost, schools & childcare, commute burden, safety & feel of the streets, proximity to family & friends, and community & things to do.
- Runs the comparison in three steps — weight each of the six rows by how much it matters to your household, rate both places 1 to 5, then read the weighted score each place earns.
- Computes as you type: it totals the weights, divides by the total weight of the rows you rated, ranks the two places and writes a one-line verdict. Double every weight and the ranking does not move — only the ratio between rows moves the score.
- Opens pre-filled on a worked example where the place that wins the commute and the proximity-to-family rows still loses overall, because the rows it loses carry more weight between them.
- Refuses to name a winner when the two scores are under 0.10 apart — the rank cells go to a dash and the verdict line says to go change the weight you are least sure of instead.
- Ships as a spreadsheet — Excel or LibreOffice, or imported into Google Sheets, nothing locked — and as a printable comparison grid you fill in by hand on a visit.
- Publishes no rents, tax rates, school ratings or crime figures of its own. The places and the figures in the example are invented; the numbers you score are yours to find and check.
Related reading
- What is Weighted Decision Scoring?
- What is a Decision Matrix?
- Decision Matrix vs Pro/Con List
- Spreadsheet vs Decision-Making App
- The 10-Minute Moving Budget What to set aside once the neighborhood is chosen and the move is real.
Own it, don't rent it
Moving with other people, or weighing more than two places?
This free scorecard holds two places, six rows and one shared set of weights. The full Neighborhood & Relocation Decision Helper holds twelve candidate places, staying exactly where you are included, and sixteen criteria with four left blank for whatever your household cares about that nobody else does. Up to four household members each get their own weight column, blended by an influence share you set, with each member's own ranking shown beside the household's and the rows they most disagree on named. The commute is computed rather than rated — annual miles, annual out-of-pocket cost and annual hours in transit per commuter per place, those hours priced at what an hour of your time is worth. A relocation break-even reports the months the move takes to pay itself back. Up to five must-haves run as a knockout screen before any score exists, every researched figure carries where it came from and when it was checked, and the results tab says how far a single weight would have to move before the answer changes. Eleven tabs in one owned workbook (Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice), plus four guides — one of them a printable visit field kit.
Twelve places, sixteen criteria, a weight column for each of up to four household members, and a commute priced in real dollars and hours. A one-time purchase you keep and rerun in three years when the shortlist changes.
A decision aid, not financial, tax, real-estate or legal advice. A weighted score is a tool for thinking, not a verdict. The example places and every figure in them are invented. Free to use and to pass on; please don't resell or redistribute.