Deciphering the Crane Index: A Deep Dive into Ithaca’s New Housing Dashboard
- Allen Williams
- 3 minutes ago
- 3 min read
If you’ve walked through Collegetown, the Commons, or down South Hill anytime in the last five years, you’ve probably asked the same question that dominates every local dinner party: “What are they building there?”
Until this month, finding the answer required the patience of a saint. You had to dig through PDF agendas from Planning Board meetings, decipher rumors on Reddit, or wait for the steel beams to actually go up.
But as of January 2026, the City of Ithaca has handed us a new tool to cut through the noise.
It’s called the Housing Development Dashboard, and for the first time, the city’s housing data isn't locked in a spreadsheet in City Hall—it’s on an interactive map for all of us to see. We took a deep dive into the new platform to figure out how it works, what it tells us, and how you can use it to fact-check the rumors about our city’s skyline.
What Is It?
Launched by the City’s Planning & Development Department, this dashboard is a "Pilot" program designed to track exactly what housing exists now and what is coming down the pipeline.
According to City Planner Sam Quinn-Jacobs, the creator behind the project, the goal is transparency. Instead of guessing whether a new building is "luxury condos" or "affordable housing," the dashboard pulls the raw data so you can see the breakdown yourself.
How to Use It
The Link: You can find the dashboard via the City of Ithaca Planning Division website. (Note: It’s a data-heavy tool hosted on PowerBI, so we highly recommend opening this on a desktop or laptop, not your phone.)
Once you’re in, you’ll see navigation tabs at the bottom. Here is your cheat sheet for the three most important ones:
1. The "Pipeline" Tab (The Crystal Ball)
This is the feature everyone will be talking about. It visualizes development projects in three stages:
Proposed: Projects that are just ideas on paper. They haven’t been approved yet.
Approved: The city has said "yes," but shovels aren't necessarily in the ground.
Under Construction: The active sites you see driving around town.
Pro Tip: Use the map view to zoom into your specific neighborhood. You can instantly see if that empty lot down the street has an active proposal attached to it.
2. The "Affordability" Tab (The Reality Check)
This is where the rubber meets the road. A common criticism in Ithaca is that "developers only build luxury housing." This tab lets you filter units by Area Median Income (AMI).
You can see exactly how many units are legally restricted as "Affordable" versus "Market Rate."
It provides a pie-chart breakdown of the pipeline. Is the city meeting its affordable housing goals? The chart paints a stark, honest picture.
3. The "Inventory" Tab (The Big Picture)
This shows us the current state of Ithaca. It validates what many of us already know: Ithaca is a city of renters. You can toggle to see the ratio of rental units vs. owner-occupied homes, giving context to the debates about density and neighborhood character.
Three Questions This Tool Can Answer
If you want to be the smartest person at your next happy hour, here is what this data allows you to do:
The "Student Housing" Myth: Are we only building student dorms? Filter by unit type. If you see a flood of 4-bedroom units near campus, yes. But check the downtown filters—you might be surprised by the number of studios and 1-bedrooms aimed at young professionals.
The Neighborhood Check: Is development evenly spread out? The map view often reveals that development is clustering heavily in specific corridors (like State St. or Collegetown) while other neighborhoods remain untouched.
The Progress Report: Mayor Cantelmo and the Common Council have pushed aggressive housing policies to lower rents. This dashboard is their report card. If the "Pipeline" number is high, supply is increasing, which should theoretically stabilize rents.
The Caveats
As City Director of Planning Lisa Nicholas noted, this is a pilot. That means there are still bugs. The data is updated manually by city staff, so it isn’t a live-stream of construction activity. Also, be careful when looking at "Bedrooms" vs. "Units"—in student housing, those numbers can vary wildly.
The Verdict
The Housing Development Dashboard isn't just for policy nerds; it’s for anyone who lives here. In a city where housing is the #1 issue, having shared facts is the only way to have a productive conversation.
So next time you see a crane and wonder what’s happening, don’t guess. Check the dashboard.
Have you used the new tool? Found a glitch? The city is asking for feedback during this pilot phase. Let us know your thoughts in the comments, or reach out to the Planning Department directly.
