Atlas methodology · Version 2.0 · July 18, 2026
How evidence becomes publishable and stays honest.
Atlas separates source records, transformations, Eric's analysis, and property-specific assumptions. This page defines that operating system in public.
Research lifecycle
Seven steps from question to correction.
- 01
Define
Write the question, geography, metric, time period, and intended use before collecting a number.
- 02
Collect
Prefer official and first-party records; preserve the exact URL, publisher, access date, and record identifier.
- 03
Normalize
Keep units, geographic boundaries, dates, stages, and definitions consistent without erasing source differences.
- 04
Calculate
Store the reported inputs and state every sum, rate, percentage change, or transformation Atlas performs.
- 05
Review
Check claim-to-source fit, arithmetic, date, geography, fair-housing risk, and the conclusion the evidence cannot support.
- 06
Publish
Display author or reviewer, data period, substantive update date, sources, limitations, and correction path.
- 07
Revise
Re-check on the stated cadence, preserve material corrections, and label stale information instead of silently refreshing the date.
Evidence hierarchy
Authority follows the question.
No single source is authoritative for every real estate conclusion. Atlas chooses the record that actually measures the question being asked.
- 1
Adopted and effective authority
The latest adopted ordinance, signed decision, recorded agreement, or official property verification that controls the question.
- 2
Codified law plus later action
The current codified code reconciled with every later adopted and effective ordinance before a rule is stated.
- 3
Official record for its stated purpose
Permit, assessor, tax, case, Census, labor, housing, or agency records used only for the fact the record can establish.
- 4
Licensed or documented evidence
Market data or anonymized Renew records used within license, privacy, sample, and redistribution limits.
- 5
Verified calculation or assumption
A transparent calculation with stored inputs, or a clearly labeled scenario that still requires property-specific confirmation.
Evidence dates
Freshness needs more than one timestamp.
- Adopted or effective
- When a controlling rule or decision became law.
- Codified through
- The latest ordinance included in the displayed code.
- Observation period
- When the condition, transaction, survey, or measurement actually occurred.
- Source released
- When the agency published the record, which may be later than the observation period.
- Retrieved
- When Atlas opened and preserved the source location.
- Verified
- When a human confirmed that the source supports the exact claim.
- Published
- When the reviewed Atlas page first became public.
- Next review
- When the claim and source must be checked again.
Default review cadence
Different records age at different speeds.
Swipe or use arrow keys to view the complete table.
| Data family | Expected review | Stale after |
|---|---|---|
| Law, zoning, fees, tax, lending, deadlines, and eligibility | Within 24 hours before publication | 1 day |
| Other local first-party records | Within 7 days before publication | 7 days |
| Published local rules after release | Monthly plus event review | 30 days |
| Planning applications and hearings | At publication and before reliance | 7 days |
| Licensed sales and rent evidence | Per license and stated observation period | 45 days |
| Employment and housing releases | Latest official release | Until next release |
| Population and ACS estimates | Latest official release | Until next release |
| Calculator assumptions | At publication and when inputs change | 30 days |
These are manual editorial targets, not automated guarantees or promises that every publisher releases on schedule. Atlas shows the actual source period and last verified date, and may label a value stale when the expected replacement is unavailable.
Calculation rules
- Keep reported inputs available beside a derived output.
- Do not combine different geographic boundaries or source vintages without an explicit method note.
- Use unrounded values for arithmetic when available; label displayed rounding.
- Do not turn an index into a price, a permit into a completion, or an application into an approval.
- Do not infer an Idaho sale price from an assessor or recorder change when the consideration is not reliably public.
- Store every worked example as structured inputs and calculate the displayed result from those inputs.
Publication guardrails
- No protected-class scoring, steering, coded neighborhood language, or unsupported safety and school-quality claims.
- No promise of appreciation, return, approval, rent, financing, tax outcome, or development yield.
- Legal, zoning, tax, lending, engineering, environmental, title, and inspection conclusions stay with the appropriate professional.
- Automation may assist research and drafting, but material claims and Eric bylines require human review.
- Draft or unverified work is not presented as a published Atlas report.
- When official sources conflict or cannot prove a claim, the claim does not publish.
- GIS and assessor records do not establish zoning, buildability, legal units, title, or utility capacity.
Public accountability
Read the policy. Check the corrections.
Ask how the number was built.
A source and calculation should survive inspection. Send the page and question; Atlas will answer against the record or correct the work.