City Directories

Overview

The LightBox City Directory redefines Environmental Due Diligence by bringing tens of thousands of digitized books directly into LightBox Live. Powered by the industry's most advanced search technology and AI-driven property insights, it delivers fast, precise access to historical occupant and environmental data—raising the bar for uncovering a property's past.  

City Directories in LightBox Live

LightBox Live streamlines City Directory review by presenting mapped address records alongside the other datasets you rely on, and you can take full advantage of LightBox Live’s table functionality and tools. Below are the key features specific to City Directory data within LightBox Live.

Table Layout Options

City Directories offer two table layout options, allowing you to tailor your review to your preferred workflow. Layout options are available from the list header:  

Occupants Left (Default)

The Occupants Left layout presents City Directory data as an address-level roll-up:

• Each row represents a single address

• Years, property type, and tagged records are aggregated at the address level

• The year range reflects the first and last available years for that address

Property Type logic

• Commercial — All tagged occupants across all years are commercial

• Residential — All tagged occupants across all years are residential

• Mixed — Tagged occupants include both commercial and residential uses

Tagged Records logic

• Dry Cleaner — Displayed if at least one occupant is tagged as a dry cleaner

• Gas Station — Displayed if at least one occupant is tagged as a gas station

An address may display both tags if applicable.

Interaction behavior

Selecting a record from either the list or the map opens the Detail Panel, which displays all available years and occupant information for that address.

Occupants Down

The Occupants Down layout is ideal for creating detailed occupant lists for export or inclusion in environmental site assessment reports.

• Each row represents a single occupant for a specific year and address

• Note that it is normal for the record count to be significantly higher than in Occupants Left

Interaction behavior

• Selecting a row in the list opens the source image, when available

• Selecting an address on the map highlights all associated occupant rows in the list

Table Sort Options

LightBox Live provides two preconfigured sort options for City Directories, available in both table layouts. Sorting options are available from the list header:

Distance (Default)

Records are sorted from closest to farthest relative to the target property. There may be instances where an address is included in a report but may not be possible to plot accurately. Addresses that cannot be plotted will appear in the table with a null distance value and no associated map icon.

Street

The street sort option allows to you to focus on one street at a time, mirroring a more traditional book review, similar to the effect of “walking up and down the street.” Sorting order:  

• Street name (alphabetical)

• House number (ascending)

• Year (newest to oldest, Occupants Down only)

Detail Panel Configuration Options

When using the Occupants Left layout, the Detail Panel can be customized to show or hide specific attributes.

Residential Filter

• Hides all residential occupants in the panel

• Persists while navigating between addresses

• Resets when the panel or project is closed

More Menu Options

You may toggle the following attributed on or off:  

• Source image

• Dry Cleaner tags

• Gas Station Tags

• Property Type

• Publisher

All are visible by default, except Publisher.

Source Images

Source images are accessible directly within LightBox Live.

• Occupants Left: Images are available in the Detail Panel for each year where imagery exists

• Occupants Down: Images open by selecting a table row, when available

Source images may not be available when:

• The source is a phone book

• The source is digitally compiled (commonly post-1992)

In LightBox Live, the source image displays a full page. A focus box highlights the relevant occupant entry. The focus box can be toggled on or off to improve readability.